{"id":144398,"date":"2025-07-02T10:32:47","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T08:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/?page_id=144398"},"modified":"2025-08-22T15:06:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T13:06:29","slug":"river-renaturation-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/river-renaturation-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"About river renaturation in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ back_color=”color-861536″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”177263″]<\/p>\n

UfU Information | Issue 14 – June 2025 | Pauline Wyrowski & Sophie Dolinga<\/b><\/h5>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”284783″]<\/p>\n

Study on the development of political participation rights<\/h2>\n

The UfU investigates the climate movement in Germany<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”868585″]In January 2025, UfU published the \u201cGreen Legal Spaces Study 2025\u201d in collaboration with Green Legal Impact, the Maecenata Institute, the Institute for Protest and Social Movement Studies, and the Institute for Human Geography at the University of Frankfurt am Main. The study examines changes in the civil society scope for action of the climate movement in Germany since 2019 and draws attention to restrictions on political participation.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ back_color=”color-861536″ overlay_alpha=”75″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ width=”1\/3″][vc_button button_color=”color-101991″ radius=”btn-round” border_width=”0″ link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ufu.de%2Fen%2Feverything-in-flux-in-ukraine-7-2-2-2-2-2%2F|title:Praxisleitf%C3%A4den%20f%C3%BCr%20klimaneutrale%20Schule%20%26%20Kommunw|” button_color_type=”uncode-palette” uncode_shortcode_id=”473658″]Previous article[\/vc_button][vc_button button_color=”color-127094″ radius=”btn-round” border_width=”0″ link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ufu.de%2Fen%2Fforeword-by-the-editors-january-2024-2%2F|title:Vorwort%20Juni%202025|” button_color_type=”uncode-palette” uncode_shortcode_id=”251685″]Back to the foreword[\/vc_button][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”227628″]The Green Legal Spaces study shows how the participation of those who are most vocal about the dangers of the climate crisis is being hampered at various levels. Opportunities for participation, such as freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of association, are essential for the functioning of our democracy and for ensuring a safe space for civil society. An active civil society is indispensable, not least in view of the far-reaching changes that are necessary to tackle the climate crisis, in order to negotiate and anchor these changes in society.<\/p>\n

The Green Legal Spaces study comprises four sub-studies that analyze different aspects of civil society’s scope for action and its developments.<\/p>\n

The study shows that a large proportion of the climate activists surveyed have already experienced noticeable restrictions on their democratic rights. Approximately one-third of those surveyed are also concerned that activism could have a negative impact on other areas of their lives, such as career prospects.<\/p>\n

The study’s analysis of police activities in relation to climate protests shows an increase in police measures in 2022 and 2023. In public statements, security issues became increasingly the focus of attention, and climate protests were increasingly portrayed as a security risk.<\/p>\n

With regard to the actions of the authorities, public prosecutors, and courts, the study finds that there is a tendency toward routine and standardization in dealing with climate protests. This also means that new forms of protest are being incorporated into existing routines and subject to standardized penalties that may exceed what is proportionate in individual cases.<\/p>\n

As part of the study, we at UfU took a close look at the media discourse and examined in detail the portrayal of climate protests and climate activists in the reporting of various daily newspapers.<\/p>\n

The analysis of the discourse clearly shows that negative portrayals and disparagement of climate protests and activists have been part of the public debate throughout the entire period under review, and thus also since the beginning of the Fridays for Future protests in Germany. This includes the portrayal of climate activists as illegitimate actors, for example as infantile or controlled by outside forces, or the characterization of climate protests as an attack on law and order.<\/p>\n

However, in 2022 and 2023 in particular, there was a qualitative and quantitative intensification of the discourse on climate protests. Quantitatively, an increase in critical to derogatory portrayals of climate protests and activists can be observed during this period. A qualitative intensification is evident in the increasing description or prediction of supposed far-reaching consequences of climate protests, such as the endangerment of political, economic, and social structures. For example, climate protests are more often portrayed as a threat to public safety, the economy, or social cohesion, and comparisons between climate activists and climate protests with terrorist groups or acts are becoming more prevalent in the discourse.<\/p>\n

Such portrayals and disparagement serve as a basis for legitimizing or intensifying repressive measures. The creeping restriction of opportunities for participation and the increase in repression and defamation of activists and civil society organizations are clear warning signs for our democracy. In the study, we list various recommendations for action to counter these worrying developments.
\nThe protection of fundamental rights to freedom of assembly, expression, and association must be guaranteed and promoted. Furthermore, laws and practices that can be used to monitor and punish climate activists should be reviewed and reformed. It must be ensured that instruments to combat terrorism are not misused against peaceful activists. Civil disobedience should be recognized as a legitimate expression of democratic participation. Climate activists should not be publicly defamed, and reporting on protests should take into account the content and demands of the activists. In addition, public trust in the authorities responsible for public order and the police should be restored through the development of transparent and de-escalatory operational guidelines and effective and independent complaint mechanisms.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_button button_color=”color-101991″ radius=”btn-round” border_width=”0″ link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ufu.de%2Fen%2Feverything-in-flux-in-ukraine-7-2-2-2-2-2%2F|title:Praxisleitf%C3%A4den%20f%C3%BCr%20klimaneutrale%20Schule%20%26%20Kommunw|” button_color_type=”uncode-palette” uncode_shortcode_id=”961990″]Previous article[\/vc_button][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_button button_color=”color-116455″ radius=”btn-round” border_width=”0″ link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ufu.de%2Fufu-informationen%2F|target:_blank|”]Back to the issues[\/vc_button][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_button button_color=”color-127094″ radius=”btn-round” border_width=”0″ link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ufu.de%2Fen%2Fforeword-by-the-editors-january-2024-2%2F|title:Vorwort%20Juni%202025|” button_color_type=”uncode-palette” uncode_shortcode_id=”212323″]Back to the foreword[\/vc_button][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ back_color=”color-861536″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”177263″] UfU Information | Issue 14 – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-144398","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144398"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145700,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144398\/revisions\/145700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}