Sustainable development requires an integrated approach to policy and science because many of the issues it raises cannot be addressed within a single department or using the tools of individual scientific disciplines. This is where the Wuppertal Institute's research programme begins - by taking an interdisciplinary approach and working towards systems understanding. Applied sustainability research is the Wuppertal Institute's stated mission.
The Institute was founded in 1991 under the direction of Professor Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker.
Professor Peter Hennicke headed the Institute from 1 November 2000 until the end of January 2008. Until a new President assumes office, Vice President Professor Manfred Fischedick provisionally heads the Institute's research. The Business Manager is Brigitte Mutert-Breidbach. The Institute's seat is in Wuppertal, and it has been represented in Germany's capital by its Berlin Office since 2004. In 2005, the Wuppertal Institute and the United Nations Environment Programme jointly founded the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) in Wuppertal.
The Wuppertal Institute collaborates with a multitude of universities and institutes in Germany and abroad.
An International Advisory Board supports the Institute in defining fundamental research strategies as well as ensuring the quality and independence of its research.
The Wuppertal Institute has the legal status of a non-profit limited company (gemeinnützige Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, according to German law) and receives basic funding from the Land North Rhine-Westphalia. It is in the responsibility of the Ministry for Innovation, Science, Research and Technology of the Land North Rhine-Westphalia. Third-party funding supports most of the Institute's budget and projects.
A number of activities and research projects are supported by the non-profit association Friends of the Wuppertal Institute.
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