Johann Köppel is a full professor at the Technische Universität Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology) and head of the Environmental Assessment and Planning Research Group (www.umweltpruefung.tuberlin. de). He teaches Environmental Impact Assessment, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Planning. Furthermore, Johann Köppel has for many years been involved in research on the sustainable deployment of renewable energies. Thus, the challenges of integrated environmental governance have been addressed in manifold ways, last but not least highlighting the requirements for a better co-development of climate protection approaches on the one hand and inter alia biodiversity policies on the other hand. Recently he and his working group has been pursuing a comparative analysis of the roles that the USA and Germany play in leading the field of renewable energies. Johann Köppel served as TU Berlin´s vice-president for research 2006 – 2010 and is currently in charge as dean of its School of Planning Building Environment. Contact: johann.koeppel@tu-berlin.de