MSc graduate
E-mail: j.birner@students.uu.nl

Jana Birner was studying the Joint International Master in Sustainable Development at Utrecht University within the Earth System Governance track. Her master thesis investigated the steering potential of the SDGs on the national-level governance architecture. To that end, Jana was conducting a country case study with a focus on the Federal Ministries in Germany. In particular, she researched the influence of SDGs on institutional interaction by applying a mixed methods approach that combined network analysis and interviews. In this way she evaluated the transformative capacity of the SDGs to enhance institutional integration through modified cooperation in the institutional framework of German sustainability governance.