Dörte Ohlhorst

Dr. Dörte Ohlhorst serves as a Lecturer and Head of Research Projects at the Technical University of Munich's School of Politics since August 2017, based in room B.264. She leads interdisciplinary research within the Chair of Environmental and Climate Policy, focusing on governance structures for sustainability transitions in German and European contexts.

She earned her doctorate from the Free University of Berlin in 2008 with a dissertation on wind energy systems. Her academic journey includes leadership roles at the Environmental Policy Research Center (FU Berlin) and the Center for Technology and Society (TU Berlin), along with co-founding the Institute for Sustainable Energy and Resource Use (iner eV) in 2011.

Her research examines energy-environment-innovation policy intersections through multi-level governance frameworks. She investigates stakeholder dynamics in renewable energy expansion, climate neutrality pathways for urban systems, and socio-technical barriers in heating sector transitions, emphasizing participatory approaches and interdisciplinary methodology.

Recent publications (2019-2023) reveal consistent focus on governance challenges in energy transition: wind energy conflicts, auction mechanisms for renewables, urban climate strategies, and heating sector decarbonization. Her work demonstrates strong thematic continuity in analyzing policy instruments, actor networks, and social acceptance factors across German and European sustainability initiatives.

Dr. Ohlhorst directs multiple research projects including ENEGY TRANS (2012-2016), Nexus@TUM Lab, TUM Water Cluster, DC-KLIMA, and Indo-German Partnership initiatives. Her project portfolio spans technology phase-outs, participatory urban labs, and transnational sustainability governance frameworks with significant policy engagement.

She collaborates within TUM's Environmental and Climate Policy research team and Nexus@TUM Lab, supervising doctoral candidates and research assistants on interdisciplinary sustainability projects addressing real-world energy transition challenges through integrated analytical approaches.