Since 1975 the Institute for Democracy and Participation Research (IDPF) formerly the Citizen Participation Research Center at the University of Wuppertal (BUW) has been in existence. The former director, Prof. Dr. Peter Dienel, who died in 2006, developed the planning cell participation process, which gives citizens the opportunity to constructively contribute their opinions, life experience and expertise to political decision-making processes. Since then, a large number of planning cells have been carried out by the IDPF in Europe. In 2007, Prof. Dr. Hans J. Lietzmann took over the management of the research center.

In October 2013, the Center for Transformation Research and Sustainability (transzent) was founded as an interdisciplinary center of the BUW in cooperation with the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy gGmbH.

The center is particularly active in the field of research. Based on the BUW's social and economic science subjects and drawing on the Wuppertal Institute's expertise in applied sustainability and transformation research, an exchange takes place between social and economic sciences as well as natural and technical sciences. The aim of this cooperative approach is to comparatively analyze the prerequisites for fundamental changes and to derive approaches for action in the direction of improving sustainability in line with the design-oriented mission statement of the BUW.

In addition to research activities, the transzent also offers BUW students the opportunity to obtain a certificate by attending the module "Transformation and Sustainability" in the optional area. If you are interested, you can find more information here.