WP 1 Climate, Sustainability, and Democratic Innovations addresses the problems arising fromthe discrepancy between short-term political cycles and the need for long-term solutions toenvironmental crises. The fundamental question it seeks to address is: to what extent can democraticinstitutions deal with long-term policy challenges such as climate change, and how can democraticinnovations meet the challenge of sustainability? In other words, how can we make democracy morefuture-proof in the face of a variety of environmental crises? We thereby focus on the double-potentialof much-needed innovative solutions to contribute to both effective environmental governance acrossmultiple levels of governance and a rejuvenation of (European) democracies. In so doing, the WP movesbeyond an established focus on climate mitigation, to the full spectrum of sustainability policies,including land-use practices and environmental pollution. It focuses on contemporary developmentssuch as new social movements and new affects stemming from environmental loss as well as relateddeliberative and participatory experiments and legal innovations. WP1’s focus aligns with the trend inclimate governance that has increasingly turned towards more structural and institutional solutions,including the design of democratic decision-making procedures. This focus is cross-cutting, boldlymixing political science and policy, legal as well as conceptual innovations. It takes risks in asking bigquestions and addresses these by assembling an internationally recognized team of experts.