Issues related to the conversion of military bases are an important aspect of BICC’s work. Research has thus far evolved around two issues. On the one hand, it has been predominantly shaped by the concrete requirements of affected communities and the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Brandenburg. Activities here are closely connected to the challenges resulting from the ongoing reform of the German Bundeswehr.

On the other hand, BICC has engaged internationally in advising countries like South Korea, South Africa as well as Eastern European countries. Besides that, BICC has also conducted research about the conversion of the defense industry.

Given this background, BICC addresses four blocks of research questions:

• How and by which means can the state government of NRW support communities affected by military base conversion in the future? Which tools are needed for this purpose?
• What could a “NRW conversion strategy” look like? Such a strategy would need to take into account that not each and every affected community can be supported and not each and every site can be redeveloped.
• What are the effects and consequences of the ongoing restructuring processes of armed forces in the United States or the United Kingdom where large parts of their armies are still stationed abroad? How can—and should—countries such as Germany, South Korea or Japan react when coping with the planned withdrawal of foreign troops?
• What role should base conversion play in the actual planning of military transformation processes? How can it be linked with the overall discourse on disarmament?