In April 2001 the Council for Sustainable Development, consisting of 15 councillors, was set up by the German Federal Government in order to contribute to implement the National Sustainability Strategy. It has since been mandated to advise the Federal Government on all items of the sustainability strategy, to propose concrete action plans and projects, and to communicate the aspects of sustainability in the public. It takes environmental, social and economic aspects equally into consideration. It carries out regular studies on sustainability issues in different fields. In 2009 it published a critical analysis of German sustainability policy, reviewed by international experts. It uses different instruments such as regular publication, speeches and lecture series as well as an award for discussing the topic in public.