As an internationally renowned land system scientist, Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinimann moves with ease between the academic and the policy and development practice world. He is driven not by science and its narrow evaluation schemes, but by the concrete transformative power and actions of knowledge for more just and sustainable development. As a former director of a sustainability center of the University of Bern, he has lived and worked for many years in countries of the Global South and deeply understands the importance of highly contextualized knowledge diplomacy approaches toward effective and concrete societal impact of knowledge.