Dr. Johanna Meier

Dr. Johanna Meier

Dr. rer. oec.

Fellow

Team
Topics

Dr. Johanna Meier is a Fellow at Ecologic Institute, working in the fields of food, agriculture, and water. Her research focuses on the transformation of food systems towards greater sustainability and resilience, taking a holistic perspective that spans the entire food value chain – from agricultural production to supply chains and consumer behaviour. This includes work on agricultural and food policy at EU, national, and regional levels, with a focus on the support of more sustainable agri-food practices and the design of food environments that support healthier and more sustainable diets. She works in English and German.

Currently, Johanna Meier leads the evaluation of the German model regions programme "Eating better in the region", which examines regional approaches to supporting healthy and sustainable diets, with a particular emphasis on regional value chains and out-of-home catering. In addition, she leads the work on the analysis of the legal and policy frameworks shaping post-harvest food systems in the European research project Transforming European Food Systems (TrueFoodS).

Her previous work includes contributions to the Horizon 2020 projects MERLIN, which focused on the restoration of freshwater-related ecosystems, and SPRINT, which explored transition pathways towards more sustainable plant protection. Across these projects, a recurring area of expertise has been the role and reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. Moreover, she has been involved in the project Sustainable Management: Socio-Ecological Transformation of the Food System (STErn).

Prior to joining Ecologic Institute, Johanna Meier worked as a research and teaching assistant at the Faculty of Management and Economics at Ruhr University Bochum, where she also completed her PhD. Her dissertation explored the impact of food environments on dietary choices, as well as economic determinants of water pollution. During her studies, she worked as a student research assistant at the Chair of International Economics, the Chair of Macroeconomics, and the RWI Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in the department of Environment and Resources.

Johanna Meier holds a PhD in Economics, an MSc in Economic Policy Consulting with specialisations in Environmental, Energy and Resource Economics and Quantitative Methods, and a BSc in Management and Economics from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.

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Recent content by Dr. Johanna Meier

Project
 
The TrueFoodS project, funded under the European FutureFoodS Partnership, aims to make Europe’s post-harvest systems more sustainable, equitable, and resilient. The project adopts an integrated Food Systems Approach that considers environmental, economic, social, and regulatory dimensions.

Transforming European Food Systems (TrueFoodS)

Sustainability, Equity, Governance and Resilience as Core Elements

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Publication:Report
 
The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (ESABCC) has published the report “Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in the Agri-food Sector – Recommendations for a Coherent EU Policy”. The report calls on the EU to better integrate climate mitigation and adaptation across the entire value chain. Its aim is to safeguard food security, strengthen farmers’ livelihoods and align the agri-food system with the EU’s climate goals.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in the Agri-food Sector

Recommendations for coherent EU policies

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Presentation:Speech
 
As Europe moves towards implementing the Nature Restoration Regulation, a central question comes into focus: how can freshwater restoration be financed at scale? At the joint policy event in Brussels, Dr. Josselin Rouillard presented MERLIN’s approach to addressing this challenge, combining practical tools, policy insights and financial innovation to support restoration on the ground.

The MERLIN Restoration Financing


Dr. Josselin Rouillard

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Publication:Book Section
 
As Europe seeks to restore its degraded freshwater ecosystems, a key question comes into focus: is the EU’s main agricultural policy delivering on its environmental promises? In a new paper published in the special issue Wetlands in a Changing Climate: Restoring Coasts and Floodplains, Dr Josselin Rouillard examines whether the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023–2027 is effectively supporting freshwater restoration.

Does the Common Agricultural Policy 2023–2027 Support the Restoration of Freshwater Ecosystems?

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Publication:Policy Brief
 
This policy brief assesses how relevant CAP instruments currently address pesticide use and identifies adjustments to better support and accelerate the transition toward more sustainable farming practices.

Using the CAP to Reduce Pesticide Dependence

Creating the Conditions for Structural Change

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Publication:Report
 
This report presents a strategic, evidence-based approach to support the upscaling of freshwater restoration and implementation of Nature-based Solutions across Europe. Central to the approach is the MERLIN Upscaling Workflow, a flexible decision-support tool that uses Europe-wide datasets to identify high-impact restoration areas.

Scaling up Freshwater Restoration and Nature-based Solutions in Europe

An evidence-informed workflow

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Publication:Policy Brief
 
With the 2027 deadline of the Water Framework Directive approaching and the new Nature Restoration Regulation mandating large-scale ecosystem recovery, the CAP’s role in safeguarding rivers, wetlands, and catchments has become critical. This Policy Working Paper argues that long-term agricultural resilience is inseparable from healthy freshwater ecosystems and illustrates how water restoration can be embedded in future agricultural policies to enhance water resilience.

Restoring Healthy Rivers and Wetlands

How can agricultural policies support the uptake of water resilient farming practices?

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Project
 
The model regions programme "Eating Better in the Region" promotes innovative approaches to healthy and sustainable nutrition across Germany. Ecologic Institute and Technopolis Germany evaluate the extent to which the ten funded model regions achieve the five central funding objectives – ranging from increasing the use of organic products in out-of-home catering to reducing food waste – and what impacts they generate. The results serve to evaluate the funding initiative and provide insights and recommendations for the long-term continuation and transferability of successful approaches to other regions.

Eating Better in the Region

Evaluation of the Model Regions Programme

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Project
 
The Guidance on Climate Resilient Landscapes project, financed by DG CLIMA, will develop actionable guidance to strengthen climate resilience in Europe's rural landscapes. With floods, droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires becoming more frequent and severe, landscapes need to be managed in ways that help them absorb, recover from, and mitigate such events, supporting both ecological and human resilience.

Guidance on Climate Resilient Landscapes

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