The online expert dialogue "Circular diversity: creative solutions to promote the re-use of second-hand goods" took place on 10 October 2023, organized by Ecologic Institute for the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Mobility, Transportation, Climate Action and the Environment (SenMVKU). The aim of this event was to present the variety of existing creative approaches to promote the re-use of second-hand goods.

The Berlin Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment (SenMVKU) organised an online expert dialogue on the topic of "Promoting repair through networks and repair bonuses" on 6 June 2023. Good practice examples were presented and potentials, challenges and measures to promote repair were discussed with the participation of experts from business, civil society and politics.

Almost one third of all packaging in Germany is so-called transport packaging, which becomes waste after its single use. Despite the factual relevance of this packaging group, it is strongly underrepresented in the public perception as well as in the political discourse. During the online expert dialogue "Reusable Transport Packaging" on 27 February 2023, good examples from practice were presented and potentials, challenges and necessary elements for the expansion of reusable transport packaging were discussed together with experts from trade, logistics industry, civil society and politics. The summary is available for download.

Despite Germany's Circular Economy and Waste Management Act "Kreislaufwirtschafts- und Abfallgesetz" of 1996, the country's economy remains essentially linear. To transition from this status quo and lead the way towards a genuinely circular and resource-efficient economy, the development of a National Circular Economy Strategy (Nationale Kreislaufwirtschaftsstrategie) (NKWS) is now in progress. The project provides scientific support to the development of this strategy, as much as to the related debate.

In the context of the political goal of strengthening the reuse of used goods, the project aims at supporting and executing re-use measures in Berlin in order to foster structures and actors in Berlin that bring the used goods market out of its niche. To do so, the project draws on the practical experience of initial pilot tests in 2018, networking activities since 2019 and the opening of the Re-Use Superstore in 2020.

The project investigates the potential for greenhouse gas savings through resource efficiency and circular economy measures. Ecologic Institute supports the formulation of resource conservation measures as input for the modelling of GHG saving potentials (WP1 led by GWS). Furthermore, Ecologic Institute is responsible for the scientific support of the European Resource Forum in 2022 and 2024 including the development of background papers.

Global extraction of primary raw materials has been growing continuously for decades, and absolute decoupling between economic growth and resource consumption, let alone environmental impacts associated with the use of natural resources, has not yet been achieved. Although political attention for the issues of resource efficiency, resource conservation and the circular economy has been high for some years at on the international, European and national level, scientific studies call for more ambitious policy approaches in order to achieve global sustainability goals and respecting planetary boundaries in the long term. It therefore appears necessary to further develop resource policies at international and national level.