Dr. Ulf Stein

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Dr. Ulf Stein

Diplom-Ingenieur (Landscape Planning)

Coordinator Water Studies
Senior Fellow

Team
Topics

Dr. Ulf Stein is a Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute in Berlin, where he coordinates the Institute's work in the field of water. He joined Ecologic Institute in 2011, drawing on more than 10 years of professional experience in academic research and knowledge dissemination. His work focuses on the assessment and improvement of European Union (EU) and German water policies and the sustainable management of water resources, particularly with regard to environmental planning, climate change adaptation, aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as governance. Ulf Stein is a native German speaker, fluent in English and has knowledge of Spanish, Danish and Russian.

Ulf Stein has managed and participated in more than 20 projects including large-scale research projects for various European and national institutions. In addition, he was a member of the European Topic Centre on Inland Coastal and Marine waters (ETC-ICM) as well as the European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity (ETC-BD) for several years. Ulf Stein is an experienced and passionate GIS analyst. Over the last decade, he has performed various geospatial analyses and supported the implementation of the INSPIRE Directive.

His current activities include the following projects:

Nature’s Integration in Cities’ Hydrologies, Ecologies and Societies (NICHES): Ulf Stein coordinates this three-year BiodivERsA and Water JPI project aimed at demonstrating that nature-based solutions can be utilized to sustainably transform cities by improving water retention capacities and mitigating the negative impacts of combined sewer overflow events on aquatic ecosystems.

Drought and Water-Use Conflicts in Germany (WADKlim): Ulf Stein coordinates this three-year Umweltbundesamt (UBA) project that provides an overview of the current water availability in Germany, as well as its future development under changing climatic conditions. It predicts emerging conflicts of use and develops possible solution strategies.

Sustainable Management of the Landscape Water Balance to Increase Climate Resilience (KliMaWerk): Within this BMBF project spanning three years, Ulf Stein investigates integrated measures and strategies to increase the hydrological and ecological resilience of landscapes affected by weather extremes. He leads a work package that co-creates coupled climate and land-use scenarios with stakeholders in the Lippe catchment.

 

Before joining Ecologic Institute, Dr. Ulf Stein worked as a junior researcher at the University of Kassel (Germany) for four years. He conducted research on several projects for the German Federal Environment Agency and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) on practical issues of river restoration and flood protection. During this time, Dr. Ulf Stein also lectured at the University of Kassel in the subject areas of freshwater ecology, water resource management and geographic information systems (GIS), while mentoring students.

Prior to that, from 2002 to 2006, he worked as a landscape planner within the field of impact assessment, site investigation and nature management at the landscape architecture firm Faktorgruen.

In addition to his work for Ecologic Institute, Dr. Ulf Stein completed his PhD at the University of Kassel on the reference conditions of small siliceous mountain streams. His dissertation research was carried out at the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park.

Dr. Ulf Stein studied landscape planning and nature conservation at Leibniz University Hannover (Germany), the University of Guelph (Canada) and the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) with a focus on nature conservation, planning, and environmental management.

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Recent content by Dr. Ulf Stein

Event:Conference
 
After three years of intensive work, the results of the project "Drought and Water Use Conflicts in Germany (WADKlim)" were presented and discussed at the conference. The conference was addressed to experts related to water management issues from federal agencies, state offices and ministries as well as from authorities at regional level. Representatives from research institutions, associations, as well as practitioners attended.

Impacts of Climate Change on Water Availability

Final conference of the WADKlim project (Drought and Water Use Conflicts in Germany)


Berlin, Germany

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Publication:Book
 
Cover of "Sustainable development in the European Union Monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context 2023 edition"
The 2023 publication is Eurostat's seventh regular report monitoring progress towards the SDGs in an EU context. Ecologic Institute's authors covered the chapters on Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life Below Water (SDG 14), Life on Land (SDG 15) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17). The publication is available for download.

Sustainable Development in the European Union – 2023

Monitoring Report on Progress Towards the SDGs in an EU Context

Year

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Publication:Book
 
Cover of "Sustainable development in the European Union. Statistical annex to the EU voluntary review. 2023 edition"
The 2023 edition of the EU SDG indicator set consists of 100 indicators structured along the 17 SDGs and covering the social, economic, environmental and institutional dimensions of sustainability as represented by the 2030 Agenda. Ecologic Institute's authors covered the chapters on Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life Below Water (SDG 14), Life on Land (SDG 15) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17). The publication is available for download.

Sustainable Development in the European Union – 2023 Statistical annex

Statistical annex to the EU voluntary review

Year

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Presentation:Speech
 
1st presentation slide
At the Expert Hearing in the European Parliament on "Sustainable management of water and resources in agriculture" on 25 April 2023, Dr. Ulf Stein, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute and Coordinator of the Water Studies, was invited as one of four experts. The aim of the event was to speak on the relationship between agriculture and water management in the context of the increasing scarcity of water resources due to climate change. The talk aimed to explore best practices and policy options that can help manage agriculture's impact on water resources, as well as address challenges to agriculture due to weather events such as droughts and floods.

Addressing the Impact of Droughts and Flooding on Agriculture


Dr. Ulf Stein

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Publication:Article
 
1st page of the article "Making Urban Water Management Tangible for the Public by Means of Digital Solutions"
This article written by Dr. Ulf Stein and Benedict Bueb from Ecologic Institute together with researchers of the French National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRAE) presents insights of two case studies, in Paris and Berlin, which investigated the potential of two mobile applications to make urban water management visible to the public and thus increase awareness about certain water management aspects.

Making Urban Water Management Tangible for the Public by Means of Digital Solutions

Year

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Project
 
EU Policy Indicators Project
Sustainable development is a long-term political goal of the European Union (EU), which has become even more important since the adoption of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the European Green Deal. Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, has been monitoring progress in the field of sustainable development for years with the help of indicator sets. Since 2008, Ecologic Institute, together with the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, INFRAS and the Haymarket Media Group, has been producing monitoring reports on the subject. During the project, four monitoring reports on the implementation of the SDGs will be published as part of Eurostat’s Flagship publication series.

EU Policy Initiatives and Methodological Assistance on Indicators

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Publication:Article
 
first page of the article "The diagnostic water governance tool "
This article written by several researchers from Ecologic Institute provides a review of different digital tools and resources available to support related decision-making processes in the search for solutions for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Furthermore, it introduces the Diagnostic Water Governance Tool (DWGT) that builds on a clear diagnosis-therapy-logic.

The Diagnostic Water Governance Tool

Supporting cross-sectoral cooperation and coordination in water resources management

Year

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Publication:Policy Brief
 
Cover of the policy brief "Digitalisation in the water sector recommendations for policy developments at EU Level"
This policy brief prepared by Dr. Ulf Stein and Benedict Bueb from Ecologic Institute together with other European experts was published by the European Commission. It provides an overview of current gaps in the EU legislative framework that hinder the realization of the benefits of digitalisation in the water sector and offers concrete recommendations on how to overcome them.

Digitalisation in the Water Sector

Recommendations for Policy Developments at EU Level

Year

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