Online Survey on the Further Development of Germany's Climate Change Adaptation Strategy
On behalf of the Competence Centre on Climate Impacts and Adaptation of the German Federal Environment Agency, Ecologic Institute is conducting an online survey on the further development of the German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change. The survey will help prepare for the 2014 update of the Adaptation Action Plan, which will be presented in a progress report on the German adaptation strategy. It is targeted at representatives of regional and local politics and administration, enterprises and business associations, research and consultancy institutions, as well as non-governmental organizations in Germany.
How do people in different countries experience changes in climate conditions, and what relevance do their experiences have for national and international climate change politics? These were the guiding questions of a workshop in Durban, South Africa, organised jointly by the Water Governance Group of the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Ecologic Institute as an external side event to the UNFCCC COP 17 in December 2011.
The "Regional Adaptation Strategies for the German Baltic Sea Coast" (RADOST) project, led by Ecologic Institute, was recently awarded a spot among the "365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas," along with six other German regions that are instituting climate adaptation measures. The model regions of the research program "KLIMZUG – Managing Climate Change in the Regions for the Future" are among the "Selected Landmarks 2012" that are being recognized by the "Germany – Land of Ideas" initiative of the Federal Government and German business community. The jury has thus acknowledged the innovative approach of RADOST and the other KLIMZUG projects that attempts to involve regional stakeholders in all steps of research design and implementation, starting at the very beginning of the process.
The winners of the competition "forward-thinking change – act now: adaptation pioneers wanted!" have been chosen. The public award presentation will take place on 12 December 2011 in Bonn, Germany. The competition was launched by the Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Ministry for the Environment in cooperation with Ecologic Institute. The purpose was to identify good practice examples of climate change adaptation at local and regional levels.
On 6 July 2011, numerous guests from Greifswald and the surrounding area had the opportunity to see the research ship "Ludwig Prandtl" in the harbor of Greifswald/Wiek up close and to ask researchers questions about their work on the ship and about the RADOST project.
Scientists and practitioners have rarely had the opportunity to exchange their ideas on climate adaptation in such an up-to-date and direct way as at the second RADOST annual conference on 18 and 19 May in Travemünde. What are the expected impacts of climate change at the regional and local level at the German Baltic Sea coast? How can local stakeholders adapt to these? What kind of scientific information do they need as a basis for implementing such measures? These questions were discussed by 75 scientists in the fields of climate and natural science research, political science and sociology, together with representatives from politics, administration, economy and civil society in several science-practice dialogues. This offered stakeholders willing to promote climate adaptation in their region another opportunity to get involved in the design of this development process.
How can the EU and the US work together to improve management of coastal and ocean affairs, not only within their own territories, but across the North Atlantic? What are the obstacles to establishing integrated and science-based frameworks formaritime governance in the EU and US, and how can they be overcome? How can management be improved through the involvement of key players from science, industry, civil society and government? These questions and more were debated at the Cooperation Across the Atlantic for Marine Governance Integration (CALAMAR) final conference that took place in Lisbon (Portugal). 
"Security" is a much wider concept today than it was just some decades ago. Today, the concept is applied not only to new and diffuse military threats such as global terrorism but has been broadened to include additional areas such as food, water, health and other issues, of which many are intimately related to the environment and to its protection. But is this shift helpful for the environment and/or for populations under duress? What are the implications for the world's most conflicted and environmentally fragile regions? These questions formed the basis of discussions during a recent meeting of the CLICO project hosted by Ecologic Institute from 16 to 18 February 2011 in Berlin.