Germany's Polar research activities contribute to numerous initiatives and include links to climate and biodiversity protection. To prepare for future challenges and address the most pressing issues, the federal government launched a process to develop a new polar research agenda. On 19 May 2021, the steering group of the process including Ecologic Institute's Arne Riedel, handed over the concept paper on the "Changing Polar Regions" developed by over 100 experts to the Federal Ministry for Education and Research.

How can think tanks help pave the path to a sustainable future in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and a rapidly changing policy landscape? Dr. Camilla Bausch and R. Andreas Kraemer address this question in the chapter "Think Tanks for Future" and make recommendations on how think tanks can adapt their work to reflect the pressing concerns of the future.

Published by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences a new book deals with the reduction of food loss and waste globally. It includes an article that sums up results of the EU research project REFRESH, and in particular the work on policies to reduce consumer food waste, lead by the Ecologic Institute. The book is available for download.

This article by Doris Knoblauch and Hannes Schritt (both Ecologic Institute) is part of the anthology "Einfach weglassen? Ein wissenschaftliches Lesebuch zur Reduktion von Plastikverpackungen im Lebensmittelhandel" (Simply Omit? A Scientific Reader on the Reduction of Plastic Packaging in the Food Trade). It deals with the emergence of plastic packaging in Germany and its known environmental impacts. The authors demonstrate that there is a close correlation between the amount of plastic packaging produced and the gross domestic product (GDP) - which, interestingly, is stronger than the correlation between GDP and packaging overall. In this context, avoidance strategies and improvement options for the circular economy are discussed.

The discussion about plastic waste is anything but new for German municipalities. In fact, as early as the 1980s, numerous German municipalities were experimenting with plastic waste prevention regulations and waste prevention in general. A further impetus for plastic waste prevention was provided in the early 1990s with the discussions on the introduction of a nationwide packaging ordinance. After almost three decades of stagnation – including setbacks with regard to the expansion of return systems and the increase of single-use packaging – the issue of plastic prevention and packaging reduction in municipalities is now receiving renewed attention as a result of increased societal awareness and political regulations at EU level.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are increasingly employed as a tool to protect Europe's swiftly declining marine biodiversity. However, despite increasing coverage, MPA effectiveness and equity is considered highly variable. Concurrently, Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) – that is, management that aims to protect, restore, or enhance the resilience and sustainability of an ecosystem to ensure sustainable flows of ecosystem services and conserve its biodiversity – is growing in prominence.

In this chapter Ewa Iwaszuk, Linda Mederake and Doris Knoblauch (all Ecologic Institute) analyse the extent to which municipal long-term climate strategies contain formulations and measures aimed at promoting urban transformative change (defined as non-linear change for sustainability that profoundly transforms cities and the systems they form part of). The methodology is applied to the strategies of three cities from around the world (Austin, Texas, USA; Berlin, Germany; Melbourne, Australia) to understand the extent to which the visions outlined in these local-level strategies can be said to be transformative.

On 7 October 2019, Eurostat published its most recent flagship publication "Smarter, greener, more inclusive?". The report assesses the EU's progress in implementing the Europe 2020 strategy. Commissioned by Eurostat, Katharina Umpfenbach and Amely Gundlach of Ecologic Institute edited the chapter on climate change and energy. It discusses progress towards the so-called 20-20-20 targets which aim at cutting EU greenhouse gas emissions, increasing renewable energy supply, and improving energy efficiency. The publication is available for download.

The book "Facing hydrometeorological extremes: a governance issue" collects field investigation from several EU research projects on hydrometeorological extreme events and the successful examples of multilevel governance in response to them. Scientists from Ecologic Institute led or contributed on three book chapters, summarizing the regulatory framework as well as focusing on specific case studies. In this chapter Rodrigo Vidaurre presents an analysis of drought governance in the Eifel‐Rur region of Germany.

The book "Facing hydrometeorological extremes: a governance issue" collects field investigation from several EU research projects on hydrometeorological extreme events and the successful examples of multilevel governance in response to them. Scientists from Ecologic Institute led or contributed on three book chapters, summarizing the regulatory framework as well as focusing on specific case studies. In Chapter III Jenny Tröltzsch presents a summary of the governance analysis of drought‐related issues in the Flanders region of Belgium.

The book "Facing hydrometeorological extremes: a governance issue" collects field investigation from several EU research projects on hydrometeorological extreme events and the successful examples of multilevel governance in response to them. Scientists from Ecologic Institute led or contributed on three book chapters, summarizing the regulatory framework as well as focusing on specific case studies. Dr. Ulf Stein and Ruta Landgrebe contributed a chapter explaining the political and institutional framework on Water Scarcity & Droughts policies in Europe.

While hardly anyone would argue against the importance of cities and local governments in the implementation of climate policies, what remains contested is their role in the international climate regime. This analysis by Ecologic Institute uncovers how the activities of cities and transnational city networks, which have been evolving over the years, have gradually broadened the international climate regime, although cities are not subjects of international law. The analysis is available for download.

The EU Member States have committed to be climate neutral by the second half of this century. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf calls this a fundamental challenge that no EU member state can address alone and that makes the EU indispensable for effective climate protection. This is one of 32 reasons why Europe is a "damn good idea". The eponymous book was published in the run-up to the 2019 European elections. It presents numerous achievements of the European Union in an understandable way, explains complex interrelationships and shows the positive effects of the EU for its citizens.

Urbanisation is an ongoing global trend that results in a considerable level of new land take and the loss of soil and its functions. This article reveals how different EU cities have addressed these issues through specific approaches with a focus on efficient land use. Lead by the Ecologic Institute, this analysis was carried out as part of the FP7 project "Preventing and Remediating Soil Degradation (RECARE)".

Can urban living labs support social and governance innovations and therewith contribute to sustainable urban planning? Can they serve as a tool to assist cities in adapting to new emerging challenges? This chapter of the Urban Planet book address these questions. The chapter introduces a brief history of urban living labs and the governance challenges they intend to address, and subsequently explores whether urban living labs hold potential as a new forum for urban governance innovation experiments to support positive transformative change. The open access chapter and book are available for download.