From 21 to 22 September 2022, the INTERLACE project held the first European Cities Talk Nature Engagement Event in Kraków (Poland). Sandra Naumann, Coordinator of the INTERLACE project and Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, opened the conference by presenting the INTERLACE project and its work on the ground to the audience.

The World Water Day, was introduced by the United Nations in 1992 to remind people of water as an essential resource for life. For this year's theme "Groundwater – making the invisible visible", Ecologic Institute co-organized a webinar to present an augmented reality app that was developed as part of the project Digital Water City (DWC). The webinar was moderated by Alexander Sperlich (BWB) and Dr. Ulf Stein (Ecologic Institute).

Ecologic Institute together with the ICLEI African Secretariat and Durham University co-organized a session 'Urban Action Towards a New Deal for Nature' at the IUCN World Conservation Congress on 7 September 2021. The session, moderated by Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis, demonstrated the success of urban action for biodiversity through evidence and experiences from around the world.

The objective of transformative research is to find out, together with actors from the corporate sector, politics and civil society, how our economic and social system can be made more sustainable, and to jointly test possible solutions. Transformative research is thus also transdisciplinary - it involves actors beyond academia as equal partners. This kind of research involves certain methodological challenges and questions; some of these were discussed at the tF Symposium 2021: From Experiment to Mainstream. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers and Christiane Gerstetter, both Senior Fellows at the Ecologic Institute, contributed to the online symposium, which was held in German language.

Training the next generation of environmental lawyers is crucial for ensuring that environmental law is complied with and can thus serve its function of protecting the environment. Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute, co-moderated an online course for German and Russian students entitled "Ecolaw and ecoactivism in Germany and Russia".

On 4 and 5 February 2020, Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis and Ewa Iwaszuk attended an expert workshop "Mobilizing up-scaling of Nature-based Solutions for climate change throughout 2020 and beyond" convened by the Directorate-General for Environment of the European Commission (DG ENV). McKenna Davis moderated a discussion on mobilising the biodiversity benefits of nature-based solutions (NBS) deployed for climate action.

The role of think tanks in a world of transitions and turbulences was the overarching topic of the 2019 Global Think Tank Summit in Rio de Janeiro. One of the prominent topics discussed was the climate crisis. In this context, an international panel chaired by Dr. Camilla Bausch examined new policies, paradigms and public engagement strategies around the world.

The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. Lead by German research institutions, international researchers from 20 countries are now engaged in the largest Arctic exploration of all times: the MOSAiC Expedition. Research approaches, findings and the impact of the Federal Arctic Guidelines were presented and discussed in a packed high-level evening event at the Bremen State House in Berlin. Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute moderated the event.

Whether and how to pursue “geo-engineering” as part of climate policy is a controversial and complex issue. The generic term describes a range of concepts that spans decreasing radiative forcing to removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Dr. Camilla Bausch moderated a two-day international workshop on the governance of geo-engineering in Brussels during which Dr. Ralph Bodle outlined the structure and criteria for addressing governance.

Climate change and artificial intelligence (AI) are two intensely debated topics, but mostly treated by separate communities. While climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges the world is facing, AI is creating new opportunities for all sectors, including science. On the occasion of European Climate Diplomacy Week 2019, the German Federal Foreign Office, the British Embassy in Germany and the French Embassy in Germany would like to discuss the conceivable potentials and synergies. Ecologic Institute's Matthias Duwe moderates the discussion.

The aim of this EUSEW 2019 session was to launch the EEA report 'Adaptation challenges and opportunities for the European energy system: Ensuring a climate-resilient clean energy transition' and to discuss its key findings with relevant stakeholders. The report was presented by Eva Jensen (Head of Programme, Climate Change, Energy and Transport, EEA). Her presentation followed reflections from senior stakeholders from the European Commission (DG CLIMA and DG ENERGY), the International Energy Agency and a sector organisation (ENTSO-E), and a discussion with the audience. Matthias Duwe (Head, Climate, Ecologic Institute) moderated the session.

On 28 May 2019, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, moderated a panel discussion on the lessons Germany could learn from the experiences of other European countries regarding a climate change act. The panel was composed of Chris Stark from the UK Climate Change Committee, Petter Hojem from the Swedish Ministry of the Environment, and Dr. Dirk Weinreich from the German Federal Ministry of the Environment. The panel discussion was part of the event "A Climate Change Act for Germany - What can Germany learn from the experiences of other countries?" organised by the Stiftung Umweltenergierecht and the British Embassy in Berlin.

At the 2019 European Urban Green Infrastructure Conference (EUGIC), Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis chaired a session looking at the role of Horizon 2020 funding for nature-based solutions (NBS) and co-organized a side session to present insights from the NATURVATION project. The conference took place from 10 to 11 April 2019 in London (England). Approximately 350 urban green infrastructure experts, practitioners, policy makers, designers and implementers came together to share and celebrate nature-based solutions for climate-adapted, resilient, healthy cities.

On 9 April 2019, Doris Knoblauch, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, moderated a panel discussion on the political and social dimensions of plastics in the environment. Participants presented the first social science results of their collaborative projects and discussed possible courses of action

Is it possible to modernize apartment buildings to net zero within just a few days? The innovators at ecoworks claim just this and were awarded with the jury’s prize at this year’s DENEFF annual conference. Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute headed the jury for the third consecutive year to choose the winner of the competition. The innovation by ecoworks was only one of many exciting projects in the running for the 2019 PERPETUUM Energy Efficiency Prize.