Cities | Ecologic Institute: Science and Policy for a Sustainable World

Hannes Schritt hold a presentation concerning water in Berlin and Virtual Water at the BUNDjugend German-Egyptian Youth Exchange in Berlin. As part of the presentation he explained the water cycle of Berlin: Treated waste water is reused as drinking water to ensure water availability. In addition, Berlin gets drinking water by river bank filtration from Havel, Spree and Dahme. As a result of both, Berlin's drinking water quality depends on good water quality of the effluent of the waste water treatment plants and the rivers crossing the city. After presenting primarily technical aspects Hannes Schritt talked about political conflicts and inititiatives concerning water in Berlin and the concept of Virtual Water. The presentation slides are available for download.Read more

Publication

Report

Rahmenbedingungen und Instrumente für die Gestaltung nachhaltiger Stadt-Land-Verknüpfungen

The report first presents non-institutional factors that influence the relationship between urban and rural areas. In the second part, it provides an overview of institutional framework conditions and instruments for the design of sustainable urban-rural linkages. The third section of the report analyses existing instruments and policies for the sustainable design of urban-rural linkages. It covers instruments at the German, EU and international levels. Examples of good practice from European and non-European countries in the field of "regional food systems" have a complementary, illustrative function.Read more

News

Biodiversity

Cities

International Development

Sustainability

Strengthening Co-operation between EU and CELAC Regions on Urban Nature-based Solutions

Nature-based solutions are an attractive proposition to address urban challenges in Europe and Latin America. There are many shared challenges such as impacts of climate change, air pollution or social cohesion. Research institutes and local governments in both regions can benefit from the exchange of experiences, knowledge, solutions, and techniques for addressing those challenges. To foster such exchange scientists from Ecologic Institute visited the Alexander von Humboldt Institute in Bogota (IAVH), a renowned Colombian research centre for the study of biodiversity.

Project

Digital Water City – Leading urban water management to its digital future (DWC)

June 2019 to November 2022

European cities face major challenges to achieve the desired level of sustainability in the management of urban water systems. Digital technologies such as mobile devices, sensor network, real-time monitoring, machine learning, and modeling tools have the potential to improve the management of water infrastructures significantly. In addition, they can improve the quality of services provided to citizens as well as awareness and cooperation between utilities, public authorities, and citizens in urban water management. The main objective of the project is to boost the integrated management of water systems in five major European cities, Berlin, Milan, Copenhagen, Paris, and Sofia, by leveraging the potential of data and smart digital technologies.Read more

Presentation

The EU-funded H2020 Programme for Nature-Based Solutions

TimeLoc

10 April 2019 to 11 April 2019

London

United Kingdom

McKenna Davis

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.Read more

Event

Implementing Nature-Based Solutions in Cities - Expert Talk

TimeLoc

7 March 2019

Berlin

Germany

On 7 March 2019, experts working on nature-based solutions (NBS) met in Berlin for an exchange of experiences. The discussions focused on the challenges of planning and implementing NBS and the opportunities and creative solutions to overcome them. The results of this meeting will be integrated into including the development of a catalogue of NBS and an overview of policy instruments to the "Climate NBS Polska" project.Read more

Event

Dialogues on Long-Term Climate Strategies

TimeLoc

27 February 2019 to 28 February 2019

Copenhagen

Denmark

The third set of dialogue workshops for government officials and experts from the "Climate Recon 2050" project were held in Copenhagen at the end of February 2019. The project team have been organizing two main fora for that workshop: a Technical Dialogue, for modellers and other experts designing 2050 climate policy scenarios – and a Policy-Maker Platform, to create a space for experience sharing among representatives from different EU countries.Read more

Publication

Document

Biodiversity

Cities

Impact-driven Financing and Investment Strategies for Urban Regeneration

CLEVER Cities Factsheet 3

Private businesses lack awareness of market opportunities and appropriate business models for deploying nature-based solutions. This CLEVER Cities factsheet outlines types of NBS financing sources and the potentials of public-private partnerships. The CLEVER Cities factsheet No 3, edited by Ecologic Institute, is available for download.Read more

Publication

Document

Biodiversity

Cities

Green Market Opportunities and Business Policies for Urban Nature-based Solutions

CLEVER Cities Factsheet 2

Private businesses lack awareness of market opportunities and appropriate business models for deploying nature-based solutions. This CLEVER Cities factsheet outlines green market opportunities and potential business policies for urban nature-based solutions. The CLEVER Cities factsheet No 2, edited by Ecologic Institute, is available for download.Read more

Publication

Book Section

Cities

Soil

Land Take and Soil Sealing – Drivers, Trends and Policy (Legal) Instruments

Insights from European Cities

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)".Read more