What can consumers, citizens, companies and local decision-makers do to make our economies more sustainable? 30 research projects were funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) to research this and other aspects of a transition to a more sustainable economy. Practical ideas from these projects on how to act more sustainably are now available through an interactive website, produced by Ecologic Institute.

Guske, A.-L.; Jacob, K.; Hirschnitz-Garbers, M.; Peuckert, J.; Schridde, S.; Stinner, S.; Wolff, F.; Zahrnt, D.; Ziesemer, F. (2019). Stories that Change Our World? Narratives of the Sustainable Economy. Sustainability, 11, 6163.

Meeting the Paris climate targets and transitioning to a climate-friendly, more sustainable society cannot be achieved without extended social alliances. This raises the question of how organizations should position themselves in the future: Will the disputes become sharper and fiercer? Which approaches are taken regarding current social and ecological problems? Is it possible to balance tensions and make compromises that are coherent with ecological and social interests? The Ecological Research Network (Ecornet) invited the public to join in discussing these questions.

On 4 November 2019, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, held a lecture on "Climate Change Law – Overview of the Legal Frameworks at the International, European and National Level" at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. The lecture was part of a lecture series during the International Students’ Week. The aim of the lecture was for students to gain an understanding of the legal frameworks at the different levels and their interaction.

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.

Olmeda C., Šefferová V., Underwood E., Millan L., Gil T. and Naumann S. (compilers) 2019: EU Action plan to maintain and restore to favourable conservation status the habitat type 6210 Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia) (*important orchid sites). European Commission Technical Report.

This FAQ note presents the links between the Birds and Habitats Directives and the Nitrates Directive. The FAQ note specifies the legislations’ objectives, highlight the interactions between both areas of legislation, and points to the opportunities for greater coordination between the directives. This note by Ecologic Institute is available for download.

Kemper, Melanie, Christian Bruhn 2019: Kurzkonzept für den Relaunch der Internetplattform Meeresmüll – www.muell-im-meer.de. Berlin, unpublished.

On 25 October 2019 the Ecologic Institute supported the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in a webinar on the IPCC Special Report on "The ocean and the cryosphere in a changing climate" (SROCC). The Ecologic Institute, together with the project Partner Climate Analytics, supported the UBA in defining and formulating the core messages of the SROCC published in September 2019.

On 24 October 2019, research partners and stakeholders from the COACCH (CO-designing the Assessment of Climate CHange costs) project met in Brussels for the second interactive co-design workshop. In this second stakeholder workshop, the COACCH researchers presented first findings on climate change costs in different sectors, and explored ideas for the next phase of work focused on the assessment of policies and tipping points.

In this short video, Joe Rini, Research Associate at the IASS Potsdam coordinator of the analysis of the eight case studies, explains how the principle is applied in different contexts and thematic areas.

As part of the 'Sustainability 2030 Science Platform', Ecologic Institute has published a study on oceans as a global commons. An overview of the different governance mechanisms in regard to the Global Commons "Oceans" area are discussed. The study is available for download and will be presented at the beginning of December at the Annual Conference 2019 of the Science Platform.

In a broadcast on SWR2 on 23 October 2019, Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, says the EU's agricultural policy is setting the wrong incentives. Changing consumer choices is important but needs the right political framework. She notes that a transition in agriculture can only work if municipalities take greater responsibilities and if there is a change in diets towards less meat.

By 1 January 2020, all EU Member States need to submit long-term climate strategies. How will these be implemented afterwards? What are possible positive narratives about the future that they can describe? These were key themes of the fourth meeting of the Policymaker Platform - a dialogue workshop for government officials and experts organized by Ecologic Institute under its Climate Recon 2050 project.

On 21 October 2019, the event "Re-Use Berlin – neue Perspektiven für Gebrauchtwaren" (new perspectives for used goods) took place from 6 to 9 PM in Berlin's Urania. Ambassadors of reusing from Berlin presented their "stories" and visions, while business, administration and civil society representatives discussed existing approaches and sustainable ideas. 100 people participated in the event.