Mazzetti, Chiara, Karl Lehmann 2019: RECIPES Dissemination and Communication Plan. Berlin, unpublished.

This publication is the third of Eurostat's regular reports monitoring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an EU context. The monitoring report provides a statistical presentation of trends relating to the SDGs in the EU over the past five years ('short-term') and, when sufficient data is available, over the past 15 years ('long-term'). Ecologic Institute's authors covered the chapters on SDG2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). The publication is available for download.

This brochure is a 'light' version of Eurostat's publication 'Sustainable development in the European Union – 2019 monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context', conveying its main messages in a visual and concise way. The brochure provides an updated snapshot of the current situation concerning 100 indicators related to the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). It thus provides a snapshot of the key trends related to sustainable development in the European Union. Ecologic Institute's authors covered the chapters on SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land) SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). The publication is available for download.

The circumstances under which different ecosystem service benefits can be realized differ. The benefits tend to be coproduced and to be enabled by multiple interacting social, ecological, and technological factors, which is particularly evident in cities. As many cities are undergoing rapid change, these factors need to be better understood and accounted for, especially for those most in need of benefits. We propose a framework of three systemic filters that affect the flow of ecosystem service benefits: the interactions among green, blue, and built infrastructures; the regulatory power and governance of institutions; and people's individual and shared perceptions and values. We argue that more fully connecting green and blue infrastructure to its urban systems context and highlighting dynamic interactions among the three filters are key to understanding how and why ecosystem services have variable distribution, continuing inequities in who benefits, and the long-term resilience of the flows of benefits.

The widespread use of plastics, the mass consumption of disposable plastic products and the longevity of plastics lead to a waste volume that can hardly be managed anymore. Many people are particularly alarmed by the pollution of the oceans by microplastics and plastic waste. Despite all this, the volume of packaging per capita continues to rise and has doubled over the last twenty years – to 213 kilograms in 2015. The intense public debate has also called for a political response: A European plastics strategy is currently aimed at banning straws and plastic tableware. But can this solve the environmental problem? How serious are the effects of plastic waste and microplastics on the environment? What are the right steps to take to reduce the impact on the environment and the use of plastics?

On 26 June 2019, the NaWiKo workshop "Sustainable management in companies through employee integration in corporate sustainability innovations" took place in the facilities of the KUKA Gmbh in Siegen. The aim of the workshop was to discuss findings from research projects dealing with the relevance of the involvement of employees and users in corporate sustainability innovations with company representatives from the manufacturing industry. The goal of the exchange was to discuss the role and the challenges regarding Open Innovation (meaning the involvement of employees and users) for corporate sustainability innovations in terms of whether and under what conditions research findings can be relevant for and applicable to everyday business life.

This EFEX webinar explored the success of stakeholder participation in the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP) preparation process as well as its scope, best practice examples and value added for EU climate policy. A panel of expert speakers – Elisa Martellucci and Agnese Ruggiero of Carbon Market Watch and David Donnerer of Energy Cities – drew on their experiences with the PlanUp project to discuss the EU perspective as well as the dialogues it organized between stakeholders and ministry officials. The online panel was moderated by Matthias Duwe, Head Climate at Ecologic Institute.

Environmental journalism has always been a cross-cutting topic. There are journalists in many countries who specialise in environmental topics. However, environmental topics mostly do not have their own department at media outlets. Hence, publishing such media pieces often highly depends on current political processes and above all on current, public discussions. Ecologic Institute's Marius Hasenheit discussed the role of media, especially social media, in communicating environmental issues in Egypt, at the 61st Cairo Climate Talks.

With the aim of achieving "good ecological status" in all water bodies by 2015, the Water Framework Directive requires Member States to put more emphasis on hydromorphological issues and watercourse connectivity for the conservation and restoration of fish populations. The aim for the third cycle of the "Forum Fish Protection and Downstream Migration" is to continue the series of workshops on fish protection and downstream migration and to evaluate them in papers, reports and publications. In addition, the website forum-fischschutz.de is updated and improved. Additionally in this project, the fourth UBA Hydromorphology Workshop is organised.

The fourth episode of the environment podcast "Knowledge for Future" focuses on opportunities for creating comprehensively sustainable value chains within an operation and provides a picture of environmentally conscious coexistence for the near future.

The third episode of the environment-focused podcast "Knowledge for Future" looks at concepts for sustainable financing.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has contracted Ecologic Institute and its partner EMVIS Consultant Engineers to provide assistance related to the identification of opportunities for Nature Based Solutions for Water Security (NBS4WS) in Europe. As part of its work on water security in Europe, The Nature Conservancy is preparing two reports: Investing in Nature for European Water Security and Urban Water Blueprint for Europe.

"Sustainable Agriculture – Someone has to take the first step": Welcome to the second episode of the environment-focused podcast series "Knowledge for Future", produced by Ecologic Institute and detector.fm. Today organic products are all the rage, but long before the big supermarket chains added organic milk and co. to their product range, people in Germany were dedicated to biological, sustainable agriculture.

The RECIPES website (REconciling sCience, Innovation and Precaution through the Engagement of Stakeholders) provides an overview of the project objectives, structure and partners as well as events and news related to relevant project results. Reports, policy briefs, factsheets, recommendations and newly developed tools for policy makers will be regularly promoted on the website. Ecologic Institute is responsible for the concept, design, programming and update of the website. User can directly subscribe for the mailing list.