The EU's current rules on climate action are comprehensive and detailed. However, they lack many of these features. In this sense, the existing EU acquis falls short of what countries and regions have adopted. It also falls short of what the full implementation of the Paris Agreement implies. The Regulation on Governance for the Energy Union and Climate Action addresses a number of existing shortcomings. It is a strong foundation for a Climate Law for Europe. However, gaps remain that should be filled in a reform. These are the main findings of a recently updated paper of Ecologic Institute, which is available for download.

The dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is one of the most active international courts. How the WTO's adjudicators decide cases is the topic of a book chapter authored by Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute. The book, entiteld "The Judicialization of International Law: A Mixed Blessing?" is edited by Andreas Follesdal and Geir Ulfstein and published by Oxford University Press. It deals with the influence of decisions by international courts on international law.

Hydromorphological alterations for drainage are widespread pressures on water bodies in Europe. Because of the importance of the water uses relying on drainage schemes, such as agriculture and urban areas, not all necessary restoration measures can be taken without significant adverse effect on the water use. Therefore many of the affected water bodies have been designated as heavily modified (HMWB). Still, in a substantial number of these water bodies, some mitigation measures should be taken to reach Good Ecological Potential (GEP). The report, edited by Ecologic Institute's Dr. Eleftheria Kampa and Dr. Josselin Rouillard, is available for download.

On 27 March 2018, around 20 social scientists, all involved in a project of the research program "Plastic in the Environment", funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research, met to network and discuss future possibilities to increase the visibility of the social and political dimensions of plastics in the environment. The chair for science and technology policy at the Munich Center for Technology in Society organized the meeting together with Ecologic Institute.

This paper offers a preliminary assessment of a sample of boundary-spanning organisations based across six case studies (Barcelona, Chicago, London, Medellin, Mexico City and Seoul) and across three types of BSOs: living labs, innovation districts and sector-oriented BSOs. Unpacking the shape and development of BSOs, and "placing" them in urban governance, we begin to sketch a preliminary agenda geared to offer a better appreciation of the "information ecosystem" underneath policy-making in cities. The paper is available online.

This book chapter provides an overview of climate change adaptation across Europe, from an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspective, drawing on key findings from case study-based research on local climate change impacts and adaptation solutions, including an analysis of participatory, economic, and sociopolitical approaches, methodologies, and tools. Ecologic Institute's Jenny Tröltzsch contributed to this chapter.

This book chapter explores how policies and policy-making perform to support climate change adaptation. It is part of the book: Adapting to Climate Change in Europe: Exploring Sustainable Pathways - From Local Measures to Wider Policies which is a scientific synthesis of a four-year project on adaptation activities in Europe (BASE). This book aims at ensuring sustainable solutions in adaptation to climate change. This chapter reflects on different tools which can support decision making for climate adaptation and that have been presented in other chapters of the book. It also discusses how current adaptation measures operate to enhance the capacity to respond to climate change impacts in a coherent manner across sectors. Ecologic Institute's Jenny Tröltzsch and Katriona McGlade contributed to this chapter.

Around 50 scientists from twelve collaborative projects of the research focus on plastics in the environment met for a first exchange on sampling, sample preparation and analysis of microplastics at the Water Technology Center (TZW) in Karlsruhe. The workshop, organized by TZW and the Ecologic Institute, aimed to coordinate and learn from each other the many difficulties in identifying and quantifying microplastics from water or soil samples.

The AquaCross research community, funded by the European Commission, was represented on stage at the 8th World Water Forum in Brasilia by two members of the AquaCross Think Tank, Francisco Nunes Correia and R. Andreas Kraemer. R. Andreas Kraemer, founder of Ecologic Institute, gave two presentations at this annual global gathering.

The 2018 European Think Tank Summit brings together key representatives from the think tank landscape in Europe to exchange ideas, discuss best practices and learn from each other's expertise. Ecologic Institute Director, Dr. Camilla Bausch, chaired a break-out session that addressed the complex question of using strategic communication to reach target groups in a time marked by a superabundance of information.

The first meeting of think tanks focusing on EU climate policy explored how European climate action can help to address the multiple crises the EU is facing. Supported by the Mercator Foundation, convened by Mercator Senior Fellow R. Andreas Kraemer and hosted by Ecologic Institute, 20 representatives from policy institutes from 10 countries identified windows of opportunity for policy intervention, and explored ways and means for cooperation and coordination in the EU.

This final conference will introduce results of four BONUS projects ending in 2018. Novel approaches for managing nutrients, as well as governance approaches for the Baltic Sea region will be presented for discussion. Ecologic Institute will present research results of the BONUS project Soils2Sea. All scientists and stakeholders with a vested interest in sustainable ecosystem-based governance in the Baltic Sea region are invited to join the conference.

One of the core activities for the Common Implementation Strategy Working Group ECOSTAT between 2013 and 2017 has been to try to compare the ecological quality expected by different countries for water bodies impacted by flood protection. The process involved the use of a number of workshops and questionnaires to collect relevant information from European water managers. This report, edited by Dr. Eleftheria Kampa (Ecologic Institute) and Martina Bussettini, is based on information collected via a template on mitigation measures for water bodies impacted by flood defence structures, which was completed by 18 countries. The report is available for download.

The workshop "Car Sharing in Germany" took place on 8 March 2018, hosted in Berlin by Ecologic Institute. In the first part of the workshop experts addressed the current state of affairs of car sharing in Germany, confirming the dynamic nature of the industry and the difficulties involved in assessing its size and effects. In the second portion of the workshop they focused on future developments as well as the importance of policy for a societal transition away from privately owned vehicles. Ecologic Institute co-organized the workshop as part of the CIRCULAR IMPACTS project and in collaboration with Service Innovation Labs.

At the kick kick-off event for its six thematic working groups, the dialogue forum "Business Mitigates Climate Change" of around 200 leading German companies discussed how they could increase their climate change mitigation efforts and move forward on the way to a low carbon economy. Ecologic Institute organised the conference together with Ernst & Young and Wuppertal Institut.