<p>A group of 17 representatives from think tanks, policy and business as well as journalists from various European and non-European countries were invited to Germany as part of the Visitors Programme of the Federal Republic of Germany. During their stay, the group explored green technologies in the water and resources sector as well as the policies that shaped the legal framework for innovative products and technologies. Participants could speak with representatives from ministries, research institutes, think tanks, public-private partnerships and businesses in Berlin, Freiberg and Leipzig.</p>

The European Union has quite a number of directives and regulations on environmental matters. While all Member States are obliged to apply and/or transpose them, the degree to which these legal rules effectively help protect the environment depends to a large extent on their implementation in practice. In particular, proper environmental enforcement requires sufficient staff, with appropriate expertise and technical equipment, and good cooperation between different authorities. There is evidence that environmental law is not consistently enforced in Members States. Therefore, in 2018, the European Commission published an Action Plan on Environmental Compliance and Governance; it sets out various actions aimed at improving environmental compliance and governance in Member States. Ecologic Institute leads a consortium supporting the Directorate-General for Environment in implementing the Action Plan.

<p>The framework agreement with the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy includes support in economic, technical and legal issues in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources for heating and cooling systems and waste heat, among others.</p>

This project analyses the positive economic and social impacts of European Union climate policy based on case studies from Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. The focus is on co-benefits in the areas of social policy, employment, environment protection, and health.

The BMZ/KFW funded project 'Coastal Protection for Climate Change Adaptation in the Small Island States in the Caribbean' aims to improve coastal ecosystem services to reduce the impacts of climate change in Jamaica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In total, 11 local adaptation projects have been funded in these four countries. Ecologic Institute provides technical assistance to each of the local adaptation projects by co-designing an indicator framework to monitor and assess their effects on coastal ecosystem services.

How have stakeholders and citizens participated in the development, implementation and monitoring of regional bioeconomy strategies? How has the involvement of stakeholders and citizens affected the strategies' development, implementation and monitoring? What are good practice examples of stakeholder and citizen participation in national and regional bioeconomy strategies? These and other questions are addressed in this report on regional bioeconomy strategies across Europe, focused on four regional case studies: Scotland, South-West Netherlands, Saxony-Anhalt and Veneto. Ecologic Institute was tasked with researching the Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) in Saxony-Anhalt (Germany). The report is available for download.

From 31 August to 3 September 2016, Ecologic Institute's Rodrigo Vidaurre participated in a series of events on water management in the Chira-Catamayo basin, a transboundary river basin straddling the border between Peru and Ecuador. The presentation slides (in Spanish) are available for download below.

<p>Between September and December 2016, Ecologic Institute, the International Journalist Programme (IJP) and Clean Energy Wire (CLEW) collaboratively organized five study tours on the German energy transition for journalists from North and Latin America, Africa and Asia. While the history and current state of Germany's energy transition was at the heart of the five study tours, each tour aimed at providing the participants with tailored information relevant for the field of energy and climate policy in their respective home countries.</p>&#13;&#13;

This brief highlights the links between EU policy objectives and global targets for sustainable development, centring on aquatic ecosystems. It describes current research within the EU Horizon 2020 project AQUACROSS (Knowledge, Assessment and Management for AQUAtic Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services aCROSS policies), focusing on an integrative approach – ecosystem-based management (EBM) of aquatic ecosystems – to understand and balance common social, economic, and environmental objectives towards a more sustainable future. The brief is available for download.

As part of the DYNAMIX project, another three policy reports that synthesised the assessments of three policy mixes (a land use policy mix; a metals and materials use policy mix; and an overarching policy mix) were written in order to support the pathway to absolute decoupling in the EU. These policy mixes were designed to specifically address the use of virgin metals, the use of arable land and freshwater, the input of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus and emissions of greenhouse gases. All policy briefs are available for download.

Resource extraction has often significant impacts on the environment. Ecologic Institute analyses for the German Federal Environment Agency governance instruments which can foster, establish and enforce global standards for environmentally sound raw material extraction. The project assesses international treaties, international customary law and non-binding international instruments, as well as European and national instruments with extraterritorial effect. Based on this assessment, Ecologic Institute develops recommendations how existing instruments could be improved or new approaches could be developed. The study covers abiotic raw materials (metals and ore, other minerals and fossil raw materials) and their extraction, treatment, transport and processing.

On 17 August 2016, McKenna Davis, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, held a presentation on "Barriers and Success Factors for cooperation under Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA)" for the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Bonn. The results presented came from a study commissioned by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). Both the presentation and original study are available for download.

Citizens from around the Mediterranean participated in adaptation planning for the management of their local river basins. Based on a novel approach developed over the course of the EU-funded BeWater project, stakeholders from four case study river basins were engaged in a collaborative process with experts and policy makers to draft River Basin Adaptation Plans. Ecologic Institute was also part of this collaboration.

What can we learn from European best practices on the existing Monitoring &amp; Verification schemes and coordination mechanisms in Europe? Can bottom-up methodologies contribute to a more reliable measurement and verification process? The first two policy briefs produced by the multEE project feature a set of policy recommendations, six on M&amp;V schemes and five on coordination mechanisms, aimed at policy makers at different policy levels engaged in the development of effective and coherent energy efficiency policies. The recommendations reflect the conclusions from a broader "Synthesis report on European best practices for M&amp;V schemes and coordination mechanisms" that, based on an initial mapping of existing M&amp;V schemes and coordination mechanisms across Europe, identifies and analyses a vast array of Best Practice cases on M&amp;V schemes and coordination models. The recommendations are available for download.

Did you know that ladybirds, green lacewings, ichneumon wasps and other beneficial insects can be purchased in small packets to fight pests in your garden? Information on this and lots of other eco-friendly measures to apply in private gardens can now be found on the UBA internet portal "Pflanzenschutz im Garten". Alternative and preventative measures are the main focus, although environmentally-relevant side effects caused by chemical pesticides are also considered. Ecologic Institute led the conceptualisation and portal content management sections of the project, as well as the production of a comprehensive brochure.