<p>In the EU, political attention is focussed on economic affairs and social issues of insecurity and inequality which have been emphasised by the economic crisis and government responses. Levels of dissatisfaction with incumbent governments are often high, prompting increased populist and short-term political positions. Within the European Commission, the calls of economic interests tend to over-ride environmental priorities.</p>&#13;

On 5 November 2013, Ecologic Institute and the Embassy of Canada, Berlin, hosted a presentation by Jeannette Menzies, head of the Canadian International Centre for the Arctic Region (CICAR), on the topic of "Canada's Arctic Council Chairmanship". Jeannette Menzies elaborated on Canadian priorities and key initiatives for the next two years in this important regional forum. Arne Riedel, Researcher at Ecologic Institute, moderated the ensuing discussion with an expert audience – including fellows of the Arctic Summer College, via live video stream – covering a number of areas. In addition to questions regarding the Arctic Council, the included other issues, such as support for and exchange in science and research, as well as the inclusion of the private sector in the economic development of the region.

Human-caused marine pollution presents an increasing threat to biological diversity. This kick-off event of the event series entitled "Biodiversity - local/global" depicts the dangers. In his presentation R. Andreas Kraemer, Founding Director and CEO of Ecologic Institute, describes the extent of the global marine pollution and it's effects on the diversity of marine life. The video references are available online.

Ecologic Institute, the Urania Berlin, and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin present the event series "Biodiversity - local/global" to offer a better understanding of biological diversity and its socially-relevant facets. The kick-off event, moderated by Prof. Dr. Ludwig Ellenberg, will take place on 4 November 2013 in the Urania Berlin. The dangers of marine pollution will be introduced by Prof Johannes Vogel and R. Andreas Kraemer.

The circular economy is rapidly rising up political and business agendas. In contrast to today’s largely linear, 'take-make-use-dispose' economy, a circular economy represents a development strategy that enables economic growth while aiming to optimise the chain of consumption of biological and technical materials. A deep transformation of production chains and consumption patterns is envisaged to keep materials circulating in the economy for longer, re-designing industrial systems and encouraging cascading use of materials and waste.

Water touches virtually all societal and environmental domains. The knowledge domain is largely multidisciplinary. New water information and knowledge can thus lead to more efficient use of environmental services and better handling of environmental problems, including those posed by climate and environmental change. The project SWITCH-ON explores and exploits the currently untapped potential of open environmental data to address water issues. Water information is of interest to many kinds of end-users, both within government and business as well as within civil society. SWITCH-ON will show the benefits achieved through the whole process chain. The project aims at re-purposing (re-using under different context) open data products into more water-dedicated and refined products. Those are considered to have high value and a broad impact on society.

Climate change is leading to increased vulnerability of coastal areas as coastal storms, sea level rise and flooding cause significant impacts across Europe. Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts – toolKIT (RISC-KIT) is a four-year European research project aimed at delivering ready-to-use methods, tools and management approaches to reduce risk from coastal storms and increase the resilience of Europe’s coastal zones. Designed around 11 case study sites, 10 European and one international, the project takes an interdisciplinary approach combining physical, socio-economic, socio-cultural and social-ecological data to design site specific Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategies and draw implications for national and European policy.

from 2013 until 2018, the RECARE project applied a transdisciplinary approach, actively integrating and advancing knowledge of stakeholders and scientists in 17 case studies, to identify and develop effective measures for improved soil protection in Europe. Ecologic Institute developed policy briefs on the topics "Soil Sealing and Land Take", "Subsoil compaction" and "Remediating Historical Soil Contamination, as well as co-wrote the brochure with the most important project findings. The policy briefs and the project brochure are available for download.

What environmental impacts does the application of chemical pesticides have in private and small gardens, and how can consumers help to avoid these? In this project an online information portal and a brochure were created to answer these questions. Besides the environmentally relevant side effects of chemical pesticides, the project also focused on alternative and preventive measures.

The European Union (EU) and its Member States are debating the shape and substance of future EU climate policy. With partners from the CECILIA2050 project, Ecologic Institute produced reports on 8 EU Member States and the EU as whole, which take stock of current policies and their performance. In all 9 cases, the policy mix currently in place can be improved. A Policy Brief summarizing the findings is available for download.

This report provides a conceptual, a legal and an institutional overview of the European Union as well as three Member States – Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom – to highlight prominent regulatory approaches. The three Member States were chosen for their contrasting characteristics: they represent different legal systems, different approaches to governance, and different historical attitudes towards certain regulatory approaches. Besides arguably differing in their overall approach to climate policy, they have chosen different instruments with which to accomplish EU climate and energy provisions. Lastly, while the United Kingdom and Germany are "old" Member States, Poland is one of the "new" Member States of the EU.