The Committee of the Regions is engaged in the monitoring of the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy from the perspective of regional development and cohesion. This short survey by the Committee of the Regions serves the collection of opinion and feedback regarding the Europe 2020 initiatives for social change and innovation in the regions and EU Member States. Ecologic Institute and RIMAS are analysing the results in a ten-page report. The report is available for download.

On 9-10 February 2012, DG Environment of the European Commission organized the 2nd Stakeholder Workshop for the Fitness Check of EU Freshwater Policy in Brussels. Lessons learned from this workshop contribute to the design and assessment of policy options for the Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water Resources. Eleftheria Kampa and Johanna von der Weppen contributed to the workshop conclusions. The conclusions are available for download.

In preparation for the Rio+20 conference, which took place in June 2012, the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) published a guide for citizens. The publication discusses trends and statistics concerning sustainable development from the viewpoint of Anne, a 17 year old student. Anne seeks answers to everyday questions and tries to find out if Europe has actually moved towards sustainable development over the past 20 years.

This research survey aimed to provide an expansive overview of past and current research related to the study of various contexts of individual behaviour. It assessed their relevance for the work of InContext, and helped situate the work of InContext in the broader research landscape for sustainable behavioural and social change.

An European study shows that the rebound effect repeal energy and resource savings between 10 and 30 percent. Therefore, the adverse effect should already taken into account when designing policy instruments to improve efficiency. If the measures are combined skillfully, the rebound effect can be decreased. The results of the project conducted by BIO Intelligence Service, GVSS, and Ecologic Institute are summarized in the journal articel. The article is available for download.

"Helios to the Rescue" – This is what Sascha Müller-Kraenner and Martin Kremer recommend to the economically weak Greeks in their "Internationale Politik" online article of the same title. What makes Greece so especially capable of producing renewable energy and what is preventing progress in this direction? Müller-Kraenner, Advisor of Ecologic Institute, and Kremer, Senior Fellow at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, analyze these issues and caution against passing up timely opportunities for investment and growth.

In this second part of the published report, existing policies were shown to be partly insufficient for satisfying adaptation needs, and thus the inclusion of new measures into existing policies is required. Based on the review of existing measures suitable for climate change adaptation in key policies as well as interviews with key EC representatives, additional measures and adjustments to existing measures have been identified that are necessary to respond to the impacts of climate change. This includes consideration of possible support for "climate proofing". The report is available for download.

As part of the BiogasWorld, an international fair for biogas technology, Ecologic Institute's Wolfgang Urban gave a lecture on the further development of the German Renewable Energies Law (EEG) in 2012 and its implications for biogas and biomethane. Additionally he presented results of the monitoring process the EEG has undergone. The presentation slides are available for download.