On 14 February 2023, the SPRINT project team shared some initial project findings with key stakeholder in Europe for the first time.

This article reviews the role of ponds and pondscapes in delivering Nature's Contributions to People and provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities for their broader implementation as Nature-based Solutions. The authors, among them Manuel Lago (Ecologic Institute) propose a conceptual framework that can help the implementation of pond Nature-based Solutions, and that outlines future research needs.

In the latest "Green Deal – Big Deal?" podcast episode, the hosts Ewa Iwaszuk and Nick Evans from Ecologic Institute discuss these questions, together with their interview guests Claire Dupont (University of Ghent) and Sharon Turner (independent expert associated with European Climate Foundation and University of Sussex). The two guests explain their understanding of EU governance, how it has evolved over the years, and its crucial role in shaping Europe's future.

Ecologic Institute supports the European Topic Center in the field of water policy and management. In particular, it provides coordination and technical support for the preparation of the State of European Water and the Integrated Water Assessment.

On 7 February 2023, Aaron Scheid, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, took stock of pesticides in agriculture and discussed possible alternatives.

The European Commission has proposed a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to enable ambitious climate policies in EU member states and to incentivize emission reductions in other countries. This paper adopts a dynamic, multilevel, polycentric perspective to discuss how domestic as well as foreign interest groups would be affected by the policy.

Building on the momentum created by the negotiations on the Nature Restoration Regulation (NRL) as well as by the overall successful outcome of the biodiversity summit COP15, the think tank network "Think Sustainable Europe" (TSE) met with EU Environment Commissioner Sinkevičius. As part of TSE, Ecologic Institute presented key recommendations on the NRL. These build on a series of policy briefs by Ecologic Institute and IEEP respectively, and were well received and aroused great interest both in the EU Commission and the European Parliament.

At the invitation of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), Dr. Camilla Bausch held a "Lectio Magistralis". At this Lectio, leading experts such as Jean-Claude Trichet (Former President of the European Central Bank) and Sergei Guriev (Professor of Economics at Sciences Po in Paris) discuss key political and scientific insights with master's students of the ISPI School. Dr. Bausch's lecture focused on dynamics, setbacks and breakthroughs in international climate policy – including an outlook on 2023 and identifying opportunities for the students themselves to take action.

Kemper, Melanie 2023: Informationsstrukturkonzept für das Internetportal Humanarzneimittel und Umwelt. Ecologic Institute, Berlin. Unpublished.

For many people, plastic bottles have become an indispensable part of everyday life. However, the production and throwing away of plastic bottles is harmful to the environment and the climate. Ideally, PET bottles are recycled and reused. But what happens to the bottles during the recycling process? "Die Geisterstunde" by Christian Tielmann is the third PIXI book produced as part of the BMBF research focus "Plastics in the Environment" with Stiftung Lesen and Carlsen Verlag and is dedicated to the recycling of plastic bottles.

The overall goal of GOVAQUA is to identify, assess, develop and validate innovative water governance instruments and approaches to support and accelerate a transition towards sustainable and equitable water use in Europe. Such a transition is urgently required to reconcile water uses and environmental needs and to reach the aims of the EU WFD, the European Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. GOVAQUA is a 4-year Research and Innovation Action (funded by the EU) that brings together 12 partners from across Europe.

In order to make informed decisions, consumers need information on the sustainability performance of BBPs that is evidence-based, trustworthy, transparent and clear. The Horizon Europe funded project "3-CO" responds to this need by designing a supportive framework for Labels and Certification Schemes (LCS) for industrial BBPs that are sustainable in terms of resources, processes and materials used.

On 1 February 2023, we discussed the food systems approach adopted by the "Farm to fork" strategy and investigated how the strategy will impact producers, consumers and global food markets. We discussed strategies to address food waste and explored why meat is a politically sensitive topic.

This framework sets out a holistic approach to foster community-driven bioeconomy development across six rural European areas. Building on a four-phase methodology – establishing regional knowledge and platforms; cross-regional knowledge transfer; creation of a pan-European Community of Practice; and dissemination – the report aligns with the European Green Deal and the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). It identifies relevant biomass streams (from sawdust and agricultural residues to hemp and olive by-products) and outlines valorization options that drive local innovation while respecting ecological limits.

As part of the EU-funded REACHOUT project, a first collection of climate service tools was developed to support cities in adapting to climate change. The publication D3.5 - Guidelines for Climate Service Tools provides a structured overview of twelve technical and "soft" tools that are brought together in the Triple-A Toolkit - a methodological framework covering the phases of analysis, ambition and action. The tools were co-created and tested in close cooperation with seven European City Hubs and offer practical solutions for climate-resilient urban development - from data-based analyses to participatory formats.