As the EU considers early ratification of the Paris Agreement, this paper explains the related key legal questions that arise should the EU push to ratify without its internal burden sharing in place and without all Member States ratifying simultaneously. The paper is available for download.

Natacha Amorsi et. al. 2016: WaterDiss. Analysis and uptake of water research results. In: André Martinuzzi and Michal Sedlacko (eds.): Knowledge Brokerage for Sustainable Development. Innovative Tools for Increasing Research Impact and Evidence-Based Policy-Making. Routledge: London.

<p>The framework and a practical example of its application were presented by Gerardo Anzaldua (Ecologic Institute), who led the working group developing the framework, and Nadine Gerner (Emschergenossenschaft), who led the application of the framework on three case study sites in a webinar on 15. September. The webinar includes an ample Q&amp;A session with an extended group of members from the framework development team and lasted over an hour. You also can download the Power Point presentation that was used for the webinar.</p>

On 13 September 2016, the expert workshop "Discussion of an assessment system for civil society initiatives to measure sustainability and transformative potential" took place in Berlin. At the workshop, about 30 participants from science, policy, foundations, and sustainability initiatives discussed the first draft of a criteria catalogue for measuring and presenting the societal benefit of niche sustainability initiatives, especially their sustainability and transformative potential. Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented the assessment system. In the workshop, the application of the criteria catalogue to two case studies was also presented. The criteria for estimating the sustainability potential, the transformative potential, the organizational capacity for action, and the scalability of the initiatives were developed from 13 political and scientific assessment systems and from transition literature.

<p>Laudato Si': To Care for our Common Home. Pope Francis' encyclical has created widespread conversation within and beyond the Catholic community. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute along with Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Klaus Töpfer, Hartmut Graßl, Anton Losinger, Mary Evelyn Tucker and other prominent voices from science, policy and theology provided insights on this discussion at the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) three day international workshop on the Papal Encyclical.</p>&#13;

From 4 until 6 September 2016 the Estuarine &amp; Coastal Sciences Association (ECSA) held its 56th multidisciplinary research conference entitled "Coastal systems in transition from a 'natural' to an 'anthropogenically modified' state" in Bremen (Germany). Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute and Prof. Paolo Ciavola of the University of Ferrara hosted a special session on "Practical illustration of the human dimension in coastal systems and its drivers for change". Presenters from the FP7-Project RISC-KIT highlighted the state of the art of their interdisciplinary research on reducing human risk in coastal areas which was complimented by further participants from other European and world-wide research projects. The presentation slides are available for download.

A new study by the Ecologic Institute shows how to ensure achievement of the 2030 EU target for renewable energy. The study is available for download.

Ecologic Institute and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) co-hosted a talk with Dr. Rick Spinrad, Chief Scientist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). An internationally recognized scientist and executive with more than 30 years of experience, Dr. Spinrad was invited to Germany on behalf of the US Embassy to share insights on the topic of oceans and sustainability. The event was moderated by R. Andreas Kraemer, Founding Director of Ecologic Institute.

<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>

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.

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.

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.

Ecologic Institute coordinated the organisation of the Decarbonisation conference 2016 "Decarbonisation and Resource Efficiency – 100% Renewable Energy and more". A programme flyer were developed and designed to provide relevant content on conference context, agenda, and the venue in a concerted way to participants. The design of the brochures and the color scheme were based on the visual style of UBA. Print-outs of the flyer will be done on recycled paper.