On 29 and 30 October 2015, the Fundação da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (FFCUL) and Ecologic Institute, Berlin, convened a training course in Palmela (Portugal) on behalf of the BASE project. Designed for 16 carefully selected adaptation practitioners from all over Europe, the course provided a curriculum dedicated to the implementation of climate change adaptation projects, and offered illustration through hands-on examples, practical experience and case studies, heavily based on the results obtained from the BASE project. The presentation slides are available for download.

The third webinar in our POLIMP Webinar Series took place on 28 October 2015 and featured a discussion on the topic "EU Climate Policy for 2030: why are we talking about governance?" moderated by Matthias Duwe (Head, Climate at Ecologic Institute). The webinar featured two main speakers. The audio recording is available online.

We are excited to announce the third webinar in our POLIMP Webinar Series, which will feature a discussion on the topic: "EU climate policy for 2030: why are we talking about governance?". The webinar will take place on Wednesday, 28 October from 11:00-12:00 CET and will feature guest speakers Jonathan Gaventa (E3G) and Katharina Umpfenbach (Ecologic Institute).

From 26 to 31 October 2015, Ecologic Institute conducted a 5-day training course on carbon pricing instruments – particularly emissions trading – for 20 Panamanian public officials. Senior Fellow Benjamin Görlach from Ecologic Institute led the event and was responsible for course organization and content. Together with Elizabeth Zelljadt, he taught several of the sessions and engaged expert speakers to present on specific topics relevant to the design of emissions trading systems as well as carbon pricing efforts in Latin America. Hosted by Panama's Ministry of Environment, the course was funded by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

In two presentations Ina Krüger (Ecologic Institute) introduced the work of Ecologic Institute at the 13th International Conference "EUROPE-INBO 2015" for the implementation of the European Water Directives. In a short presentation at the round table 'The financing of water policy and economic analysis' Ina Krueger presented the results of an evaluation of the water abstraction charge and the compensation payments to farmers in the state of Baden-Württemberg (Germany). The presentation slides are available for download.

On 19 October 2015, local and regional coastal implementing agencies met in Bologna (Italy) on invitation of the FP-7 project RISC-KIT and the Geological Service of the Emilia-Romagna Region for the first Italian RISC-KIT Stakeholder's Day. Participants discussed the state of the art of coastal protection and the improvement of prevention, mitigation, and preparedness measures against coastal storms, erosion, and flash floods in the region. During the consultation Dr. Grit Martinez from Ecologic Institute presented the outcomes of a socio-political-cultural and ecological analysis. The analysis highlighted factors essential to the improvement and implementation of disaster risk reduction measures in the strategically important touristic region Emilia Romagna.

On 18 November 2015, McKenna Davis, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation at the European Conference on Biodiversity and Climate Change on Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems. The biennial conference, organized by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the European Network of Heads of Nature Conservation Agencies (ENCA), focused on "Nature-based solutions to climate change in urban areas and their rural surroundings: Linkages between science, policy and practice." The presentation slides are available for download.

The Arctic Summer College (ASC) is proud to have recently completed its fifth successful year. This year, the Arctic Summer College had the exciting opportunity of hosting a breakout session at the Arctic Circle Assembly on 16 October 2015 in Reykjavík. Ecologic Institute's Arne Riedel, Max Grünig and Katherine Weingartner took part in the conference as part of the German delegation.

On 15 October 2015, the final conference of the Network for Green Economy Indicators (NETGREEN) project, which is led by Ecologic Institute, will take place. There, national and regional green economy strategies, including best practices, will be discussed. Furthermore, the "measuring-progress.eu" web tool, the final output of the NETGREEN project, which makes green economy indicators accessible, will be presented. Registration is open and the event is free of charge.

Bodle, Ralph (2015): Policy and Regulatory Framework, in: UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/19/INF/2: Update on Climate Geoengineering in Relation to the Convention on Biological Diversity: Potential Impacts and Regulatory Framework.

To mark the occasion of Ecologic Institute's 20th anniversary, this infographic provides a look behind the scenes and introduces some of the people who make up the heart and soul of the Institute. The infographic was developed, designed and implemented by Ecologic Institute's staff members.

The dissemination activities of the DEMEAU project were planned in the beginning of the project and outlined in the dissemination strategy. After three years of project work, we have a look at the achievements of these target group specific dissemination activities.

The European Commission and EU Member States are currently discussing proposals for a new system of governance. The new set of rules and procedures is expected to help the EU to achieve its climate and energy targets for 2030 and to form an Energy Union. One of the reform’s aims is to streamline existing planning and reporting requirements on energy and climate policy. However, much remains to be clarified about how this new governance framework and the new planning and reporting process will work in practice. The studies are available for download.

This study, carried out by Ecologic Institute, provides a set of tools, policy frameworks, and contextual information that can help Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) to develop and initiate their own programs towards successful reaching the Europe 2020 strategy's goals. The study is available for download.

Ecologic Institute welcomes twenty climate scholars from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation on their study tour "Knowledge Transfer for Effective Climate Protection Policies". During their tour the scholars will visit different institutions working in the field of climate change, such as the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA).