In the Ecornet Berlin research partnership, five Berlin institutes of transdisciplinary sustainability research were jointly providing impetus for Berlin's transformation. Their annual conference, "Knowledge. Change. Berlin. 2021" brought current research findings into dialogue with experiences from other cities and the voices of Berlin's practitioners and civil society – for a social and ecological capital.

This article describes the project "Drought and Water Use Conflicts in Germany (WADKlim)" its approach and the context in Germany. The project provides a nationwide overview of current water availability and its future development under climate change conditions. It analyzes emerging conflicts of use and develops possible solution strategies. For example, a concept for regional water advisory councils to strengthen intersectoral coordination will be designed. In addition, the potential of water reuse for irrigation in urban areas will be investigated. The project is funded by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA).

Germany wants to become climate-neutral by 2045, the EU by 2050. Both targets became legally binding in 2021, an important breakthrough on the way to structural transformation to a climate-friendly economy. What further breakthroughs are needed to anchor this transformation in society and enable its implementation? How can the responsibility of individuals as well as economic actors for climate protection be realized?

The project "Elaborating Strategies and Contributions to Implement SDG12 on the National Level for Germany" established systematic activity monitoring for the national and international implementation of SDG 12 by Germany. The aim: to determine the implementation status – in addition to the UN and DNS sustainability indicators for SDG 12 – and derive potential options for action. This report presents the project results.

In Berlin, a variety of initiatives show how the economy can be different: with more solidarity, more democracy, more ecological and better for all. We discuss why this is not easy, but can be promising. In the sixth edition of Wandelwecker, our morning impulse for a social and ecological metropolis, we discussed these questions with two experts.

The expert dialogue aims at informing and discussing the implementation of Re-Use and recycling measures for insulation materials. The Berlin Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection, the "Verband für Dämmsysteme, Putz und Mörtel" (Association for Insulation Systems, Plaster and Mortar) and the "Gesamtverband Deutscher Holzhandel" (German Timber Trade Association) invite you to attend – alongside around 250 expected participants – the Webinar, taking place on 6 October 2021. Ecologic Institute supports organising and implementing the event logistically and technically.

In the "Smart Energy Showcase" programme (SINTEG), more than 300 research institutes and companies in five model regions developed solutions for a future energy system that will be entirely based on renewable energies. The participants not only developed new technologies, processes and market mechanisms, they also proposed changes to the legal framework that would allow those solutions to be scaled up. Commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economics and Energy that initiated SINTEG, Ecologic Institute just published a systematic overview of the issues addressed in these proposals for regulatory change. Moreover, the report discusses the proposals in the context of the ongoing national energy policy debate.

Promising approaches were identified via participatory stakeholder workshops, that could contribute to establishing circular construction in Berlin. Such approaches include a stronger orientation of the legal framework towards the circular economy, for example through an obligation to selective deconstruction in the Berlin Building Code. On the other hand, there is a need for even stronger public procurement of circular approaches in the building sector by facilitating the consideration of life-cycle costs in procurement practice. With the combination of these approaches, it seems possible to establish Berlin as a Circular City in the building sector in the long term.

This policy brief examines current proposals for the further expansion of photovoltaics. It shows that the two central goals – accelerating the PV expansion and involving residents – are in tension with each other, at least in the short term. Based on the analysis, the following sequence of measures is proposed: First, as an immediate intervention, PV plants that feed all of their electricity generation into the grid should be made economically viable again.

The digital, or perhaps in this case "intelligent" technologies that are to shape all areas of society in the future, especially our cities, need regulation. After all, these kinds of technologies inform, decide and control — but in whose interest and with which objectives in mind? Recently, there has been increasing thought and debate about the possibilities of democratic data governance "from below". Citizens should (also) be able to decide what intelligent, data-driven machines are used for by consciously sharing their data. Can such approaches be a model for the sustainable digitalization of cities and municipalities and provide a counterweight to the data monopolies of large corporations? What could democratic data governance in Berlin look like?

On September 2021 at the online Future Forum, the research network Ecornet Berlin discuss the future of cities and their relationship to the surrounding areas with an expert panel

The Berlin Energy and Climate Protection Program 2030 gives solar energy a central role, as it is the most important renewable energy source that can be developed locally. The state government wants to cover 25 percent of Berlin's electricity supply from solar energy as quickly as possible. In the densely populated city, this also requires the roofs of apartment buildings to be used. In the discussion format Wandelwecker on 8 September 2021, Fabian Zuber from the Reiner Lemoine Foundation and Ecologic Institute's Katharina Umpfenbach discussed options transforming the regulation of tenant electricity and local solar power supply. The event was moderated by Valentin Tappeser from IÖW. It became clear that solar expansion can only be achieved at the required speed with a fundamentally new regulatory approach centered around joint self-supply that intelligently links on-site power generation via solar systems with charging of electric vehicles and heat generation.

On 1 September 2021, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, participated as an expert in a hearing of the Hessian State Parliament's Committee for Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection on the draft of the SPD parliamentary group for a law to protect people and nature from climate change and its consequences. Together with twelve associations and experts, he commented on the draft law and answered questions from members of parliament. The written statement of Stephan Sina is published on the website of the Hessian State Parliament (Part 1, page 39 ff.) and is available here separately as a download.

The funding call "Municipal Networks" is part of the National Climate Initiative (NCI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Since 2008, the NCI funds climate protection projects throughout Germany, thus contributing to the achievement of the Federal Government's climate protection goals. The funding call pursues the economic and sustainable unlocking of saving potentials in the field of energy efficiency, resource efficiency and climate-friendly mobility through cooperation between municipalities and administrative units. The two funding phases cover the recruitment of municipal participants in energy efficiency networks (recruitment phase) and the establishment and operation of these networks (network phase). The funding also serves to permanently maintain these networks beyond the funding period to continuously implement further efficiency measures within this framework.

The funding call for the Innovative Climate Protection Projects is part of the National Climate Protection Initiative (NCI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Since 2008, the NCI funds climate protection projects throughout Germany, thus contributing to the achievement of the Federal Government's climate protection goals. The innovative climate protection projects impart new or disseminate existing knowledge to change behaviour, purchasing decisions, practices, and processes. To this end, the projects run campaigns or provide direct advice, facilitate knowledge exchange, and help with capacity building and education in the diverse climate-relevant fields of action.