The report first presents non-institutional factors that influence the relationship between urban and rural areas. In the second part, it provides an overview of institutional framework conditions and instruments for the design of sustainable urban-rural linkages. The third section of the report analyses existing instruments and policies for the sustainable design of urban-rural linkages. It covers instruments at the German, EU and international levels. Examples of good practice from European and non-European countries in the field of "regional food systems" have a complementary, illustrative function.

Magosch, Magdalena, Raffaele Piria, Jakob Eckardt 2019: Überblick über die australische Energiepolitik. Berlin: adelphi/RAP.

As part of a project to structure the energy law, Ecologic Institute contributed to concluding recommendations on the "Improved disclosure of subsidised renewable energy quantities and general electricity disclosure in Germany". The recommendations include general recommendations for the further development of accounting instruments of electricity disclosure, measures to improve the disclosure of supported electricity from renewable sources, additional measures on the format and content of electricity disclosure, and monitoring.

This research report examines the concrete goals of bioeconomy policies, which actors are involved, which positions these actors take, which arguments for and against bioeconomy strategies are used, and which ethical implications the promotion of the bioeconomy could have.

The widespread use of plastics, the mass consumption of disposable plastic products and the longevity of plastics lead to a waste volume that can hardly be managed anymore. Many people are particularly alarmed by the pollution of the oceans by microplastics and plastic waste. Despite all this, the volume of packaging per capita continues to rise and has doubled over the last twenty years – to 213 kilograms in 2015. The intense public debate has also called for a political response: A European plastics strategy is currently aimed at banning straws and plastic tableware. But can this solve the environmental problem? How serious are the effects of plastic waste and microplastics on the environment? What are the right steps to take to reduce the impact on the environment and the use of plastics?

On 26 June 2019, the NaWiKo workshop "Sustainable management in companies through employee integration in corporate sustainability innovations" took place in the facilities of the KUKA Gmbh in Siegen. The aim of the workshop was to discuss findings from research projects dealing with the relevance of the involvement of employees and users in corporate sustainability innovations with company representatives from the manufacturing industry. The goal of the exchange was to discuss the role and the challenges regarding Open Innovation (meaning the involvement of employees and users) for corporate sustainability innovations in terms of whether and under what conditions research findings can be relevant for and applicable to everyday business life.

The fourth episode of the environment podcast "Knowledge for Future" focuses on opportunities for creating comprehensively sustainable value chains within an operation and provides a picture of environmentally conscious coexistence for the near future.

The third episode of the environment-focused podcast "Knowledge for Future" looks at concepts for sustainable financing.

"Sustainable Agriculture – Someone has to take the first step": Welcome to the second episode of the environment-focused podcast series "Knowledge for Future", produced by Ecologic Institute and detector.fm. Today organic products are all the rage, but long before the big supermarket chains added organic milk and co. to their product range, people in Germany were dedicated to biological, sustainable agriculture.

In June 2019, the stakeholder workshop "Optimal soil management to ensure yield capacity & acceptance analysis of measures to upgrade the subsoil" of the BMBF-funded BonaRes project "Soil³ – Sustainable Subsoil Management" took place in Moltzow (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). This workshop is part of a series of workshops with the aim to discuss and gather the prevailing opinions on subsoil management measures with the help of an acceptance analysis. Ecologic Institute researchers discussed with farmers and other ecological actors under which conditions they would implement or support these measures.

On 17 June 2019, the NaWiKo workshop "Sustainable management in companies based on the example of bioplastics" took place at the facilities of Bio-Molkerei Söbbeke GmbH, a sustainable creamery, in Gronau near Münster. The aim of the workshop was for company representatives from the packaging and food industry to discuss findings from research projects that dealt with sustainability effects of bioplastics and bio-based materials.

On 17 June 2019 the workshop "Federal and regional governments in dialogue on sustainable food systems. From individual projects to a holistic strategy?" took place at the EUREF Campus in Berlin with 30 participants. The aim of the event was to discuss how strategies could be developed that not only address the topic of sustainable nutrition in a politically comprehensive way, but which are also based on the numerous good individual initiatives and projects at the federal and regional level.

Sustainable management and climate protection policy – these are the topics of the new podcast series "Knowledge for future". We will present people and ideas that set an example in making the economy more sustainable. It will also focus on current developments in climate protection policy. The podcast series is a collaboration between Ecologic Institute and detektor.fm and is presented in this teaser.

The Ecologic Institute organised in June 2019 the two-day Future Workshop of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) on Floodplains and River Development as Future Tasks for Departmental Research. The BfN introduced the instrument of future workshops in 2015 in order to determine and discuss medium- and long-term research needs in selected topic areas on an annual basis. The main target is the exchange between research institutions, operators and users of research results with the specialist departments of the BfN.

In response to Brexit, the EU has initiated a process of self-reflection and, if necessary, reform - the so-called Bratislava Process or the Process of the Future of Europe. As a contribution to this process, the Ecologic Institute explored with different partners how climate policy can support this process and how climate policy can benefit from it. On June 13, the Ecologic Institute presented the project results in Berlin.