Meyer-Ohlendorf, Nils 2018: Europa in der Polarisierungsfalle. Befürworter der EU bescheren Salvini und Orbán einen strategischen Vorteil. Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft. [online] Available at: https://www.ipg-journal.de

This final report presents the results of the research project "Internet of services and things and compliance with environmental standards of technical infrastructures – a concept study for Schwerin and its surroundings". The report is available for download.

For the Federal Environment Agency of Germany a consortium of Consideo, adelphi, Ecologic Institute, FEST and sociodimensions developed a quantitative simulation model to run scenarios on the potentials for a transition of society towards sustainability. The model explores the effects of a transition on the environment, climate change, use of resources, the economy, welfare, and happiness. The publication is available online.

For the Federal Environment Agency of Germany a consortium of Consideo, adelphi, Ecologic Institute, FEST and sociodimensions developed a quantitative simulation model to run scenarios on the potentials for a transition of society towards sustainability. The model explores the effects of a transition on the environment, climate change, use of resources, the economy, welfare, and happiness. The report is available for download.

On 30 November 2018, Linda Mederake, Junior Researcher at Ecologic Institute, presented the Institute's activities in the field of plastics governance to a group of students from the International Degree Program Political Management (B.A.) at Hochschule Bremen, City University of Applied Sciences. The presentation took place in the context of an excursion of the study programme, during which the students got to know the "political Berlin" and exchanged views on several selected topics with various actors from research, politics, business and civil society.

The development of regional food strategies and cooperative approaches between urban and rural areas to reduce land take represent a suitable approach to the development of sustainable rural-urban linkages. Concrete policy recommendations can be found in the discussion paper of the Rural-Urban-Nexus project led by Ecologic Institute, which was discussed in the final workshop on 29 November 2018.

How is the Paris Agreement relevant for people active in the building sector? What can and should architects, energy consultants, or installers contribute to achieving the goals of this international climate agreement? Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute tried to bridge the gap between the international and the local level before 500 experts in her Keynote Address at the 20th annual conference "Herbstforum Altbau" in Stuttgart (Germany).

Plastic in the environment is a global problem that is particularly visible in a growing volume of plastic waste in the sea. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has set up a major research focus to investigate the extent of the problem in more detail and to develop approaches to reducing it. Until 2021, a total of 18 joint projects with more than 100 institutions from science, industry, and practice will be funded with 35 million euros in one of the world's largest research programmes on plastics to date. In addition to the main areas of work, the authors of the Ecologic Institute examines the research projects in more detail.

As the institution in charge of the German government sponsored initiative "Scientific Coordination of the Support Measure for Sustainable Management" (NaWiKo), Ecologic Institute was involved with several of its working papers. These are available for download and summarise the results of various NaWiKo research projects on specific individual aspects of a sustainable economy, including policy recommendations for promoting sustainable food systems in Germany. The working papers are available for download.

During this panel discussion, moderated by R. Andreas Kraemer, the performance promises of companies in the digital economy were examined from a scientific and practical perspective, and challenges for company rating and concerns for ethical investment were explored.

On 7 November 2018, federal ministers Elisabeth Köstinger, Norbert Hofer and Heinz Faßmann kicked-off the process for the development of a national bioeconomy strategy in Austria. A conference entitled "Bioeconomy: Sustainable and Circular" was organised, which brought together relevant stakeholders as part of an intensified discourse about the future of the bioeconomy in Austria. Ecologic Institute's Holger Gerdes had been invited to take part in a panel discussion.

This discussion paper, edited by Ecologic Institute, presents the physicochemical investigation methods used in the research focus "Plastics in the Environment", in particular for the analysis of microplastics. Therefore, representatives of the joint research projects discussed methods and analytical approaches to identify validated methods and comparable results in the various projects. The discussion paper reflects the current state the debate within the research focus. It contributes to a pool of methods that are as standardised as possible for the relevant application fields in science, industry, and administration and is available for download.

To emphasise important messages of the IPCC special report relating to climate and environmental policy and to make them available for policy-making, the German Federal Environment Agency presented selected findings of the report in a webinar on 26 October 2018. A second webinar on this topic took place on 23 November 2018. Ecologic Institute supported the Federal Environment Agency in the logistical and content-related organisation of both webinars.

Since industrialisation, the average air temperature worldwide has risen by one degree, whereas in the Arctic by five degrees. This leads to rapid changes with serious consequences. This animated explanatory video by the UBA explains what this has to do with us in Germany, 2000 kilometers away. It outlines the federal government's commitment to the Arctic and what each individual can do to protect the Arctic.

What does Germany have to do with the Arctic and what impact do Germans' daily decisions have on it? These and other questions were discussed on 22 October 2018 during Ecologic Institute's evening event on Germany's Arctic activities, part of a project for the German Environment Agency (UBA). The evening brought a broader audience together with experts in a scientific setting and enabled exchange interaction with various German organisations at information booths. The evening’s opening event was the premiere of a short documentary film called "Footsteps in the Arctic," which explores to what extent Germans are responsible for the changes in the Arctic and what they can do.