In implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Germany has to deal with a range of new challenges. Achieving goals in land and soil protection, for example, cannot build on a long tradition of policymaking or on a solid basis of information and data for monitoring. An expert workshop together with the Federal Agency of Environment (UBA) and Federal Ministry of Environment (BMUB) on 6 July 2016 in Berlin sought to clarify how Germany can achieve "land degradation neutrality" domestically. Stephanie Wunder from Ecologic Institute presented results from a report, which served as the basis for intensive discussions among the participants.

Inefficient use of fertilizers in agriculture means that serious environmental problems are still being created 25 years after the entry into force of the nitrates directive. Using the example of the Weser-Ems region, Evelyn Lukat and Sandra Naumann from the Ecologic Institute describing ways to reduce such problems.

A newly created atlas for fish protection and downstream fish migration ("Atlas Fischschutz & Fischabstieg"), designed and implemented by Ecologic Institute, is online since June 2016. The map indicates all the locations of measures for fish protection and downstream fish migration complemented by information taken from associated studies. Furthermore, the filter function highlights specific research and development projects as well as information regarding specific basics and activities. Stakeholders in terms of fish protection and downstream fish migration are invited to add new content to the atlas.

What signal do private actors need in the emissions trading for the period after the second Kyoto commitment period 2020? How can legal certainty be created for the "climate change" AAUs / CERs / ERUs from the Kyoto era, and what will happen in the future to existing institutions (CDM EB, JISC, registers, trading platforms)? How can the UNFCCC ensure the quality of international climate protection measures and apply reduction measures consistently and transparently? And is there any potential as well as political interest in emission trading clubs? The discussion on these and other questions was initiated by keynote speakers by Dennis Tänzler (adelphi), Lambert Schneider (Stockholm Environment Institute) and Nico Kreibich (Wuppertal Institute).

An online map showing the key, relevant stakeholders in Germany on the issue of sustainable economy is greatly needed—particularly one that displays practitioners and scientific stakeholders separately. This web-based map created for the project, Scientific Co-ordination of Research Projects on a Sustainable Economy, is able to do exactly this! The overview lists around 200 initiatives, projects and institutions. Ecologic Institute is responsible for the concept, design, programming and content production management.

In the last few years, transformation research has gained increasing attention as means of studying socio-ecological crises and radical change towards sustainability. Especially the transformative research mode, through which research actively engages in societal change processes, is intensely debated. This workshop, organized by DRIFT with support from Ecologic Institute, aimed at self-reflection on empirical and theoretical foci, frameworks and suitable research methods in transformation research. The workshop report is available for download.

The workshop "Rostock 2050 - Measures for a post-carbon city, was the fourth and final workshop held in Rostock as part of the project Post-Carbon Cities in Europe: A Long-Term Outlook (POCACITO). In this workshop, the results of the modelling excercise undertaken by the POCACITO team were presented to and discussed with the stakeholders of the participation process in Rostock. The modellers had quantified the decided-upon measures and the ambitious measures of the post-carbon vision elaborated in the previous workshops. The results were presented in a "business-as-usual 2050" and a "post-carbon 2050" scenario. Learing from these results the participants dicussed the gaps remaining on the trajectory to a post-carbon future and which areas should be prioritized to be successful. Furthermore, a focus was on the question, how the EU or the national level could help the city of Rostock to reach its post-carbon goals.

Hermann, Andreas; Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf; Arne Riedel et. al. 2016: Rahmen für Klimaschutzinvestitionen – Hemmnisse und Maßnahmen. Darmstadt/Berlin.

On Saturday, 23 April 2016, 15 children and young adults between the ages of 10 and 17 from different parts of the Ahrensfelde municipality met to participate in a creative workshop. The goal was to create a vision of how their community should develop sustainably until 2030. The day-long workshop was organized by Ecologic Institute in cooperation with the Hochschule Eberswalde, the youth coordinator of the community and the municipality.

The project, "Policy Mix for an Updated Adaptation Action Plan," aimed at developing science-based recommendations for the update to the Adaptation Action Plan of the German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change. The focus was on the compilation and evaluation of potential adaptation measures and political instruments to further their implementation. The final report of this project is available for download.

The conference "Cities and Climate Change – the deluge ahead" on the prevention, adaptation and management of heavy rainfalls took place in Münster on 7 April 2016. The conference brought together 180 participants from management, policy, science, consultancy and practice and was organized by the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MKULNV) and the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Building, Housing and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MBWSV). The objective of the conference was to provide a platform for dialogue and exchange between the participants. The knowledge transfer was aimed at increasing the awareness of climate impacts as well as showing the need for prevention.

AQUACROSS consortium 2016: Knowledge, Assessment, and Management for AQUAtic Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services aCROSS EU policies. Brochure.

In the project "Scientific coordination of research projects on a sustainable economy" (Wissenschaftliche Koordination der Fördermaßnahme Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften, NaWiKo) Ecologic Institute and its partners coordinate 30 research projects, which deal with a more sustainable economy and are supported by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF).

Hirschnitz-Garbers, Martin and Christiane Gerstetter (2016): Scientific Coordination of Research Projects on a Sustainable Economy. Flyer.