Germany

News
 
On 4 June 2025, children from Berlin's Schinkel Elementary School embarked on a new mission as part of the Citizen-Science Project Plastic Pirates Go Europe! – to investigate plastic waste by the River Spree. Together with Doris Knoblauch and Hannah Brunkhorst (both Ecologic Institute), the pirates explored the riverbank and made a few exciting discoveries.
 

Sampling with Schinkel Elementary School by River Spree

Plastic Pirates Spring Campaign 2025

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Event:Discussion
 
The inaugural Horizon Scan was a success. In a small group, our researchers discussed Europe's capacity for innovation and long-term resilience with representatives from politics, public authorities, and civil society. For the keynote speech, we were fortunate to have Ulrich Wilhelm, a lawyer, journalist, and former government spokesman and former Director of Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Is Europe Strong Enough for the Future?

Horizon Scan


Berlin, Germany

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Presentation:Speech
 
As part of the annual Marine Nature Conservation Colloquium, scientists from the research projects commissioned by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) present their interim results and open questions. On behalf of Ecologic Institute, Dr. Grit Martinez presented initial results from the research project The German North Sea and Baltic Sea over 100 years ago (HISTOMAR). The "Shifting Baseline Syndrome" was the focus of the presentation and the subsequent discussion.

Protecting Marine Ecosystems with Historical Knowledge


Dr. Grit Martinez

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News
 
Across Europe, cities are feeling the growing impact of climate change – from prolonged heatwaves to more frequent and severe flooding. For local planners and decision-makers, responding to these complex challenges often means navigating tough decisions with limited guidance. To bridge this gap, the REACHOUT project has developed two new explainer videos that bring climate service tools to life. These short, accessible films introduce the Triple-A Toolkit – a practical, science-based platform designed to support urban adaptation and resilience planning.
 

Building Resilient Cities

New Videos and Tools for Heat and Flood

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News
 
This spring, the German Plastic Pirates are once again setting off to explore plastic pollution in our waters. From 1 May to 30 June 2025, school classes and youth groups are invited to take part in the sampling period. The investigation will focus on the German coasts and the river systems of the Elbe and Danube, including their tributaries.
 

The Plastic Pirates' New Sampling Period is Dedicated to Plastic Waste Pollution on the Coasts and in the Elbe and Danube Catchment Areas

– 1 May until 30 June 2025 –

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Presentation:Lecture
 
On 17 March 2025, Doris Knoblauch (Ecologic Institute) gave a presentation on "Plastics and the Environment", highlighting the negative impacts of plastics and plastic pollution at a post-graduate course attended by 21 experts from ministries, authorities, municipalities, NGOs and industry from low-income countries and emerging economies. The focus was on why plastic pollution is a problem for both the environment and human health, the role of textiles, and why we urgently need an international, legally binding plastics treaty.

Plastics and Their Global Impact: Why the World Needs a Binding Agreement


Doris Knoblauch

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Event:Conference
 
The kick-off conference at the Umweltforum Berlin on 11 and 12 March 2025 marked the start of the new 'Circular Textiles' funding measure from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), in which a total of 16 joint research projects and an accompanying networking and transfer project will be working on solutions to support a circular textile economy until 2028. The aim of the event, which was attended by around 100 people, was to present the individual projects, identify common challenges and derive cross-cutting topics for collaborative work.

Kick-off Conference of the BMBF Funding Measure "Circular Textiles"

Exciting presentations and interesting discussions on various aspects of circular textiles

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Berlin, Germany

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News
 
Over the past two decades, Europe has witnessed a concerning trend of escalating water scarcity and more frequent drought events, with projections indicating a continuation of this trend into the future. Europe must confront water stress risks and adapt its governance to build water resilience. In a series of three reports, Ecologic Institute, together with partners from the EU project GOVAQUA, examine three topics of critical importance for water resilience.
 

GOVAQUA Policy Matrix

Governance Innovations for Sustainable and Equitable Water Use in Europe

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Event:Conference
 
On 4 March 2025, over 100 stakeholders from administration, agriculture, civil society, NGOs, and academia convened in Hamburg to kick off the participatory process for developing the city's Zukunft Agrar+ 2045 strategy. The aim: to jointly develop a long-term vision for Hamburg's agricultural sector that will inform practical measures and shape the city's transition toward sustainability and climate neutrality.

Zukunft Agrar+ 2045 – Kick-off event

Shaping the Future of Sustainable Agriculture in Hamburg


Hamburg, Germany

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Event:Conference
 
On 25 February 2025, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM, the expert dialogue "Access not Ownership: Opportunities and Challenges of the Sharing Economy" took place. The event was organized by the Ecologic Institute on behalf of the Berlin Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection, and the Environment (SenMVKU) and was held in Berlin.

Access not Ownership: Opportunities and Challenges of the Sharing Economy


Berlin, Germany

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News
 
In a project for the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), the Ecologic Institute, in collaboration with the University and University Medical Center of Kiel, developed educational and informational materials on the environmental aspects of pharmaceuticals. All materials can be ordered or downloaded free of charge through the UBA portal "Pharmaceuticals and the Environment," which was also created as part of the project.
 

Pharmaceuticals and the Environment: New Teaching and Informational Materials Now Available!

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Presentation:Panel discussion
 
On 21 January 2025, the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN) hosted a panel discussion to discuss the next steps in the global plastics negotiations. The fifth round of negotiations in November 2024 ended without an agreement – a failure? Doris Knoblauch, scientist at Ecologic Institute, took part in the panel discussion and reported on the progress of the negotiations and how things could now proceed from her perspective.

On the Way to a UN Plastics Agreement


Doris Knoblauch

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Event:Discussion
 
Veranstaltungsankündigung für das Zukunftsforum des Ecornet – Ecological Research Network. Titel: "Vom Hof bis auf den Tisch: Impulse für eine zeitgemäße Ernährung". Datum und Uhrzeit: Dienstag, 21. Januar 2025, 18:00 Uhr. Ort: Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte, Greifswalder Straße 4, 10405 Berlin. Weitere Informationen unter www.ecornet.eu/zukunftsforum. Der Hintergrund ist orange, und rechts unten ist ein Bild von jungen Pflanzensprossen auf einem Acker zu sehen.
On 21 January 2025, Ecornet experts will meet in Berlin to discuss how a sustainable food transformation can succeed. Register and bring your perspectives into the discussion!

From Farm to Fork

Impulses for contemporary nutrition


Berlin, Germany

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News
 
social media card with statement and photo
The fifth round of negotiations (#INC5) to agree on an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) to end plastic pollution took place from 25 November to 1 December in Busan, South Korea. Originally intended to be the last round of negotiations leading to a plastics treaty, UN member states failed to agree on such a treaty. Many stakeholders left disappointed, and both member states and observers will have to meet again at an INC5.2 in 2025 to continue their work to end plastic pollution.
 

Steps Forward Amid Setbacks: Progress Toward a Global Plastics Treaty

INC5 in Busan highlights growing ambition and unity, despite delays in reaching a final agreement to end plastic pollution.

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