<p>Despite extensive discussions, no agreement has been found regarding a common soil indicator for measuring Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in Germany. Major obstacles include low data availability and the effort needed to measure physical soil conditions regularly. During an expert workshop on 27 March 2017 in Berlin, a new and simpler approach, developed by Ecologic Institute in cooperation with the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA), was discussed to determine its suitability for LDN. The core idea of the approach is to measure land use and land use change, directly referring to soil quality in the sense of LDN. The workshop minutes are available for download.</p>&#13;

At an Ecologic evening event on 21 February 2017, Prof. James McGann and Sascha Müller-Kraenner discussed the future of US and EU think tanks under a the Trump administration.

<p>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).</p>&#13;

<p>The Global Go To Think Tank Ranking was launched in capitals around the world on 26-27 January 2017. Ecologic Institute was ranked in seven categories and remains among the Top 10 Environmental Think Tanks globally. The Berlin launch event took place on 27 January, featuring a panel discussion focused on the increasing significance of think tanks in the context of the G20. Ecologic Institute Director, Dr. Camilla Bausch was the moderator.<br /></p>

On 17 January 2017, Ecologic Institute hosted a Dinner Dialoge on the German G20 Presidency featuring guest speakers Simon Marr (Federal Chancellary) and Christian Schubert (BASF). Franzjosef Schafhausen moderated the discussion. The 22 participants discussed how the German G20 Presidency could advance international climate policy.

In January 2017, the Ecologic Institute hosted a group of students from the University of Maryland for a Seminar on Energy, Climate Change and Options for a Low-Carbon Economy. Berlin was the host city for the first leg of the two-week seminar – followed by a week in Venice, hosted by the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)

The election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States raises questions in many policy areas about the future course of the United States. What impact will the new government have on international climate policy, especially in the event that a Trump government withdraws from the Paris Agreement or even leaves the Framework Convention on Climate Change? The discussion will begin with keynote speeches by Miranda Schreurs (energy and climate policy expert and American-born, TU Munich) and Vera Rodenhoff (head of the relevant department at the BMUB).

On the evening of 28 November 2016, Ecologic Institute, in cooperation with the American Security Project (ASP), hosted a private screening of the new documentary Film, "The Age of Consequences".

The Federal Environment Agency was hosting the 3rd National Resources Forum with support of Ecologic Institute on 11 November 2016. The conference took place in the "Ludwig Erhard Haus" in Berlin. The aim of the National Resources Forum (NRF) is to provide a national platform for discussion of the issue of sustainable resource use by focusing on the political and scientific debate on this subject.

Ecologic Institute supported the Federal Environment Agency in organising the 3rd European Resources Forum from 9 until 10 November 2016. The conference took place in the "Ludwig Erhard Haus" in Berlin. The ERF addresses European decision-makers and experts from the fields of policy development, industry, academia, civil society and the media. Around 400 participants from over 32 countries participated in the conference.

Ecologic Institute supported the German Environment Agency in hosting the Conference "Decarbonization and Resource Efficiency – 100% Renewable Energy and more," which took place on 8 November 2016 at the "Ludwig Erhard Haus" in Berlin. The conference highlighted synergies and ways to minimize trade-offs between decarbonization and dematerialization policies.

<p>On 31 October 2016, Ecologic Institute hosted a Dinner Dialoge on the German Climate Action Programme 2020 and the Climate Plan 2050 featuring guest speakers&nbsp; Dr. Karsten Sach, BMUB, Dr. Hermann Hüwels, DIHK, and Regine Günther, WWF.&nbsp; Franzjosef Schafhausen moderated the discussion. The 21 participants discussed which criteria a 2050 climate strategy would need to fulfil, and how this strategy could foster the required transformation towards a low-carbon economy.</p>

The 23 case studies conducted within the BASE project analysed responses and adaptation strategies to climate change impacting different geographical regions (i.e.: coastal zones, urban areas) and various sectors (i.e.: agriculture, forestry and water resource management, etc). The BASE case studies provide an excellent insight into the status-quo of adaptation in Europe as well as comparable data on the effectiveness, costs and benefits, implementation challenges and successes of different responses. BASE researchers cooperated with the European Environment Agency (EEA) to make the knowledge gathered accessible and useable for decision-makers at all levels. Case studies and project findings were integrated into the European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT).

<p>The sixth workshop of the Forum was marked by the beginning of the 2nd management cycle of the Water Framework Directive. At the event, the results of the first management cycle with regard to the status of the fish fauna and the envisaged measures to improve this quality element were reflected. In this context, the assessment methods for the fish fauna in surface water bodies and the passability of barriers and the resulting measures were considered.</p>&#13;&#13;

<p>The framework and a practical example of its application were presented by Gerardo Anzaldua (Ecologic Institute), who led the working group developing the framework, and Nadine Gerner (Emschergenossenschaft), who led the application of the framework on three case study sites in a webinar on 15. September. The webinar includes an ample Q&amp;A session with an extended group of members from the framework development team and lasted over an hour. You also can download the Power Point presentation that was used for the webinar.</p>