Plastic waste in rivers and seas is a global environmental problem. But how does this waste end up in our waterways – and what can policymakers, scientists and society do about it? Doris Knoblauch, Director of the Resources Programme at Ecologic Institute, will discuss these questions live on WDR 5's "Quarks – Wissenschaft und mehr" on 15 September 2026 at 15:05. Listeners can call in during the programme and put their questions directly to the expert.

In the science section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Arne Riedel, a lawyer at Ecologic Institute and expert on Arctic governance, commented on current debates about the protection of Arctic sea ice. The article explores new legal ideas for protecting the Arctic – including the discussion of whether nature, such as Arctic sea ice, could be granted its own rights.

In this episode of the MERLIN Podcast, the conversation turns to the role of agriculture in freshwater restoration. The hosts speak with Josselin Rouillard, an Ecologic Institute researcher involved in the EU-funded MERLIN project, about how water-friendly farming can be scaled up across Europe. Drawing on new policy recommendations, they discuss how the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) could be reshaped to better support freshwater ecosystems and promote water-resilient agricultural landscapes.

In this episode of the MERLIN Podcast, we take a tour of the MERLIN Academy, an online platform offering free training and resources to support freshwater restoration across Europe. The hosts speak with Academy coordinator Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber (BOKU), alongside module leaders Erica Zaja (UKCEH), Kerry Waylen (James Hutton Institute), and Ecologic Institute's Gerardo Andalzua, as well as Academy user Lars Kristian Selbekk. Together, they highlight the importance of sharing open-access knowledge and reflect on key themes such as nature-based solutions, financing and economics, stakeholder engagement, and governance.

Melting sea ice, new shipping routes and growing geopolitical tensions are changing the Arctic – a region where the consequences of climate change are particularly evident. Arne Riedel, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, spoke about the ecological, political and security developments in this sensitive region of the world in an interview with Axel Dorloff (rbb Inforadio / Wissenswerte).

Permanent carbon dioxide removals will require major investment – meeting the EU's aspirational 2030 target could cost €2.4-€6.7 billion. The key question is: what role can the EU play? To unpack the implications of this blueprint, last September CDR Policy Scoop welcomed Hugh McDonald, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute and lead author of the report.

The podcast "Polski Kongres Klimatyczny 2024" features highlights from the discussion that took place at the Polish Climate Congress in March 2024. In the podcast, Ewa Iwaszuk, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, discusses the importance of "green synergy" in municipal cooperation and emphasizes the role of nature-based solutions (NbS) in the development of sustainable cities. Ewa Iwaszuk highlighted how the work of Ecologic Institute and its partners supports cities to effectively integrate these approaches into their infrastructure projects in order to tackle climate change and improve quality of life.

Organized by the Euro-Mediterranean Climate Change Center (CMCC) in close collaboration with the EU Climate Change Adaptation Mission, the European project Climateurope2 celebrated a festival uniting science, services and standards for a climate resilient future from 11 to 13 March 2024. Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute contributed to the festival with a set of activities spanning from facilitation of fishbowl discussion and break out groups with practitioners to an interview with the media team of Climateurope2. Climateurope2 team wishes to thank all participants for actively participating in the Climateurope2 Festival. The insightful discussions, presentations and debates that took place over the three days of the event laid the basis for fostering new connections within the European climate services community.

In the economic climate podcast "The Price is Hot," Benjamin Görlach, along with Johannes Eber and Nils Hesse from Die Dezentrale, discussed global trends and developments in the context of emissions trading and CO₂ prices.

In this interview with klimafakten.de, Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf from Ecologic Institute talks about the results of two recent surveys about polarization on the topic of climate change in the German society, and discusses their significance for the climate movement.

Climate adaptation and climate protection are among the most important challenges of our time and have therefore become a major policy responsibility. The same applies to protecting biodiversity and ensuring the availability of water. Nature-based solutions (NBS) can play an essential role in addressing these challenges, as they are multifunctional and can generate high synergy effects. But what exactly are NBS, what do they have to do with climate adaptation, and can they be implemented? Sandra Naumann, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, answered these questions in an interview with adelphi. The interview was published in the fifth issue of the Center for Climate Adaptation's Newsletter.

Diverse crop rotation, mechanical weed control, beneficial insects to protect crops: According to a study commissioned by BUND, standard practice in organic farming could also be used more often by conventional farmers. Aaron Scheid from the Ecologic Institute and author of the study in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio about non chemical plant protection measures.

In this podcast's episode, Benjamin Görlach of the Ecologic Institute, describes how pricing and policy interact to foster a faster energy transition. Interviewed by Michael LaBelle, episode 66 covers everything from the EU's emission trading system, the dominance of electricity for transport and the 4i-TRACTION project – standing for innovation, investment, infrastructure and sector integration.

In an interview with "Bürger schaffen Wissen", the central platform for citizen science in Germany, Linda Mederake (Ecologic Institute) and Tim Kiessling (Kiel Science Factory) talk about the history of the citizen science project "Plastic Pirates", their experiences in working with school classes and their expectations for the ECSA Conference 2022.