Ecologic Institute is member of the European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal and Marine waters (ETC-ICM) which works with the European Environment Agency (EEA) under a Framework Partnership Agreement for the period from 2019 to 2021.

With the recent update of its Bioeconomy Strategy, the guidance of its advisory bodies and the engagement of regional groups and representatives, Europe has found a new track towards a sustainable bioeconomy, building on the notion that regions are the most appropriate territorial level at which to implement bioeconomy strategies. The BE-Rural project incorporates this regional focus into its core vision, putting its regional Open Innovation Platforms (OIPs) front and center in the process of studying the potential for regional bioeconomies, and articulating and implementing strategies to make them a reality.

This report outlines the conceptual framework of BE-Rural and provides practical guidance to the design and implementation of the five regional Open Innovation Platforms (OIPs) within BE-Rural. This conceptual framework aims to provide guidance regarding the overall ambition of BE-Rural, and the foundations by which the project will operate throughout its duration. The first part of this document describes the context, objectives and regional focus to be taken within the project. The second part outlines key concepts and founding principles that lay at the heart of the project. Following this, the conceptual framework of BE-Rural is presented and discussed.

To mark the launch of the 2019 Global Think Tank Ranking report on 30 January 2020, Ecologic Institute convened and hosted a breakfast discussion of think tankers and policy experts to discuss "The Future of Think Tanks and Policy Advice". The event, co-hosted and sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, was part of a worldwide launch of the report in over 130 cities around the world, with over 500 think tanks hosting or co-hosting.

This final report addresses the question of how German resource policy could be further developed, based on the studies within the research project "Policies to Strengthen the German Resource Efficiency Program" (PolRess II). Options for further development are shown and their possible advantages and disadvantages discussed. Options include tailoring the process of the strategy, dealing with related strategy processes, and instrumentation. The final report of the PolRess II project, to which Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers of Ecologic Institute contributed, is available for download.

Hidden in plain sight, digitalisation has appeared as one – if not the – central force of change in the 21st century. The digital age offers the potential to both enable and radically counteract the socio-ecological transformation. Correspondingly, structuring the digitalisation wave has becomes an important factor for sustainability policy. When used wisely, artificial intelligence (AI) can produce a new level of quality for solution strategies. The question remains: do we require a new collective knowledge-based solution for using AI to address issues of sustainable transformation in organizations, economic systems and infrastructures? The Ecological Research Network (Ecornet) invited the public to discuss this question.

With future climate neutrality in view green activists from Berlin's city districts discussed local climate action at the "#FromVisionToAction!" conference. In her introductory keynote, Dr. Camilla Bausch elaborated on the current global political trends as well as the meaning of "climate neutrality", and discussed options for local action in the subsequent panel discussion with Regine Günther (Berlin Senator), Sascha Müller-Kraenner (DUH), and Clara Herrmann (District Councilor).

Infrastructure systems are undergoing a process of profound transformation. They are under great pressure to change in order to contribute to changing social objectives. Expectations and challenges with regard to climate adaptation and climate protection, the circular economy, energy system transformation including the phasing out of nuclear power, coal, mobility, decarbonisation, as well as the long-term processes of urbanisation and demographic change are setting new goals, which also affect the development of infrastructures. The new technical possibilities of information and communication technologies in the wake of the digital transformation, including the increasing familiarity of the users in their application, together with the new objectives lead to a great dynamic of change towards more efficiency, comfort and partly completely new services.

The European Commission will propose a European Climate Law in early March 2020. This 'Law' is a critical step to make Europe climate neutral. It can close gaps in existing EU climate rules. These gaps will impede the EU from becoming climate neutral before 2050. A new Ecologic paper presents a draft European Climate Law. The paper is available for download.

Public opinion seems to have settled on the conviction that the climate crisis is Europe's latest political divide - after migration, the Euro and conflicts over the rule of law. But there is another story that needs to be told. Climate policies have always been contentious. They are bound to be. But contrary to the growing perception of climate policies as Europe's new political divide, climate is a policy field where Europe works together, writes Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf in the Tagesspiegel.

Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Legal, has published an article on the Federal Climate Protection Act in the first edition of this year's Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht (NVwZ). The contribution is a joint effort by several authors, two of them officials at the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety (BMU) who have worked on the Climate Protection Act. The article presents the main elements of the new law and discusses its legal and practical impact. It can be obtained via the website of the NVwZ.

The role of think tanks in a world of transitions and turbulences was the overarching topic of the 2019 Global Think Tank Summit in Rio de Janeiro. One of the prominent topics discussed was the climate crisis. In this context, an international panel chaired by Dr. Camilla Bausch examined new policies, paradigms and public engagement strategies around the world.

The European Ocean Coalition (EU4Ocean) connects diverse organisations, projects and people that contribute to ocean literacy and the sustainable management of the ocean. Supported by the European Commission, this bottom-up inclusive initiative aims at uniting the voices of Europeans to make the ocean a concern of everyone!

The UNITED project provides evidence by means of pilot demonstrators that the development of multi-use platforms or co-location of different activities in a marine and ocean space is a viable approach (economically, socially and environmentally) for European maritime industry and local ecosystems. The economic and environmental benefits of multiple use of the marine and ocean space include the possibility of increasing resource efficiency by sharing infrastructure and logistics. However, the practicability of multiple use depends on a variety of factors, which the UNITED project is seeking to address through five pillars: Technology, economy, environment, society and legal/policy/governance/.

Technological developments and trends can contribute significantly to resource conservation. In addition to political framework conditions, social routines, patterns of action and consumption styles are important, as they have a considerable influence on individual and societal resource requirements. The present trend analysis therefore systematically examines how socio-economic and socio-cultural trends can affect the use of resources.