Air pollution is becoming a pressing issue, especially in Vietnam's bigger cities. The Ecologic Institute supports the Vietnamese government in its current revision of the Law on Environmental Protection by researching international experience and providing tailored solutions for the Vietnamese context.

On 9 May 2019, the European Council meets in Sibiu (Romania). Not long ago, this meeting was expected to be an important milestone in the Process on the Future of the EU. Now, expectations are much lower. Avoiding controversy is the first order of business. But the core questions of the Process on the Future of the EU will not go away: how to maintain and develop a strong EU? This question will stick with us, and it will keep the new Parliament and the new Commission busy. This article by Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf (Ecologic Institute) and Sebastian Oberthür (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) is available online.

On May 9 and 10, 2019 the REFRESH conference took place in the Disseny Hub Barcelona. It brought together 150 participants from all across Europe, China, Australia and the US to present and discuss innovative ideas for food waste reduction and valorisation options acrosOn 9 and 10 May 2019 the REFRESH conference took place in the Disseny Hub Barcelona. It brought together 150 participants from all across Europe, China, Australia and the US to present and discuss innovative ideas for food waste reduction and valorisation options across the whole supply chain. The Conference Documentation is available for download at the REFRESH website.s the whole supply chain. The Conference Documentation is available for download at the REFRESH website.

In January 2019, a stakeholder commission established by the German government agreed upon a schedule to decommission coal-fired power plants by 2038 at the latest and a framework for financial assistance to regions affected by the transition. Environmental groups have argued for years that Germany will not get back on track to its climate targets if it does not tackle the coal question. However, as a historic ingredient of Germany's industrial might, coal as source of energy was considered taboo for policy-makers until recently. How did this major paradigm shift come about – and what made an agreement among different stakeholders possible?

Ecologic Institute designed a programme flyer as part of the visual identity for the project "Plastic in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions." The programme flyer was developed and designed to provide relevant content on the conference agenda in a concerted way to participants.

Ecologic Institute designed a programme flyer as part of the visual identity for the project "Plastic in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions." The programme flyer was developed and designed to provide relevant content on conference context, agenda, and the venue in a concerted way to participants.

Science is believed to provide the most objective basis for effective decision-making, though it is rarely implemented in environmental management. Here, the authors reflect on the results of a regional workshop aimed at exploring the knowledge and use of scientific evidence by environmental managers in an ecologically diverse region in southern Spain: Andalusia.

Re-using used goods and products offers numerous economic, ecological and social potentials. Nevertheless, current waste management practice treats re-use as a secondary priority and not in the sense of a circular economy. This is particularly due to lacking attractive and easily accessible offers and a lack of a corresponding demand for used goods.

The use of the term "driving ban" can give the impression of a general and comprehensive ban on driving. In this sense, it means, rather, a ban on mobility. The term thus does not only suggest a banishment, but also an interference in the personal freedom of all drivers, not only of diesel drivers. "Traffic restrictions" is the more precise term with respect to the content. Dr. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf, Head of International and European Governance, and Katharina Umpfenbach, Coordinator Energy of the Ecologic Institute, discuss this in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The article is available online.

The conference proceedings for the status conference of the research focus "Plastics in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions", presenting the joint research projects and cross-cutting topics, are available for download.

This assessment system is the first of its kind with an integrated approach to assess sustainability and the transformative potential of civil society initiatives.

Is it possible to modernize apartment buildings to net zero within just a few days? The innovators at ecoworks claim just this and were awarded with the jury’s prize at this year’s DENEFF annual conference. Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute headed the jury for the third consecutive year to choose the winner of the competition. The innovation by ecoworks was only one of many exciting projects in the running for the 2019 PERPETUUM Energy Efficiency Prize.

Energy security – the uninterrupted supply of energy at reasonable prices, as defined by IEA – has both external and internal dynamics. It can be ensured through local adequacy, that is, abundant and varied forms of indigenous energy resources, but the countries that face local shortages, as in Bangladesh, depend on imports. Shafiqul Alam explains in his online article in the Dhaka Tribune how internal measures could attenuate reliance on external sources.

In response to Brexit, the EU embarked on a process of reflection and possibly reform, the so-called Bratislava Process or the Process on the Future of Europe. At its meeting on 9 May 2019, the European Council was expected to draw first conclusions. As a contribution to this process, the Ecologic Institute, the Istituto Affari Internazionali, the Institute of European Environment Policies and the Climate Strategy Institute 2050 offered a number of recommendations to EU policy makers on how EU climate policies can support this process, and on how climate policies can benefit from it. The recommendations are available for download.

This infographic illustrates the research objects of the joint research projects with a social science component in the research focus "Plastics in the Environment" along the value chain and with a view to the addressed societal sectors. In addition, the graph indicates the target groups to which the project results are directed and whether these are mainly options for action or risk assessments.