Arne Riedel, Researcher at Ecologic Institute, presented the institutional framework for the Arctic and its changes as well as the possible influence of Arctic Council observers. Taking the expansion of regional interests into account, the presentation also examined the role of Arctic Council observer states in the possible concept of an "Arctic Community." He outlined the possibilities for observer states to influence the policies of Arctic states within and outside of the Arctic Council and concluded such observer states have been (and will likely remain) demanding actors in Arctic governance. The presentation slides are available for download.

In this document Ecologic Institute presents a concept for the online presentation and dissemination of DG Environment's planned Composite Index on Environmental Pressures (CIEP).

European Union (EU) legislation, such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD), as well as international, national, and regional environmental policies and strategies explicitly acknowledge the importance of environmental costs and benefits and the need to integrate them into the policy-making process. However, the application of valuation studies to policy often involves a trade-off between the accuracy of the required analysis and the necessity to include all costs and benefits associated with the different policy options. Thus, there is no accepted EU-wide approach on how to deal with environmental benefits in the policy process.

How can climate policies be designed, what impacts do they have and what other options are there? These are important questions to stakeholders and policy-makers. The project POLIMP aims at making answers to these issues more easily accessible and understandable. To this end, POLIMP examines knowledge gaps for different policy and decision-making levels and covers these with the help of existing research results. The outcomes are communicated and discussed through a series of events, publications and an interactive online knowledge platform.

Transitioning the existing economic system in Europe to a green economy in the long term requires making existing knowledge and best practice available to a wider community. The GreenEcoNet project will be initiating a web platform for SMEs to find relevant information, to identify potential partner networks and to receive potential solutions enabling them to proceed towards a green economy. Furthermore, the project aims to gather and generate knowledge support to policy making in order to facilitate enabling conditions for effectively fostering a green economy.

<p>Rendering the use of raw materials more sustainable along their life cycle within Europe requires continuous and open debate between political, economic, societal and academic actors. The COBALT project will help foster such debate by organizing international conferences and specific sectoral dialogues. Furthermore, in order to improve existing skills towards enabling a more sustainable use of raw materials, exemplary teaching courses will be developed addressing businesses and geological surveys.</p>&#13;

The German Resource Efficiency Program (ProgRess) must be considered a milestone in national resource policy. However, scientific findings point to a need to further develop ProgRess in the next legislative period in order to enhance its effectiveness. Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers was co-author of a brief scientific perspective on this issue. The third PolRess Policy Paper is available for download.

On 27 June 2013, a parliamentary breakfast was held in Berlin to discuss key questions of German resource policy in the next legislative period. In order to allow for an exchange between policy, academia and business, the Resource Policy research project (PolRess) invited members of the German parliament.

Which impacts of climate change can we expect on the Baltic Sea coast? How can coastal protections prepare for these changes? And what does this all mean for tourism? Those are three essential questions which were addressed on 9 September 2013 at the discussion event "Adapting to Climate Change: From Research to Practice" in Wieck auf dem Darss. The agenda included a look at research findings and presented examples of adaptation strategies in practice.