Dominic Marcellino, Fellow Ecologic Institute Washington, and Max Grünig, Fellow Ecologic Institute Berlin, published an article on cost recovery in line with the EU Water Framework Directive and related experiences in Germany. The text appeared in the March/April special edition of L’Acqua, an Italian journal for water issues. The paper builds off previous work done for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

<p>The goal of this project was to examine the 27 National Reform Programmes prepared by the Member States as part of the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy and in preparation of the first European Semester. The Committee of the Regions was conducting this analysis together with Ecologic Institute and its partners WU/RIMAS, ICLEI and PSI to examine to what extent the NRPs reflect the roles, inputs, and needs of local and regional authorities. The project report "The Role of Local and Regional Authorities in the Europe 2020 National Reform Programmes" is available for download.</p>&#13;

<p> The goal of this project is to revise and streamline the scoring criteria for the Monterey Bay Aquarium&rsquo;s sustainable Seafood Watch Program (SFW). The SFW, albeit not without its critics, has been successful in engaging producers and buyers in improving their practices and raising their awareness towards sourcing their fisheries and aquaculture products from sustainably managed operations.&nbsp; Ecologic Institute Washington DC is helping to develop quantitative scoring mechanisms to streamline the process and make the assessments more transparent.</p>

For the third time, the ICAP Training Course on Emissions Trading brought together experts from emerging economies and developing countries to introduce emissions trading as a tool for climate protection and discuss possibilities for implementing such schemes in developing countries. The event took place in Beijing, China, from 23 May to 1 June 2011, and was the first of its kind held outside of Europe. Twenty-seven decision makers from eight Asian countries attended the course, which was led by Michael Mehling, Benjamin Görlach and Miriam Schröder.

The report provides an overview of the environmental relevance of the largest fields of expenditure within the EU budget. It assesses the sustainability level of key budget items in the EU sectoral policies. It also provides recommendations in the context of a potential reform of subsidies that would contribute to the alignment of the EU budget towards a more sustainable growth as called in the EU 2020 Strategy.

Together with more than 10 partners from the EU and the Middle East, Ecologic Institute is carrying out the EU-funded research project on "Climate change, hydro-conflicts and human security" (CLICO). CLICO investigates how climate change influences water availability and, consequently, human security and conflicts in the Mediterranean region. The 2nd CLICO policy brief, written by Ecologic Institute, is available for download.

Tanja Srebotnjak, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, contributed to a project undertaken by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) to estimate net migration by ecosystem over the four decades from 1970 to 2010. The project report is available for download.

<p>&#13; The "Network Resource Efficiency" as part of the project "Advancement of Resource Policy" invited to the 7th network conference on Monday, 27 June 2011 in Berlin. New approaches in politics and businesses are highlighted under the guiding theme "2011 – agenda setting for the resource turnaround". Max Grünig presented first ideas describing which actors should be included in a societal debate on resource efficiency.</p>&#13;

Lead by Ecuador’s Ambassador to Germany, his Excellency Jorge Jurado, and Ivonne Baki, who is the country’s top negotiator for the Yasuni-ITT Initiative, a high-level delegation presented an Ecuadorian proposal for the protection of climate and biodiversity at the Ecologic Institute.&#13;

How does the communication between providers of climate data and political decision makers work? This question was the central point of a three-day workshop held in Berlin and Timmendorfer Beach from 15 to 17 June 2011. Scientists and stakeholders from administrations and political bodies from different Baltic countries first met at Ecologic Institute in Berlin to discuss different aspects of the availability of regional climate facts. The second part of the workshop was held at a local Baltic venue - in Timmendorfer Strand, where a case study on the engagement of local stakeholders was examined.

Together with co-authors Alexander de Sherbinin (Columbia University), Genevieve Carr (Northern Oil and Gas Branch, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) and Carrie Rickwood (Natural Resources Canada) Tanja Srebotnjak, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, published a study in the journal Ecological Indicators on the design and testing of a global water quality index.