The 87th UNEP/UNESCO/BMUV International Short Course focuses on ecosystem restoration for the SDGs. Gregory Fuchs of Ecologic Institute was invited to deliver a lecture on marine and coastal ecosystem restoration. The course is specifically aimed at experts who prepare and implement political decisions and practical measures towards the goals of ecosystem restoration and sustainable development.

Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, gave a lecture on Germany's Federal Climate Change Act (KSG) as part of the TOP Executive Development (TED) Program of the Otto Group in Berlin. He presented the main features of the KSG, the impact of the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of March 2021, and challenges in achieving the targets of the KSG. . After the presentation, there was a discussion with Dr. Stephan Sina and the audience.

At the NetworkNature Annual Event held on 8 June 2023 at the Flagey Building in Brussels (Belgium) participants gathered to explore the transformative potential of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) across sectors and communities. One noteworthy panel discussion included Natalia Burgos, representing the INTERLACE project, alongside representatives from the European Commission, the European Environmental Bureau, and the German Environment Agency.

On 7 June 2023, Malek Al Jebaie presented the findings of a joint research investigation conducted by Ecologic Institute, supervised by McKenna Davis, and the International Institute of Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University at the Ecocity World Summit in London at the Barbican Centre. The presentation primarily focused on the key trends and patterns observed in 151 European cases from the Urban Governance Atlas, whose development was coordinated by Ecologic Institute within the INTERLACE project.

The global crisis of the oceans, which has been a tangible and palpable problem in other parts of the world for many years, is increasingly becoming an issue in this country as well. The natural and technical sciences, in particular, have contributed to raising societal awareness about the state of the world's oceans in large-scale research initiatives. Against the backdrop of the ongoing UN Decade of Oceans (2021-2030), an interdisciplinary marine "scoping workshop" took place in Hannover from 7 until 9 June 2023. Dr. Grit Martinez represented Ecologic Institute in this exchange and presented her experiences from interdisciplinary marine collaboration in the EU research project RISC-KIT.

At this round table, organized by the TAPP (True Animal Protein Price) Coalition, the panel discussed a study that shows that true costs for animal products that takes into account all societal costs has a positive impact on society. The study was co-authored by Aaron Scheid and Benjamin Görlach from Ecologic Institute.

Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation on environmental criminal law at the Transfer Talk on Environmental Crime at the Criminological Research Center (KKF). He gave an overview of statistical developments, structural peculiarities of environmental criminal law, challenges in prosecution and the ongoing amendment of the EU's Environmental Crime Directive.

At the online conference, "Moore II: Restoring Intact Ecosystems and Sustainable Use – Pathways to Success," held on 25 April 2023, Gregory Fuchs presented a policy paper stressing the need for freshwater ecosystem restoration. The event, organized to support the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, specifically focused on peatland restoration.

At the Expert Hearing in the European Parliament on "Sustainable management of water and resources in agriculture" on 25 April 2023, Dr. Ulf Stein, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute and Coordinator of the Water Studies, was invited as one of four experts. The aim of the event was to speak on the relationship between agriculture and water management in the context of the increasing scarcity of water resources due to climate change. The talk aimed to explore best practices and policy options that can help manage agriculture's impact on water resources, as well as address challenges to agriculture due to weather events such as droughts and floods.

On Thursday, 20 April 2023, INTERLACE hosted a Cities Talk Nature Talks webinar, aiming to strengthen cooperation, learning, and peer-to-peer interactions on the local, regional, and global scales. Natalia Burgos presented on governance instruments to mainstream nature-based solutions and shared best practices gathered in the Urban Governance Atlas.

A key objective of the Interlace project is strengthening cooperation, learning, and peer-to-peer interactions between regions and projects. As part of this process, Natalia Burgos from the Interlace team was invited to take part in a knowledge exchange Task Force organized by Clearing House Project. The Task Force took place in Bogotá (Colombia) on 30 and 31 March 2023 and focused on discussing strategies for urban forest management and implementation, with an emphasis on governance and community participation.

On 29 March 2023, Doris Knoblauch and Mandy Hinzmann gave a lecture on "Plastics and the Environment" in a postgraduate course, where 19 experts from ministries, authorities, municipalities, non-governmental organizations and industry from low-income countries and emerging economies were represented and exchanged. The focus was on reducing plastics in the environment, on different responsibilities and concerns from a global perspective on the one hand, and on the textile sector on the other hand.

On 21 March 2023, Aaron Scheid presented Ecologic Institute's analysis of the German CAP Strategic Plan at the NABUtalk on the next CAP reform. He joined State Secretary Silvia Bender and CAP experts Dr. Sebastian Lakner, Sönke Beckmann, and Dr. Norbert Röder to discuss the upcoming CAP reform. They further addressed the issue of phasing out flat-rate payments and creating income for farms by rewarding climate, biodiversity and environmental services. A look at the EU's neighboring countries and the United Kingdom and look at new (and innovative?) models completed the discussion. Aaron's presentation slides are available for download.

Carbon farming promises to mitigate climate change whilst generating income for farmers – but can this promise be realised, and what are the risks? The European Parliament’s Environment and Agricultural Committees held a joint hearing to understand how EU policy can support on-farm carbon sequestration. The hearing featured two panels, including a presentation from Ecologic Institute Fellow Hugh McDonald on the challenges of carbon farming certification.

McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, was one of 8 experts speaking on the topic of 'strategies for urban biodiversity' during the Digital Blue Green Event hosted by the Scandinavian Green Roof Institute on 14 March 2023. She began by outlining key challenges facing urban water management, including an increasing frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall events, urban surface sealing and combined sewer overflow events. McKenna then introduced the NICHES project and its aim to rethink the status quo by deploying nature-based solutions and approaching the urban water system as a holistic Social-Ecological-Technical-System (SETS).