For five days, experts from politics, science and environmental organisations discussed more protection for the oceans at the 3rd UN Ocean Conference in Nice: Climate change, overfishing and pollution are threatening marine biodiversity worldwide. Europeans were strongly represented, as were countries from the Global South, as well as important G20 countries such as Australia, India, Brazil and China. Dr Grit Martinez took part in the UN Ocean Conference on behalf of Ecologic Institute's Coastal and Marine Research Division. At the conference, a sincere commitment to the protection and sustainable use of the oceans was evident.

As cities across Europe face increasing pressure from climate risks such as heatwaves and flooding, digital platforms are becoming key enablers of effective and inclusive adaptation planning. The Adaptation AGORA webinar, hosted by Stockholm Environment Institute, brought together over 100 participants to explore three leading platforms that support nature-based solutions (NbS) in urban contexts. Natalia Burgos Cuevas, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented the Urban Governance Atlas – an interactive online database of over 250 policy instruments that support NbS and ecosystem restoration across Europe, Latin America, and beyond.

As part of the annual Marine Nature Conservation Colloquium, scientists from the research projects commissioned by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) present their interim results and open questions. On behalf of Ecologic Institute, Dr. Grit Martinez presented initial results from the research project The German North Sea and Baltic Sea over 100 years ago (HISTOMAR). The "Shifting Baseline Syndrome" was the focus of the presentation and the subsequent discussion.

On 17 March 2025, Doris Knoblauch (Ecologic Institute) gave a presentation on "Plastics and the Environment", highlighting the negative impacts of plastics and plastic pollution at a post-graduate course attended by 21 experts from ministries, authorities, municipalities, NGOs and industry from low-income countries and emerging economies. The focus was on why plastic pollution is a problem for both the environment and human health, the role of textiles, and why we urgently need an international, legally binding plastics treaty.

The fourth Webstival of the Climateurope2 project took place on 11 and 12 March 2025. Dr. Grit Martinz from Ecologic Institute presented the results of in-depth ethnographic research on issues of equity in the context of the Most Outer Regions. She highlighted the ongoing impact of colonial structures and attitudes on climate justice, including access to climate services for people of indigenous origin. In doing so, she emphasised the potential of a decolonial ecology in European territories and globally to adapt to the consequences of climate change, together with the political struggles against (post)colonial domination, structural racism and the pollution of the ecosystem.

Hugh McDonald and Julia Pazmino from Ecologic Institute led the session "Ensuring sustainability outcomes from carbon farming: Recommendations for the CRCF and voluntary carbon markets" at the Second European Carbon Summit 2025. Hugh joined a panel on policy areas for carbon farming, while Julia shared insights on rewarding mechanisms for farmers.

On 25 and 26 February 2025, Biodiversa+, in collaboration with UNEP-WCMC and with the support of the Research Council of Norway, convened a Foresight Workshop in Oslo to explore the intersections between nature-based solutions (NbS) and transformative change. McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow and Coordinator of Nature-based Solutions at Ecologic Institute, was invited to participate as an expert and support the identification of emerging research needs and innovation priorities that can advance NbS within the broader context of transformative change. Addressing key knowledge gaps and research priorities

On 21 January 2025, the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN) hosted a panel discussion to discuss the next steps in the global plastics negotiations. The fifth round of negotiations in November 2024 ended without an agreement – a failure? Doris Knoblauch, scientist at Ecologic Institute, took part in the panel discussion and reported on the progress of the negotiations and how things could now proceed from her perspective.

On 14 November 2024, the district of Wittmund (Lower Saxony, North Sea coast, Germany) hosted a workshop addressing key challenges at the intersection of marine and coastal protection, sustainable tourism, and climate adaptation. For the first time, marine protection will feature as a dedicated focus in the district's climate protection and adaptation concepts, reflecting a progressive approach to tackling climate impacts in the North Sea region.

At the International Pond Conference 2024, which took place online from 12 to 13 November 2024, Hugh McDonald from the Ecologic Institute in Berlin presented the results of a comprehensive study on the financing of ponds and pond landscapes as nature-based solutions (NbS). The work analyzed public and private financing models and assessed their suitability for the implementation of pondscapes, and for financing NbS more broadly.

On 8 November 2024, the final webinar of the EU project PONDERFUL took place. Led by Professor Jeremy Biggs (Freshwater Habitats Trust) and Hugh McDonald (Ecologic Institute), it discussed how national and regional plans can be developed to protect, restore and create ponds and ponded landscapes. The aim was to inform policymakers on how these small but effective ecosystems can be used as nature-based solutions (NbS) to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

On 25 and 26 September 2024, McKenna Davis and Natalia Burgos of Ecologic Institute contributed to two landmark nature-based solutions (NbS) events in Brussels, focusing on advancing NbS through collaborative efforts.

On 3 September 2024, Dr Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, held a presentation on ‘Legislation between Climate Action and Security of Supply - Challenges of the Energy Transition’ as part of a visit by a delegation from the Legislative Affairs Commission (LAC) of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China to the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action. In addition to two further presentations by representatives of the Ministry, there was an exchange of views with the Chinese delegation.

On 26 and 27 June 2024, policymakers, researchers, and environmental experts gathered in Brussels for the kick-off conference of the EU-LAC Policy Dialogue on Nature-Based Solutions (NbS). The high-level event aimed to foster collaboration between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) regions on NbS. Natalia Burgos Cuevas and McKenna Davis moderated key discussions on collaboration opportunities and pathways.

The podcast "Polski Kongres Klimatyczny 2024" features highlights from the discussion that took place at the Polish Climate Congress in March 2024. In the podcast, Ewa Iwaszuk, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, discusses the importance of "green synergy" in municipal cooperation and emphasizes the role of nature-based solutions (NbS) in the development of sustainable cities. Ewa Iwaszuk highlighted how the work of Ecologic Institute and its partners supports cities to effectively integrate these approaches into their infrastructure projects in order to tackle climate change and improve quality of life.

At the occasion of the 16th NESS – Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference in Turku (Finland), from 4 to 6 June 2024, Ecologic Institute's Doris Knoblauch presented the findings of two projects in a workshop dealing with "Governing urban climate transformations: Towards climate neutrality and resilience".

In the face of rapidly changing marine environments, innovative strategies are essential to preserve biodiversity and promote sustainability. Gregory Fuchs recently led a series of workshops on the island of Vilm (Baltic Sea, Germany), highlighting how Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) can address complex marine challenges. He also shared insights from research projects like Marine SABRES.

Hugh McDonald presented preliminary findings from the final report "Funding climate friendly soil management: Appropriate policy instruments and limits of market-based approaches" to an audience of more than 100 staff from the German Environment Agency.

From 15 to 17 May 2024, Barcelona hosted the CONEXUS Conference, a flagship event bringing together over 100 experts from Europe and Latin America to discuss nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate-resilient cities. This conference was a melting pot of ideas and innovations, fostering exchange on the economic, social, environmental, and political facets of NBS implementation. Among the key sessions were "Governance, Politics, and Planning" and "Economics, Values, and Work," where Ecologic experts Dr. Ulf Stein, McKenna Davis, and Jenny Tröltzsch shared their research and insights.

Dr Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, took part in a panel discussion in the Bundestag as part of a workshop on environmental crime organised by Bündnis90/Die Grünen. In his keynote speech, he outlined the most important innovations of the amended EU Environmental Crime Directive and the challenges of its implementation in Germany. The panel discussion was chaired by MdB Lukas Benner. Other panellists were Katharina Lang (WWF) on the topic of illegal timber trade and journalist Marius Münstermann on the topic of illegal waste trade.

Dr Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation on prosecution under the amended Environmental Crime Directive at an information event organised by Green Legal Impact and Stop Ecocide Germany on the new EU environmental criminal law. He began by describing the special features of criminal prosecution in the environmental sector and the reason for the first-time inclusion of criminal prosecution provisions in the Directive. He then gave an overview of the regulations on resources and training, co-operation between authorities, the national strategy for combating environmental crime and statistical data. The presentation ended with examples of challenges and approaches to implementing the directive in Germany.

On 17 April 2024, the fifth h_da Dialogue Forum took place at the Schader Forum in Darmstadt as part of the Darmstadt Days of Transformation. It included a panel on "Post-growth economy for small and medium-sized enterprises", which sparked a lively discussion if and how a post growth economy can work for SMEs or if, taking the post-growth perspective, it might even be the only possible solution to tackle the triple planetary crisis. Susanne Langsdorf, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute in Berlin, explained the potential role of circular economy solutions to tackle the challenges and elaborated on the current political activities on national and European level to transform to a green(er) economy.

On 4 April 2024, Mandy Hinzmann presented communication insights and best practices of the citizen science program "Plastic Pirates" at the European Citizen Science Conference in Vienna. The presentation highlighted that effective communication strategies are crucial for the success of citizen science initiatives.

At the Think2030 conference in Brussels, Aaron Scheid discussed the role of the agricultural sector in reaching climate neutrality by 2050 during a Science4Policy session. Despite some progress so far, efforts have stagnated, and current projections indicate only a modest reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) by 2030, ultimately making the sector number one in terms of GHGs emissions. Therefore, shifting support away from emission-intensive practices and transitioning into a low-emission agricultural sector must be our first priority, while making farmers the driver of the transition.

As part of the Polish Climate Congress from 19 to 20 March 2024 in Warsaw, Ewa Iwaszuk, a Fellow at Ecologic Institute, took part in a panel discussion on implementing nature-based solutions in urban areas. She was joined on the panel by Joanna Kiernicka-Allavena (Climate-KIC), Anna Banaszczyk (World Bank), Marcin Sadura (Warsaw Municipal Sewage Company) and Robert Skowroński (Szczecin Marshal’s Office). The discussion was moderated by Mateusz Kowali (Polish Green Network).

On 13 March 2024, Doris Knoblauch (Ecologic Institute) gave a lecture on "Plastics and the Environment" highlighting the need for a global plastics treaty at a postgraduate course, where 21 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 why plastic pollution is a problem and why we urgently need an international, legally binding plastics treaty.

Niepołomice, a Polish city with almost 30,000 inhabitants, has received customised training on how to tackle challenges in their community with nature-based solutions. Marcela Gutierrez (University of Costa Rica), Natalia Burgos Cuevas and Doris Knoblauch (both Ecologic Institute) presented concrete options for the municipality to representatives of the city of Niepołomice in March 2024, after the city representatives had presented the urban challenges in December 2023.

Organized by the Euro-Mediterranean Climate Change Center (CMCC) in close collaboration with the EU Climate Change Adaptation Mission, the European project Climateurope2 celebrated a festival uniting science, services and standards for a climate resilient future from 11 to 13 March 2024. Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute contributed to the festival with a set of activities spanning from facilitation of fishbowl discussion and break out groups with practitioners to an interview with the media team of Climateurope2. Climateurope2 team wishes to thank all participants for actively participating in the Climateurope2 Festival. The insightful discussions, presentations and debates that took place over the three days of the event laid the basis for fostering new connections within the European climate services community.

Ecologic Institute was part of the first European Carbon Farming Summit, which took place from 6 to 7 March 2024 in Valencia. This event gathered hundreds of people from academia, the private and public sector, farmers and farmers associations who engaged in the discussion around the upcoming EU Carbon Farming Certification Framework (CRCF). Aaron Scheid and Julia Pazmiño Murillo shared the outcomes of their work as part of the CREDIBLE Project and hosted a breakout session to discuss the minimum requirements to ensure carbon farming delivers sustainability benefits within the CRCF framework and beyond.

Doris Knoblauch, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute and Coordinator for Urban and Spatial Governance, gave a presentation on 23 February 2024 at the event "Climate Protection through Nature-based Solutions", organized by Verbraucherzentrale Sachsen. She gave an introduction to the effects of climate change in Germany and Leipzig and presented the concept of "nature-based solutions". She also showed which nature-based solutions can help to adapt to which climate change challenge. Finally, Doris Knoblauch presented examples from Leipzig.

On 22 February 2024, Dr. Benjamin Kupilas and Fenja Kroos gave a presentation at the 6th ad-hoc meeting on future national restoration plans (NRPs) organized by DG ENV. They presented their work on the Compilation of Existing Guidance on Ecosystem Restoration commissioned by DG ENV.

McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute and Coordinator of Nature-based Solutions, held a keynote at the online webinar ‘Engaging the public in GBGI projects’, where she spoke about inclusive governance and how to learn from real world policy practices to support co-governance in practice. She also presented the Urban Governance Atlas.

During a parliamentary evening, Aaron Scheid presented an analysis of the environmental economic impacts of animal-based food production on 12 December 2023. Focusing on external environmental costs, particularly greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, and with quantitative evidence of costs in the billions, Scheid proposed tax incentives to internalize these costs. His presentation emphasized the need for a comprehensive strategy that considers political, social, and economic aspects, and provided policy options for a sustainable food policy.

In the economic climate podcast "The Price is Hot," Benjamin Görlach, along with Johannes Eber and Nils Hesse from Die Dezentrale, discussed global trends and developments in the context of emissions trading and CO₂ prices.

Lina-Marie Dück, Fellow of Ecologic Institute, presented a case study examining climate change litigation in Germany at a workshop held online in Beijing and Berlin. The study highlighted seven distinct cases, encompassing matters related to climate mitigation at both federal and state levels, as well as within specific administrative decisions concerning project approval.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are widely recognized for their potential to transform urban spaces into sustainable and environmentally friendly environments. Yet open questions remain around how this can be done in practice, what role different stakeholders can play, and what key challenges and opportunities exist. These topics were explored in the science-policy symposium "Regreening Cities with Nature-based solutions in EU and China – Bridging Science, Policy, and Practice". Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis presented insights from the INTERLACE project on a panel in the session "Enabling Transformation in Urban areas with Nature Based Solutions".

The EU's Climate Council's new report recommends a GHG emission reduction target of 90-95 percent in 2040, which is a very significant reduction target. The EU has adopted numerous reforms until 2030, but none of them targeted the agricultural sector. So, what will be the next steps towards 2040 for agriculture? How should a large sector like agriculture contribute? On 13 November 2023, Hugh McDonald and Julia Bognar (IEEP) took up the question of possible answers to this question.

A Cities Talk Nature Global Engagement Event was organized as part of the INTERLACE project in Envigado, Colombia and streamed online on 23 and 24 November 2023 to explore these topics in more depth. Entitled ‘Rethinking urban-rural linkages for people and biodiversity’, the conference convened over 100 municipal actors and practitioners from Europe and Latin America interested in harnessing the potential of NBS in their cities and regions. Co-organised by UCLG, Humboldt Institute Colombia and Ecologic Institute, the event featured diverse formats, including field visits, practical workshops, and peer-to-peer discussions.

On 13 November 2023, Hugh McDonald presented the recently published report "Pricing Agricultural Emissions and Rewarding Climate Action in the Agri-food Value Chain" to the Directorate-General for Climate Action.

On 13 November 2023, Hugh McDonald and Julia Bognar (IEEP) presented the recently published report "Pricing Agricultural Emissions and Rewarding Climate Action in the Agri-food Value Chain" to the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development's Civil Dialogue Group on Environment and Climate Change.

The EU's new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP 2023-2027) was agreed after extensive negotiations and came into force at the beginning of the year 2023. In line with the "European Green Deal," it aims to support the transition to sustainable agriculture across the EU. On 7 November 2023, Aaron Scheid of Ecologic Institute will give a presentation on the climate performance of the CAP, how much climate mitigation is in the German CAP strategic plan, and what action is needed for a more climate-friendly agricultural policy in Germany.

Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, held an online speech at the 8th International Forum on Environmental Rule of Law "Climate Change and Carbon Neutral Legal System: International Metropolitan Dialogue" on 6 November 2023 in Shanghai. He gave an overview of Germany's Federal Climate Change Act (KSG), its impact in Germany, and the current revision of the KSG.

The 88th UNEP/UNESCO/BMUV International Short Course held at the TU Dresden focused on Nature-based Solutions (NBS) to emerging water challenges. The seminar featured several contributions over a period of three weeks, including a presentation from Ecologic Institute Fellows Gregory Fuchs and Dr. Benjamin Kupilas on the concept of NBS and relevant international and European policy frameworks for implementing NBS.

At the occasion of the 10th Anniversary Edition of the European Urban Resilience Forum, Ecologic Institute's Doris Knoblauch gave two presentations, showcasing insights both of the CLEVER Cities project as well as the INTERLACE project.

Ecosystem restoration is gaining momentum in science and policy as a process that can jointly tackle biodiversity loss, climate change and other societal challenges. The human and social dimensions of restoration projects however, often insufficiently considered. The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) hosted a hybrid workshop entitled Making people part of ecosystem restoration in Europe from 17 to 19 October 2023 to explore this topic. McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, held a keynote presentation on "Creating enabling conditions for ecosystem restoration: Tools and guidelines for local impact".

On 16 October 2023, Doris Knoblauch (Ecologic Institute) gave a lecture on "Plastics, green urban environments and local climate protection" at 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 showing how the triple crisis – plastics pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change – are intertwined and reinforce each other, and what role cities could play in tackling this triple crisis.

The European Regions Research and Innovation Network's (ERRIN) Blue Economy Working Group held a hybrid meeting entitled "Water issues in the era of climate change" on 5 October 2023. McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute and Coordinator of Nature-based Solutions, was invited to hold the keynote presentation to set the scene. Her contribution – entitled "Nature-based solutions in European policy: A framework for enhancing local action" – introduced the variety of nature-based solutions available for water management, current research focusing on these solutions (including the Ecologic-led NICHES project), the surrounding EU policy framework, and examples of enabling local policy instruments from the Urban Governance Atlas.

Within the field day "Alfalfa Cultivation and Climate Adaptation," Holger Gerdes and Zoritza Kiresiewa (Ecologic Institute) presented a draft policy paper on sustainable subsoil management in Germany. The objective was to collaboratively develop core recommendations – together with farmers, soil experts, and policy stakeholders – on how to more effectively promote deep-rooting crops, particularly alfalfa. Discussions centered on strategies for securing yields during drought years and on adapting political frameworks to make alfalfa cultivation more attractive.

The CLEVER Cities project's final conference "Nature in the City – Advancing social impact through nature-based solutions (NBS)" was held on 26 and 27 September 2023. McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, moderated the session "Putting Theory into Practice: Mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions into Policy". The session explored the fundamental question: How can we integrate NBS into the fabric of urban policy and governance to bridge the gap between theory and action?

Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, presented two case studies on German climate change acts at workshops in Beijing, and discussed with Chinese experts from governmental and municipal departments and universities on Chinese and German climate legislation. In addition, he held a lecture on the German Federal Climate Change Act at the Law Faculty of Beihang University and participated in a discussion on potential areas for future cooperation at the Center for German Studies of the University.

In this interview with klimafakten.de, Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf from Ecologic Institute talks about the results of two recent surveys about polarization on the topic of climate change in the German society, and discusses their significance for the climate movement.

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.

On 14 June 2023, Aaron Scheid presented policy models for linking a reward system for carbon removals in the land sector with the AgETS. Five models were presented as part of the study "Pricing Agricultural Emissions and Rewarding Climate Action in the Agri-food Value Chain", which was developed for DG CLIMA at the time and formed the basis for the panel discussion.

On 8 June 2023, the "Stakeholder Consultation on the CoR Opinion on Towards a Multilevel Green Deal Governance: The Revision of the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action Regulation" was held. The event was organized by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) to gather the opinion of various stakeholders on the multilevel governance of the Green Deal and the revision of the Energy Union and Climate Action Regulation. Matthias Duwe contributed his insights and suggestions regarding the Green Deal and the governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action.

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.

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.

Doris Knoblauch moderated the networking meeting of innovative climate protection projects in the framework of the National Climate Initiative (NKI) for Ecologic Institute on 7 and 8 June 2023.

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.

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.