Healthy wetlands are acknowledged for being among the most effective sinks for carbon and for providing other valuable ecosystem services. In contrast, human-impacted wetlands represent a major source of greenhouse gases (GHG). Important research questions on the GHG abatement potential of wetland restoration and on management and restoration actions to maintain and promote the mitigation and adaptation capacity of European wetlands are still to be answered due to major data and knowledge gaps. The RESTORE4Cs project (a 3-year Research and Innovation Action funded by the EU) aims to fill this gap by assessing the role of restoration action in wetlands climate change mitigation capacity and for the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services using an integrative socio-ecological systems approach.

This project supports the EU Commission by undertaking a series of assignments that are to be requested by the Commission during the next phases of the legislative process of the proposed NRL. In this context, the project handles requests from the European Commission, for example to discuss further details of measures to be considered in the negotiations on this legislation.

The project "Climate Adaptation Naturally Nature-based Solutions for Municipalities" aims to communicate the potential of nature-based solutions for climate adaptation in cities and municipalities in a targeted manner and to support cities and municipalities in the implementation of such solutions with the help of practice-oriented applications. The project primarily addresses climate adaptation managers in the municipalities, but also representatives from urban planning and development, green space offices and nature conservation authorities, education and culture, water and wastewater management.

In addition to the protection of still intact peatlands, the restoration and sustainable management of previously drained peatland soils are important contributions for protecting biodiversity and the mitigation of climate change. In order to address these needs in a more targeted manner, the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) published the first National Peatland Protection Strategy in September 2021. Together with DUENE e.V., partner in Greifswald Moor Centrum, Ecologic Institute supports the implementation of the National Peatland Protection Strategy.

This project is split into two work streams, assessing four CAP Strategic Plans and assessing approaches to enhance and safeguard biodiversity through carbon farming standards.

To meet global climate objectives, it is essential to reduce emissions from deforestation. So-called "jurisdictional REDD+" aims to reduce deforestation by monitoring and rewarding deforestation at the regional scale. To help decision-makers and stakeholders better understand the potential advantages of jurisdictional approaches, Ecologic Institute is developing a paper-based game to illustrate the key concepts. The game will be supported by teaching materials and event organisation, in collaboration with the client Environmental Defense Fund.

This project will 1) identify good examples, new and innovative interventions to contribute to biodiversity and climate objectives of the CAP; 2) assess CAP Strategic Plan interventions that correspond to the biodiversity and climate ambitions in the four CAP Strategic Plans of Germany, France, Spain and Poland; 3) analyze whether these interventions correspond to the scientific evidence and whether they are relevant and sufficient; 4) consider co-benefits and trade-offs between different policy objectives.

Effective marine environmental management and biodiversity conservation (including protection and restoration) are fundamental to achieving the transformation to a modern, resource-efficient, and competitive low-carbon sustainable ocean economy. MarineSABRES' simple SES approach aims to show how we can protect and maintain the natural structure and processes of marine ecosystems while simultaneously delivering the societal goods and benefits that people rely on. The approach specifically aims to improve uptake of EBM and strengthen interventions and measures for the conservation of coastal and marine areas.

The UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration offers the opportunity to link thematic areas that were previously treated rather separately, as well as to clarify their interdependencies and to create synergies. This includes, for example, linking the topic of ecosystem restoration with different topics in the areas of biodiversity and climate. To illustrate these linkages, Ecologic Institute is preparing a total of 10 policy papers for the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). These papers are intended to support key German actors in implementing the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration as part of the overarching GIZ project "Supporting the Design and Implementation of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration" (DEER).

The main element of this project was the implementation of the international expert workshop "Fostering applied research on the synergies between biodiversity and climate", which took place online between 8 and 9 June 2022. With around 30 leading scientists, 10 presentations of case studies and interactive break-out groups, this workshop enabled lively discussions and insights on opportunities for participatory research for the biodiversity-climate nexus.

Ecologic Institute and the University of Geisenheim will analyse the extent to which measures for strengthening biodiversity have been integrated in the application of urban development funding by German municipalities, and what good practice examples exist. Based on this research, municipalities will be informed about measures that are eligible for urban development funding which are effective in conserving or promoting biodiversity.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are recognised as cost-effective tools to alleviate pressure during high rainfall events while producing wider societal and environmental benefits, but uptake is limited in practice due to lacking evidence. The NICHES project – Nature's Integration in Cities' Hydrologies, Ecologies and Societies – aims to fill this gap by adopting a holistic social-ecological-technical systems (SETS) approach to explore the potential of urban NBS as an alternative to the costly renewal of grey wastewater systems. Five global cities – Barcelona, Berlin, Boston, Sheffield, and Rotterdam – will be utilized to co-create knowledge and develop a shared understanding of restorative NBS that can be applied to avoid storm-water run-off and negative impacts for aquatic biodiversity.

What are possible alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides without promoting the renaissance of genetic engineering? This brief study intends to provide an overview of the current state of science on possible alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides and to be understandable for non-experts.

The DÁVGI project aims to provide a basis for the exchange of knowledge and expertise to improve collaboration between Indigenous rights holders, environmental and other non-governmental organizations, local stakeholders, researchers, and policymakers, in order to strengthen the conservation and restoration of biocultural diversity in the Arctic. Commissioned by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, this project is a combined effort of the Saami Council, Ecologic Institute, and IASS.

Europe's environment is in an alarming state, with climate change expected to further aggravate the situation. This substantially threatens economic prosperity, human wellbeing and social peace. Our society and economy need systemic transformative change, and ecosystem restoration integrated into nature-based solutions lies at its heart. MERLIN (Mainstreaming Ecological Restoration of freshwater-related ecosystems in a Landscape context: Innovation, upscaling and transformation) is a 4-year Innovation Action project (funded by the EU) which aims to support transformative ecosystem restoration. The project will work in 17 flagship projects, from Finland to Israel, in order to generate a blueprint for to implement, upscale and replicate restoration and nature based solutions in freshwater ecosystems.