Publications

Publication:Report
 
This publication provides a quantitative overview of the development and status of environmental crime in Germany between 2013 and 2024, based on data from the police crime statistics ("Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik") and the Federal Statistical Office's criminal prosecution statistics ("Strafverfolgungsstatistik"). The report provides both an overview of general trends and an in-depth account of individual environmental offences. The report was prepared by a team from Ecologic Institute on behalf of the German Federal Environment Agency.

Umweltdelikte 2024

Auswertung von Statistiken

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Publication:Report
 
This report presents a strategic, evidence-based approach to support the upscaling of freshwater restoration and implementation of Nature-based Solutions across Europe. Central to the approach is the MERLIN Upscaling Workflow, a flexible decision-support tool that uses Europe-wide datasets to identify high-impact restoration areas.

Scaling up Freshwater Restoration and Nature-based Solutions in Europe

An evidence-informed workflow

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Publication:Fact Sheet
 
This fact sheet summarizes the information contained in the publication Burgos Cuevas et al. (2025): Moving from interconnected crises to systemic solutions. Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis. Interim report, Climate Change 83/2025. German Environment Agency: Dessau-Roßlau. https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-8108.

Moving from Interconnected Crises to Systemic Solutions

Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis

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Publication:Report
 
Climate change is exacerbating drought, low water levels, and heavy rainfall in German river basins, posing new challenges for agriculture, forestry, water management, ecosystems, and municipal planning. Against this backdrop, the project KliMaWerk investigated how the landscape water balance can be made climate-resilient through integrated, practical strategies and measures. The KliMaWerk final report summarises the key findings and strategic conclusions.

Nachhaltige Bewirtschaftung des Landschaftswasserhaushaltes zur Erhöhung der Klimaresilienz (KliMaWerk)

Management und Werkzeuge

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Publication:Policy Brief
 
With the 2027 deadline of the Water Framework Directive approaching and the new Nature Restoration Regulation mandating large-scale ecosystem recovery, the CAP’s role in safeguarding rivers, wetlands, and catchments has become critical. This Policy Working Paper argues that long-term agricultural resilience is inseparable from healthy freshwater ecosystems and illustrates how water restoration can be embedded in future agricultural policies to enhance water resilience.

Restoring Healthy Rivers and Wetlands

How can agricultural policies support the uptake of water resilient farming practices?

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Publication:Article
 
Aquatic insects that emerge from streams are a crucial energy subsidy for riparian predators such as spiders. When streams are disturbed by human activities, these impacts can cross ecosystem boundaries, disrupting aquatic–terrestrial food web connectivity. This study, co-authored by Dr. Benjamin Kupilas from Ecologic Institute together with international partners, explores how such connections function and how they are shaped by human disturbance.

Fatty Acid Biomarkers Reveal Landscape Influences on Linkages between Aquatic and Terrestrial Food Webs

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Publication:Policy Brief
 
In this Policy Brief of the EU-funded NICHES project, Benjamin Kupilas (Ecologic Institute) and David Alejandro Camacho Caballero (UAB) examine how cities like Barcelona, Berlin, and Rotterdam can shape the transition to sustainable urban water systems through Nature-based Solutions (NBS). The core question is which governance models, participatory processes, and methodological approaches are needed to embed NBS effectively into urban storm- and wastewater management strategies.

Transitioning to Sustainable Urban Water Systems

Insights from Barcelona, Berlin, and Rotterdam

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Publication:Policy Brief
 
In this policy brief, Ida Meyenberg and Evgeniya Elkina analyze which governance approaches enable the successful implementation of nature-based solutions (NBS) for managing combined sewer overflows (CSO) in cities. The central question is what institutional, procedural, and financial enabling conditions municipalities and water authorities need, to integrate NBS effectively into urban stormwater management strategies. The Ecologic Institute was project lead in the NICHES project and chiefly responsible for the governance and best-practice analysis in five European and North American cities, deriving from it practice-oriented recommendations.

What Makes Nbs Work? Governance Approaches to Tackle Combined Sewer Overflows in Urban Water Systems

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Publication:Report
 
Cover page of the report titled "Contributions of water saving to a climate resilient Europe" (ETC-BE Report 2025/1). The central image shows a dry, cracked riverbed with a smartphone in the foreground displaying a digitally altered vision of a green, water-rich landscape in the same location. A modern city skyline appears in the background. Authors and affiliations are listed below the image. The report is published by the European Environment Agency and the European Topic Centre on Biodiversity and Ecosys
This ETC-BE Report examines how targeted water-saving interventions can bolster the resilience of both ecosystems and key economic sectors in the face of climate change. The central question is: Which technical, economic and governance levers can unlock the water-savings potential in agriculture, electricity production, manufacturing and public water supply, and how can these be operationalized? Gerardo Anzaldúa and Levin Scholl (Ecologic Institute) explored how the industrial sector in Europe is dealing with this question, and provided critical insights on potentials and enablers.

Contributions of Water Saving to a Climate Resilient Europe

ETC-BE Report 2025/1

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Publication:Book
 
Cover of the report titled 'Sustainable development in the European Union: Monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context, 2025 edition' by Eurostat. The design features shades of blue with a colorful tree graphic in the lower half.
Eurostat's "Sustainable Development in the European Union: Monitoring Report on Progress towards the SDGs in an EU Context" (2025 edition) offers the ninth comprehensive assessment of the EU's journey toward the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Researchers from Ecologic Institute authored the chapters on Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life Below Water (SDG 14), Life on Land (SDG 15) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17), providing rigorous, policy-relevant evidence.

Sustainable Development in the European Union – 2025

Monitoring Report on Progress Towards the SDGs in an EU Context

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Publication:Book
 
Cover of the 2025 edition of Eurostat’s “Overview of progress towards the SDGs in an EU context.” The design mirrors the full report cover, featuring a white tree with multicolored leaves, this time on a grey-blue background. The Eurostat and SDG logos appear below the tree.
The 2025 overview brochure accompanies Eurostat's ninth regular report monitoring progress towards the SDGs in an EU context. Ecologic Institute's authors covered the chapters on SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). The brochure is available for download.

Sustainable Development in the European Union – 2025 Overview

Overview of Progress Towards the SDGs in an EU Context

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Publication:Brochure
 
Coverpage of publication "Arbeitshilfe zur Planung und Genehmigung von Moorschutzvorhaben in Niedersachsen"
Rewetting peatlands – but how? This new guide provides an overview of the key steps involved in planning, financing and authorising peatland protection projects in Lower Saxony, as well as the associated measures. Commissioned by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the brochure features contributions from Felix Dengler and Ulf Stein on behalf of the Ecologic Institute.

Arbeitshilfe zur Planung und Genehmigung von Moorschutzvorhaben in Niedersachsen

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Publication:Report
 
Restoring Europe’s freshwater ecosystems at the scale required by EU policy will require a broader mix of funding sources. The MERLIN Deliverable “Diversifying Funding for Freshwater Restoration using Nature-Based Solutions” examines how restoration teams across Europe are exploring new funding models and partnerships.

Diversifying Funding for Freshwater Restoration Using Nature-Based Solutions

Lessons from the MERLIN project

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Publication:Video
 
Pharmaceutical substances from creams and gels can enter wastewater when washed off after application. However, this can be reduced by first wiping your hands with a paper towel, disposing of it in the household waste, and only then washing your hands.

Umweltfreundliche Anwendung von Arzneisalben

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Publication:Conference Paper
 
Cover of the conference documentation "Zukunftsaufgabe naturnaher Landschaftswasserhaushalt"
The symposium "The future task of a near-natural landscape water balance" of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) was organized by Ecologic Institute and took place on 18 April 2024, in Bonn. This publication summarises the most important contents of the conference as well as the research and implementation needs identified.

Zukunftsaufgabe naturnaher Landschaftswasserhaushalt

Ergebnisdokumentation zur BfN-Fachtagung am 18. April 2024

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