Resource Conservation + Circular Economy | Ecologic Institute: Science and Policy for a Sustainable World

Pages

Publication

Article

Climate

Policy Assessment

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Contemporary Resource Policy and Decoupling Trends

Lessons Learnt from Integrated Model-Based Assessments

Addressing climate change and natural resource depletion has been key to the international and national sustainability agenda for almost 30 years. Despite existing efforts, global CO2 emissions and raw material use levels continue to grow. This seems to suggest the need for more systemic approaches in environmental policy. The authors, among them Ecologic Institute's Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers, call upon policy makers to integrate rebound mitigation strategies and move beyond exclusively improving efficiency to tackling structural and behavioural changes. The article is available for download.Read more

Publication

Report

Policy Assessment

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Potentiale und Kernergebnisse der Simulationen von Ressourcenschonung(spolitik)

Endbericht des Projekts "Modelle, Potentiale und Langfristszenarien für Ressourceneffizienz" (Sim-Ress)

The SimRess project tested the potential effects of future developments and strategies relevant to resource policy on important environmental and economic indicators. The study summarises the main project findings of the project "Models, Potentials and Long-Term Scenarios for Resource Efficiency". It is available for download.Read more

Publication

Report

Policy Assessment

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

System Analysis for Environmental Policy

System thinking through system dynamic modelling and policy mixing as used in the SimRess project

Systems analysis could be an essential approach to shape resource efficiency policy in a sustainable long term perspective. In the SimRess project, we tested systems thinking to develop a system dynamic resource use simulation model and ii) to investigate policy mixes for resource conservation. The report, which is available for download, documents and summarizes the various results of the workshops and the systems analysis. The study was carried out by the SimRess project partners, with Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers from Ecologic Institute as lead-author.Read more

Publication

Policy Brief

Consumer Policy

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Co-creation in Sustainability Science

Challenges and potential ways forward in implementing co-creation in European research and innovation funding

This policy brief explores and explains the concept and rational of co-creation, both as a general concept as well as in the specific context of sustainability science. Furthermore, it takes a detailed look at its use and potential in the framework of European research & innovation funding. On this basis, it identifies a number of lessons learned with regard to the application of the concept and puts forward concrete policy recommendations. The RECREATE policy brief, written by Ecologic Institute's Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers, is available for download.Read more

Project

Coastal + Marine

Economics

Global Environment

International Development

Public Diplomacy

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

EU Environmental Diplomacy in G7/G20 Conferences

May 2018 to May 2021

The G7 and G20 conferences are two multilateral fora for mutual exchange between the world largest economies. For the European Union, the congresses are particularly important to push for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to enhance international environmental protection. In this project, Ecologic Institute supports the European Commission in strengthening the voice of the EU in the negotiations. The team provides expert advice for EU position development on resource efficiency, circular economy, marine waste, plastics and sustainable finance.Read more

Presentation

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

Ways to Reduce Consumer Food Waste

TimeLoc

24 May 2018

Vilnius

Lithuania

Stephanie Wunder

Experts from different countries showed with illustrative examples how much the success of campaigns against food waste depends on strategic planning, identification of regional food waste patterns, evaluation of results and attracting media attention.Read more

Publication

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Water

Opportunities and Barriers for Water Co-Governance

A Critical Analysis of Seven Cases of Diffuse Water Pollution from Agriculture in Europe, Australia and North America

Diffuse Water Pollution from Agriculture (DWPA) and its governance has received increased attention as a policy concern across the globe. Mitigation of DWPA is a complex problem that requires a mix of policy instruments and a multi-agency, broad societal response. In this article - to which Dr. Grit Martinez and Dr. Nico Stelljes of Ecologic Institute contributed as co-authors - opportunities and barriers for developing co-governance, defined as collaborative societal involvement in the functions of government, and its suitability for mitigation of DWPA, are reviewed using seven case studies in Europe, Australia and North America. The article is available for download.Read more

Event

Workshop

Education

Health

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Water

Plastics

Plastic Pirates – The Sea Begins Here!

TimeLoc

1 May 2018 to 30 June 2018

15 September 2018 to 15 November 2018

Germany

Initially developed for the Science Year 2016/*17 – Seas and Oceans of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the funding for the youth campaign "Plastic Pirates" has been extended as part of the BMBF's research focus "Plastic in the Environment". The campaign takes place from 1 May until 30 June 2018 and allows young people between 10 and 16 years old to become scientists and contribute to a large citizen science project. A second period for sampling is envisaged for 15 September until 15 November 2018. We invite all young people to join! For "Plastic Pirates", the PlastikNet team at Ecologic Institute is collaborating with the Kieler Forschungswerkstatt.Read more

Publication

Report

Consumer Policy

Food

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

EU Policy Review for Food Waste Prevention and Valorisation

D3.3 Screening of EU policy areas with relevant impact on food waste prevention and valorisation

In this report the authors, which include Stephanie Wunder, Keighley McFarland and Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers from Ecologic Institute, provide an overview of the most relevant EU policies and instruments with an impact on food waste generation and/or prevention. The report explains the relevance of the different policy areas at EU level and identifies the gaps, overlaps and unintended effects of EU regulation. Finally, it identifies potential opportunities for improvement in each policy area. The report is available for download.Read more

Publication

Conference Paper

Economics

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

MinFuture – Methodology Development Workshop Synthesis Brief

The goal of MinFuture is to develop a common methodology to mineral raw material flows at global level, which can be agreed and used at international level. The goal is not to collect data but to support data collectors. Hence this methodology workshop served to discuss how MinFuture could support data collectors, providers and users. The MinFuture Workshop Synthesis Brief is available for download.Read more