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

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Publication

Article

Agriculture

Bioeconomy

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Soil

Sustainability

The "Invisible" Subsoil

An Exploratory View of Societal Acceptance of Subsoil Management in Germany

Hidden beneath the humus-rich topsoil, the subsoil usually receives little attention in agricultural practice. Yet, plants cover between 10 and 80% of their nutrient and water needs from subsoils. Measures to improve the subsoil could help in bridging droughts and stabilising yields. But how do farmers and other societal actors perceive different methods for subsoil management? Ecologic Institutes's Ana Frelih-Larsen, Mandy Hinzmann and Sophie Ittner published the first exploratory research results on the societal acceptance of subsoil management in the open access journal Sustainability. Read more

Publication

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

Water

Plastics in the Environment - Sources • Sinks • Solutions

Overview of the Joint Research Projects

With its comprehensive research programme, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding 18 research projects which have the overall aim to noticeably decrease the amount of plastics in the environment. This conference reader, published by Ecologic Institute, presents the aims of the overall research programme as well as the 18 research projects spanning a wide range of research areas such as Green Economy, Consumption, Recycling, Freshwater Systems as well as Seas and Oceans, and the accompanying research of PlastikNet. The PlastikNet conference reader is available for download.Read more

Publication

Case Study

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

Sustainable Building

A Case Study on Concrete Recycling in France

This case-study paper focuses on concrete recycling in France as a means of understanding circular-economy transitions in the building-materials sector. The EU, including France, produces large volumes of construction and demolition waste (CDW) per year and aims to increase the re-use of these materials, reducing landfilling and negative environmental impacts. Recycling concrete is seen as a way to contribute to these objectives by ensuring that a portion of this waste is turned into a product with value. Currently, France does not recycle CDW as much as some other Member States. This case study paper carries out a scenario analysis comparing two future scenarios for 2030, providing insights into important environmental and economic impacts of an increased concrete recycling rate in France.Read more

Event

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Security Policy

Plastics

Transatlantic Program

Arctic Summer College 2018 – Webinar Series

TimeLoc

11 July 2018 to 29 August 2018

Berlin, Germany and Washington DC

United States

The Arctic Summer College brings together Arctic experts, professionals, and students for a transdisciplinary exchange on key Arctic issues. The webinar series, which was conceived by Ecologic Institute in 2011, covered in 2018 four thematic modules: (1) Environmental Sciences, (2) Energy and Resources, (3) International Governance, and (4) Social Sciences. The webinar series is available online.Read more

Event

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Security Policy

Transatlantic Program

2018 Arctic Summer College – Call for Applications

TimeLoc

11 July 2018 to 29 August 2018

Berlin, Germany and Washington DC

United States

Ecologic Institute and its partners are pleased to announce the 2018 Arctic Summer College and are seeking applications from emerging leaders working to improve Arctic governance from around the world. This year applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.Read more

Publication

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

RECREATE Green Horizons Scoreboard – Instructional Video

One of the key elements of the Research Network in Climate, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials (RECREATE) project has been the development of the RECREATE Green Horizons Scoreboard. In order to show the potential user the possibilities provided by the Scoreboard, RECREATE and Ecologic Institute produced an instructional video that takes the user through a number of exemplary analyses.Read more

Publication

Report

Biodiversity

Coastal + Marine

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Water

European Waters – Assessment of Status and Pressures 2018

EEA Report No 7/2018

In 2018, the European Commission will publish its report on the assessment of the second RBMPs and will start the process of evaluating the WFD (EC, 2017a). To accompany and inform this process, the EEA has produced this report on the state of Europe's water. In addition, the Water Information System for Europe (WISE) Freshwater visualisation tool presents more, and more detailed, results.Read more

Publication

Brochure

Policy Assessment

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

Ressourcenschonung als Zukunftsaufgabe

Ansatzpunkte für eine systemische Ressourcenpolitik

The national and international political agenda shows that resource conservation is a central task for environmental policy: In Germany, Europe and globally, there are political programmes and strategies aimed at fostering sustainable resource use. In five theses, this brochure from the SimRess project shows that an integrative and systemically designed resource policy contributes to achieving the goals of resource protection and climate protection. The study was carried out by Ecologic Institute with Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers and Susanne Langsdorf as co-authors. The brochure is available for download.Read more

Publication

Article

Global Environment

Governance

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

Plastics

Developing Countries in the Lead – What Drives the Diffusion of Plastic Bag Policies?

While diffusion patterns are quite well understood in the context of the Global North, diffusion research has only been applied to a limited extent to investigate how policies spread across developing countries. Ecologic Institute's Doris Knoblauch, Linda Mederake and Ulf Stein therefore analyze the diffusion patterns of plastic bag bans and taxes in the Global South and Global North to contribute to the further refinement of diffusion theory by specifically addressing the under-researched Global South. The article is available for download.Read more

Publication

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

RECREATE Green Horizons Scoreboard

green-horizons.eu/

The RECREATE Green Horizons Scoreboard is a website that presents relevant indicators for tackling societal challenges in the areas of climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials. The Scoreboard provides indicators on ten different Environmental Innovation Systems, or fields of knowledge, that are of high relevance to the areas of climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials.Read more