At the German Nature Conservation Day (Deutscher Naturschutztag, DNT), Doris Knoblauch from Ecologic Institute presented the Urban Governance Atlas, developed as part of the EU-funded INTERLACE project. The collection highlights governance and policy instruments that can support cities in successfully implementing nature-based solutions.

As Europe moves towards implementing the Nature Restoration Regulation, a central question comes into focus: how can freshwater restoration be financed at scale? At the joint policy event in Brussels, Dr. Josselin Rouillard presented MERLIN’s approach to addressing this challenge, combining practical tools, policy insights and financial innovation to support restoration on the ground.

At the “18th Klett Geography Symposium: Plastic Planet or Blue Planet – It's in Our Hands", Mandy Hinzmann presented the “Plastic Pirates – German Coast” project. Plastic Pirates is a citizen science project in which young people work in groups to investigate (plastic) waste pollution in waterways using a standardised scientific method.

Doris Knoblauch from Ecologic Institute presented recent work from the Plastic Pirates – German Coast citizen science project at the 2026 conference of the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) in Oulu (Finland). The conference brought together around 650 participants from across Europe and beyond to discuss the latest developments in citizen science research and practice.

On 20 November 2025, Aaron Best and Mandy Hinzmann presented innovative digital solutions for sustainable consumption at the Federal Ministry for the Environment in Berlin. These solutions were developed as part of the project "DigiKon – Digital solutions for sustainable consumption in the circular economy", carried out by the Ecologic Institute together with IZT and GFA Consulting from June 2024 to November 2025.

At the Fachsymposium Stadtgrün – Zukunft städtischer grüner Infrastrukturen (Symposium on urban greenery – The future of urban green infrastructure; 12–13 November 2025) Flora Dicke and Jenny Tröltzsch presented insights from the AMAREX project in the form of a scientific poster. The event brought together experts from municipalities, research institutions and planning practice to discuss innovative approaches for climate-resilient urban green spaces and water management, with a special focus on competition for urban space.

From 12 to 14 November 2025, Hannah Brunkhorst took part in the Participatory Science Conference (PartWiss) in Leipzig, where innovative projects and approaches were presented under the motto "Researching together – Impulses from citizen science, participatory, and transdisciplinary research". At the end of the first day of the PartWiss 2025 conference, participants gathered for a large poster session. A total of 30 posters were presented, providing interesting insights into various projects in the fields of citizen science, participatory and transdisciplinary research.

During the first day of the PartWiss 2025 conference, Doris Knoblauch delivered a presentation on the Europe-wide citizen science project, 'Plastic Pirates – Go Europe', during the thematic session, 'Participatory Approaches to Shaping the Science-Policy Interface'. During her presentation, she explored the intersection of natural and social science methods within the project. Using studies of the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts as an example, she showed how school classes in Kiel, St. Peter-Ording, Rostock and Flensburg had collected data on plastic pollution, before discussing the causes, responsibilities and possible solutions in focus groups.

At this year's DWA Conference on River Basin Management, Dr. Benjamin Kupilas explored how landscapes can be designed to store water more effectively, buffer extreme events, and simultaneously support biodiversity. His talk highlighted the importance of restoring natural hydrological processes as a cornerstone of climate mitigation and adaptation, nature conservation, and resilient regional development.

Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation on 10 September 2025 on the implementation of the 'ecocide' provision of the Environmental Crime Directive in Germany. This took place as part of a webinar organized by Europe Calling and Stop Ecocide Germany on environmental criminal law and 'ecocide'. He provided an overview of the provisions of the new Environmental Crime Directive on the ecocide-like consequences of environmental crimes, highlighted the need for implementation in Germany, and presented proposals for implementation close to the directive and an alternative implementation that already addresses the risk of serious consequences. The presentation was based on a legal opinion he had written for Stop Ecocide Germany.

On 2 July 2025, Fenja Kroos, Researcher at Ecologic Institute, contributed as a speaker to the European Youth Conference “European Green Roundtable” in Berlin. Fenja Kroos delivered a keynote presentation on the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, providing insights into the development of European environmental policy and discussing its relevance for current climate and biodiversity challenges.

The 25th Arctic Dialogue took place on 3 June 2025 at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Potsdam and focused on international cooperation in polar research, with a particular emphasis on the 5th International Polar Year (IPY 2032/33).

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.

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.