On 22 February 2024, Dr. Benjamin Kupilas and Fenja Kroos gave a presentation at the 6th ad-hoc meeting on future national restoration plans (NRPs) organized by DG ENV. They presented their work on the Compilation of Existing Guidance on Ecosystem Restoration commissioned by DG ENV.

McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute and Coordinator of Nature-based Solutions, held a keynote at the online webinar ‘Engaging the public in GBGI projects’, where she spoke about inclusive governance and how to learn from real world policy practices to support co-governance in practice. She also presented the Urban Governance Atlas.

During a parliamentary evening, Aaron Scheid presented an analysis of the environmental economic impacts of animal-based food production on 12 December 2023. Focusing on external environmental costs, particularly greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, and with quantitative evidence of costs in the billions, Scheid proposed tax incentives to internalize these costs. His presentation emphasized the need for a comprehensive strategy that considers political, social, and economic aspects, and provided policy options for a sustainable food policy.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are widely recognized for their potential to transform urban spaces into sustainable and environmentally friendly environments. Yet open questions remain around how this can be done in practice, what role different stakeholders can play, and what key challenges and opportunities exist. These topics were explored in the science-policy symposium "Regreening Cities with Nature-based solutions in EU and China – Bridging Science, Policy, and Practice". Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis presented insights from the INTERLACE project on a panel in the session "Enabling Transformation in Urban areas with Nature Based Solutions".

Lina-Marie Dück, Fellow of Ecologic Institute, presented a case study examining climate change litigation in Germany at a workshop held online in Beijing and Berlin. The study highlighted seven distinct cases, encompassing matters related to climate mitigation at both federal and state levels, as well as within specific administrative decisions concerning project approval.

The EU's Climate Council's new report recommends a GHG emission reduction target of 90-95 percent in 2040, which is a very significant reduction target. The EU has adopted numerous reforms until 2030, but none of them targeted the agricultural sector. So, what will be the next steps towards 2040 for agriculture? How should a large sector like agriculture contribute? On 13 November 2023, Hugh McDonald and Julia Bognar (IEEP) took up the question of possible answers to this question.

On 13 November 2023, Hugh McDonald presented the recently published report "Pricing Agricultural Emissions and Rewarding Climate Action in the Agri-food Value Chain" to the Directorate-General for Climate Action.

On 13 November 2023, Hugh McDonald and Julia Bognar (IEEP) presented the recently published report "Pricing Agricultural Emissions and Rewarding Climate Action in the Agri-food Value Chain" to the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development's Civil Dialogue Group on Environment and Climate Change.

The EU's new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP 2023-2027) was agreed after extensive negotiations and came into force at the beginning of the year 2023. In line with the "European Green Deal," it aims to support the transition to sustainable agriculture across the EU. On 7 November 2023, Aaron Scheid of Ecologic Institute will give a presentation on the climate performance of the CAP, how much climate mitigation is in the German CAP strategic plan, and what action is needed for a more climate-friendly agricultural policy in Germany.

Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, held an online speech at the 8th International Forum on Environmental Rule of Law "Climate Change and Carbon Neutral Legal System: International Metropolitan Dialogue" on 6 November 2023 in Shanghai. He gave an overview of Germany's Federal Climate Change Act (KSG), its impact in Germany, and the current revision of the KSG.

At the occasion of the 10th Anniversary Edition of the European Urban Resilience Forum, Ecologic Institute's Doris Knoblauch gave two presentations, showcasing insights both of the CLEVER Cities project as well as the INTERLACE project.

Ecosystem restoration is gaining momentum in science and policy as a process that can jointly tackle biodiversity loss, climate change and other societal challenges. The human and social dimensions of restoration projects however, often insufficiently considered. The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) hosted a hybrid workshop entitled Making people part of ecosystem restoration in Europe from 17 to 19 October 2023 to explore this topic. McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, held a keynote presentation on "Creating enabling conditions for ecosystem restoration: Tools and guidelines for local impact".

The European Regions Research and Innovation Network's (ERRIN) Blue Economy Working Group held a hybrid meeting entitled "Water issues in the era of climate change" on 5 October 2023. McKenna Davis, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute and Coordinator of Nature-based Solutions, was invited to hold the keynote presentation to set the scene. Her contribution – entitled "Nature-based solutions in European policy: A framework for enhancing local action" – introduced the variety of nature-based solutions available for water management, current research focusing on these solutions (including the Ecologic-led NICHES project), the surrounding EU policy framework, and examples of enabling local policy instruments from the Urban Governance Atlas.

Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, presented two case studies on German climate change acts at workshops in Beijing, and discussed with Chinese experts from governmental and municipal departments and universities on Chinese and German climate legislation. In addition, he held a lecture on the German Federal Climate Change Act at the Law Faculty of Beihang University and participated in a discussion on potential areas for future cooperation at the Center for German Studies of the University.