The annual NUTRITION conference brings together nutritionists, health experts in hospitals and nursing homes as well as pharmacists to exchange over current scientific and practical insights to support healthy diets. In her keynote speech at the NUTRITION 2019 with more than 500 participants, Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented what impact a stronger collaboration between nutritionists and sustainability experts can have.

What role can nature-based solutions (NBS) play in climate change adaptation and mitigation? How can NBS be applied in order to achieve integrated risk management and resilience? These questions were addressed at the 'Paris Forum on NBS'. Sandra Naumann, Senior Researcher at Ecologic Institute, presented in the plenary session insights from city initiatives in Europe to demonstrate the potential of nature-based solution and to highlight remaining challenges needing to be addressed.

"More organic, more regional food, fit for the future – Transition of food systems through urban-rural cooperation" was the motto of this year's STADTLANDBIO Congress. Stephanie Wunder presented the policy recommendations of the research project "Rural Urban Nexus". She focused on the relevance of secure access to land for regional food producers.

At the November 2018 food conference of the Austrian council presidency Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, discussed the role of urban food policies to support healthy lifestyles. She discussed the opportunities of local food initiatives with regard to health, food security and sustainability. Many local initiatives have in common that they try to tackle food production and consumption in a more integrated way by reconnecting people to their food production, stimulating healthy eating behaviours and supporting environmentally sound regional production. The session discussed how to overcome barriers and how to benefit from inter-sectorial collaboration throughout the process of planning and implementing coherent policies.

How is the Paris Agreement relevant for people active in the building sector? What can and should architects, energy consultants, or installers contribute to achieving the goals of this international climate agreement? Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute tried to bridge the gap between the international and the local level before 500 experts in her Keynote Address at the 20th annual conference "Herbstforum Altbau" in Stuttgart (Germany).

At the 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference, Ecologic Institute's Hugh McDonald and Sandra Naumann presented and discussed Ecologic work on nature-based solutions and managing aquatic biodiversity. The UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP 14) took place from 13 to 29 November 2018 in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt). Approximately 3,800 representatives from government, NGOs, indigenous groups, academia, business and civil society came together to discuss the theme "Investing in biodiversity for people and planet".

In the first BSEC (Berlin Seminar on Energy and Climate) after the summer break, possible functions and roles of a German climate protection law for the transformation in sectors with the highest emissions will be presented and discussed. Matthias Duwe, from Ecologic Institute, will talk about the design and effectiveness of climate change legislation in international comparison. The seminar will take place on 15 October 2018 in Berlin.

In July 2018, Sandra Naumann from the Ecologic Institute joined the 2nd International Seminar on nature-based solutions in Brasilia (Brazil) to discuss the state of knowledge, experiences and challenges to implement nature-based solutions (NBS). She presented an overview of the almost 1000 NBS contained within the Urban Nature Atlas as well as results from the EU and national policy review conducted as part of the EU-funded NATURVATION project. Attendees included over 100 representatives of Brazilian and European cities, national and local authorities and decision makers, research, business and international organisations. The presentation slides are available online.

Ecologic Institute's Elizabeth Zelljadt explained emissions trading systems (ETS) at a workshop on carbon pricing in Latin America and the Caribbean hosted by the environmental advocacy group World Wildlife Fund (WWF). As several Latin American countries are implementing carbon pricing policies – from carbon taxes applied to fossil fuels to carbon markets similar to the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) – Latin American WWF leaders brought their members together with external carbon pricing experts for a workshop on measures to price carbon around the world. The international group of participants, which included officials from the Mexican government and the United Nations, also addressed the status of global negotiations around this issue.

On World Environment Day 2018 the National Territorial Planning Agency of Albania (AKPT) held an event where government officials, NGOs, universities and research institutes as well as members of the general public gathered to discuss the progress of the BRIGAID H2020 project and its prospects in the Balkan country. Gerardo Anzaldúa, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented the first results of his working group on business development and financing support to climate innovators. The presentation slides are available for download.

From 26 to 28 April 2018, the Global Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation took place in Bonn (Germany), just after the March Cities IPCC Conference, a few days ahead of the midyear Bonn climate talks and a few months before nations review SDG 11 on cities and human settlements. For the INNOVA project, Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute presented INNOVA's approach to risk assessment in the session "Assessing urban risk and vulnerability and prioritizing action." The presentation slides are available for download.

The AquaCross research community, funded by the European Commission, was represented on stage at the 8th World Water Forum in Brasilia by two members of the AquaCross Think Tank, Francisco Nunes Correia and R. Andreas Kraemer. R. Andreas Kraemer, founder of Ecologic Institute, gave two presentations at this annual global gathering.

The BONARES conference "Soil as a Sustainable Resource" took place in Berlin from 26 to 28 February 2018. Ecologic Institute staff attended the conference and presented the interim results of the Soil³ project – Sustainable Subsoil Management. Dr. Ana Frelih-Larsen, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation on "Social acceptance of measures to improve the subsoil in German agriculture".

On 22 January 2018, Ecologic Institute's Dr. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf and Philipp Voß presented the the report "The EU Emission Budget and its Implications for EU Climate Action" in Brussels. Beside the discussion of what a "fair" EU contribution according to the Paris Agreement is, they outlined different EU's greenhouse gas emission budgets scenarios. The presentations, agenda and list of participants are available for download.

On 8 December 2017, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented a comparative overview of climate change laws at state level in Germany at a workshop on the further development of the Climate Change Act for Baden-Württemberg. He focused on common features and differences in the existing climate change acts, and highlighted elements of interest for the amendment of the Climate Change Act for Baden-Württemberg.