Water | Ecologic Institute: Science and Policy for a Sustainable World

Pages

Event

Conference

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Water

Plastic in the Environment – Kick-off Conference of the BMBF Research Programme

TimeLoc

17 October 2017 to 18 October 2017

Berlin

Germany

With a big conference in Berlin on the 17 and 18 Oktober 2017, the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) launched its new comprehensive research programme "Plastic in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions." In this research programme, 18 research projects with around 100 partners from science, industry, associations and municipalities are exploring the following questions: What is the extent of plastic pollution globally, what are its causes and its effects? For the kickoff, representatives from all collaborative projects met in the "Umweltforum" in Berlin to present the individual projects, identify common challenges and develop cross-cutting themes for an exchange across consortia.Read more

Presentation

Synergies and Conflicts between EU Policies in the Implementation of the Water Framework Directive

TimeLoc

17 October 2017

eConference

Dr. Josselin Rouillard

As part of the FP7 MARS e-conference on the "Future of Water Management in Europe: Reviewing the WFD implementation", Josselin Rouillard presented an overview of key synergies and conflicts between EU policies in the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). After presenting the variety of relevant EU policies, Josselin presented key results from the H2020 project Aquacross on policy integration in EU water polices and the challenges of mainstreaming water policy in sectoral policies. He then presented in more detail the outcomes of a survey of Rural Development Programmes and their contribution to supporting the objectives of the WFD.Read more

Event

A Pledge for Improving Transboundary Water Management Practices amongst Polish and Russian Authorities

TimeLoc

15 October 2017

Olztyn

Poland

Speaker

Dr. Grit Martinez

Dr. Nico Stelljes

The Baltic Sea is among the most polluted water bodies in the world because of poor land and water management in the basin. In many cases, water resources in the Baltic Sea region are transboundary and flow across national borders linking neighbours in management and development challenges. After many years of silence amongst Polish and Russian authorities, a meeting between regional water authorities from Olsztyn in Poland and Kaliningrad Oblask in Russia was arranged in eastern Poland with the support of Ecologic Institute. The event slides are available for download.Read more

Publication

Introduction to the RISC-KIT Web Based Management Guide for DRR in European Coastal Zones

This paper presents a new approach to guiding coastal stakeholders about making informed decisions about Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) measures and alternatives. As part of the RISC-KIT project and tool box, the paper presents a holistic DRR measure approach including the biophysical environment, governance aspects and practical examples from coastal areas in Europe and elsewhere. The guide is addressed to a wide variety of coastal stakeholders with a different level of knowledge about DRR measures with the aim to provide guidance and information. The paper gives an overview of the overall...Read more

News

Water and Innovation: Ecologic Institute at the SWITCH-ON Final Conference and EIP Water Conference

In the final week of September, Ecologic Institute and its partners in the FP7 Research Project SWITCH-ON were in Porto (Portugal) to celebrate the final General Assembly of the project and showcase its results at the EIP Water Conference of the European Commission.

Project

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Sustainability

Water

Scientific Coordination of Research Projects on "Plastic in the Environment – sources, sinks, solutions" (PlastikNet)

September 2017 to August 2021

In the framework of the scientific accompanying research (PlastikNet) of the funding programme "Plastic in the environment -- sources, sinks, solutions" (Plastik in der Umwelt -- Quellen, Senken, Lösungsansätze) Ecologic Institute coordinates 18 research projects, which deal with plastics in the environment funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF). Read more

Publication

Book Section

Energy

Water

Governing for the Nexus: Empirical, Theoretical and Normative Dimensions

In this chapter the authors, among them Ecologic Institute's Josselin Rouillard, examine how the Water-Energy-Food nexus is emerging at different scales and national contexts worldwide. The chapter presents empirical evidence of innovations in terms of policy instruments. Normative suggestions for theorizing future nexus governance are also presented.Read more

Publication

Making the Case for Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems as a Nature-based Solution to Urban Flooding

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) as a promising nature-based solution are the focus of a new chapter, written by Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis and Sandra Naumann. The authors utilize a range of case studies and evidence from across Europe to underline the potential of SUDS as a tool to reduce the negative effects of urban flooding and resultant water pollution. The diverse environmental and societal co-benefits are also presented as well as insights on the potential cost-effectiveness of SUDS as compared to grey infrastructure solutions.Read more

Publication

The Role of Historical Storm Events in Risk Analysis

A study of the coastal flood events in 1872 and 1904 along the South and East Coast of Scania, Sweden, Vatten.

This study presents information about the storms in 1872 and 1904 that occurred along the coast of Scania that is analysed with respect to the evolution of risk awareness, vulnerability, and societies' resilience over time. The article, to which Dr. Grit Martinez from Ecologic Institute contributed, is available for download.Read more

Project

Governance

Water

Increasing Good Governance for Achieving the Objectives of Integrated Water Resources Management (STEER)

June 2017 to May 2020

Complex use conflicts such as those arising around the management of water resources require the coordination and cooperation of public authorities and stakeholders across very different thematic areas and geographic scales. The goal of STEER is to explore innovative mechanisms of coordination and cooperation on a river-basin level for the governance of water resources. The project is structured around a diagnostic approach, which supports the analysis of typical conflict situations between stakeholders (and/or public authorities) and allows for the identification of possible approaches to solving these by means of cooperation and/or coordination.Read more