On 22 November 2012, Ecologic Institute organized a side-event entitled ‘European Innovation for Sustainable Water Management: Users meet Researchers’ at the IWRM Karlsruhe 2012. The event presented five European research projects and their innovative outputs, covering the topics of sustainable urban water management and the adaptation of freshwater ecosystem management to climate change. Ulf Stein and Johanna von Toggenburg organized the side-event as part of WaterDiss2.0, a project within the 7th European Union-funded Framework Programme, which supports research projects in the water sector along with the transfer of their results to intended users, thereby linking science, policy, and practice.

<p>The first in a series of workshops on the topic of fish protection and downstream migration highlighted the congruent and contradictory goals of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the German Renewable Energy Act (EEG) as they relate to the topic of hydropower development and fish protection. A results paper (in German) presenting the detailed findings of the workshop is available for download.</p>&#13;

Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke was one of Willy Brandt’s helpers in his 1969 election campaign, was co-founder of the German Green Party, has founded—together the with Lutz Mez—the Environmental Policy Research Centre (FFU) at the Free University of Berlin, and has thus taken part in creating the scientific infrastructure of environmental policy consultancy. Moreover, Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke is co-founder of the "Berlin School on Environmental Policy Sciences," which gained worldwide recognition and whose approach is also followed by Ecologic Institute. As a policy consultant, Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke is a key figure in Germany, where he was part of the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU). Seventy-five years old, he is now travelling more than ever and is one of the most important consultants for the Chinese government. On 18 October 2012 Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke was interviewed by R. Andreas Kraemer about the beginning of environmental policy consultancy in Germany. Portions of the conversation (in German) can be watched online.