How can the German government's planned "gradual reduction and end of coal-fired electricity generation" succeed – and what are the concrete implications of it for the state of Brandenburg? This was the focus of discussion at a Berlin Energy Days event hosted by the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU). Panelists included the SRU's Professor Kemfert and Undersecretary Fischer of Brandenburg's Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute contributed conceptually.

Directly after the German government's Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue, the think tank Agora Energiewende invited influential think tanks from all over the world to discuss "system security in an electricity sector based on renewable energies". Participating think tanks discussed their role in the energy transition in a panel discussion chaired by Ecologic Institute's Director Dr. Camilla Bausch.

The 2018 European Think Tank Summit brings together key representatives from the think tank landscape in Europe to exchange ideas, discuss best practices and learn from each other's expertise. Ecologic Institute Director, Dr. Camilla Bausch, chaired a break-out session that addressed the complex question of using strategic communication to reach target groups in a time marked by a superabundance of information.

Donald Trump's announcement that the USA will pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement triggered the German Federal Agency for Civic Education to put American climate policy on stage in its popular series "What's Up America". Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute, Prof. Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer of PIK Potsdam and the New York Times Berlin correspondent Melissa Eddy addressed the reasoning behind this controversial decision and possible consequences.

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.

Green infrastructure (GI) and nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly recognised for their potential to contribute to a range of urban challenges and policy objectives. But, how can they be mainstreamed in practice and to what extent do current policy frame-works support their implementation? At the international conference on "Urban Green In-frastructure - Connecting People and Nature for Sustainable Cities", Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis and Sandra Naumann addressed these and other issues in targeted ses-sions. The conference, held in Malmö (Sweden) from 20 to 21 September 2017, was the final conference of the EU-funded GreenSurge project.

Despite President Trump's skepticism regarding the Paris Agreement and his focus on fossil fuels, the interest in the German Energiewende and the role of renewables remains high in transatlantic exchange. Dr. Camilla Bausch, Director of Ecologic Institute, was invited to speak at two high-level events with US policy makers.

In the wake of the German elections in 2017, the lead candidate of the Green Party, Cem Özdemir, presented his foreign policy concept. Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute and Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff of the German Marshall Fund were invited to comment on his approach, which he framed as "value-based realism".

<p>The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the upcoming climate negotiations and global trends in the energy sector – these topics were discussed during a panel discussion on "Current Challenges in Climate and Energy Policy" at the Foreign Office in Berlin.</p>&#13;

<p>More than 450 decision-makers discussed the urgent matters of our time during the "World Food Convention 2017", where the Ecologic Institute was a partner. Stephanie Wunder, Ecologic Institute's Senior Fellow joined the World Food Convention's panel on "Human Eating Behaviour" in June 2017. In her statement she pointed out that eating behavior can be changed and diets can be healthier and more environmentally friendly at the same time. However, as she underlined, we should not trust that the informed consumer will simply change the system, and that we need to make it easier for people to live healthier: provide access to good foods, get the prices right and reconnect people to the food system.</p>&#13;

<p>How can culture contribute to change? How can and should it contribute to achieving environmental sustainability? Dr. Camilla Bausch was invited to reflect on such questions in the context of the 8th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.</p>&#13;

<p>What is the importance of the Baltic Sea marine environment to society? How do human activities contribute to national and regional economies? How does the state of the marine environment contribute to the well-being of current and future generations? The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) brought together around 800 players active in the Baltic Sea region to reflect on common challenges, the EU Strategy and its objectives. Ecologic Institute's Benjamin Boteler was invited to participate as a panelist at the HELCOM session "Latest status of the sea revealed" held on 13 June 2017.</p>&#13;

<p>On 23 May 2017 a CommBeBiz webinar featured a discussion with Ecologic Institute&#39;s Holger Gerdes and Zoritza Kiresiewa, on the topic &quot;Creating Networks for the Transition to a Bio-based and Circular Economy.&quot; They gave deeper insights into recommendations for effective engagement in the bio-based and circular economy. These recommendations were published in a BioSTEP policy paper, which is available online.</p>

Ecologic Institute's Elizabeth Zelljadt provided an overview of the ways various emission trading systems (ETS) use revenues from the auctioning of allowances as part of a panel discussion on revenue recycling at the Ontario Cap-and-Trade Forum in Toronto. The event brought together government decision-makers as well as analysts and Canadian industries affected by the province's emissions trading system, which entered into force January 2017 and held its first allowance auction in March 2017.

<p>Ecologic Institute's Lena Donat provided the European perspective on the Paris Agreement and the outcomes of COP22 in Marrakesh at the 45th Cairo Climate Talks, titled "COP22: Fostering Climate Change Resilience in Egypt". The event brought together decision-makers as well as representatives from business, academia and civil society.</p>&#13;