Contents:

1. EU Effort Sharing Decision after 2020 – Publication
2. State of Europe's Seas – Publication
3. Climate Science and Communication for the Baltic Sea Region – Publication
4. Green Infrastructure: A Bridging Concept Between Biodiversity Conservation and the Green Economy – Publication
5. Mid-term Evaluation of the Renewable Energy Directive – Presentation
6. Regional Cooperation in the Context of the 2030 Governance Framework – Presentation
7. German Participatory Forum on Fish Protection and Downstream Migration – Presentation
8. History for a Sustainable Future – Presentation
9. Sustainable Soil Management Aimed at Reducing Threats to Soils under Climate Change – SmartSOIL Final Conference
10. Navigation through the Green Economy Indicator Jungle – News
11. Ecologic Institute Seeks Student Assistant – Opportunity

1. EU Effort Sharing Decision after 2020 – Publication

   The European Council agreed that flexibility within the non-ETS sectors will be "significantly enhanced" after 2020. A new paper by Ecologic Institute analyzes options to enhance flexibility. The paper focuses on project-based mechanisms and is available for download.
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2. State of Europe's Seas – Publication

   The European Environment Agency's (EEA) report aims to assess whether Europe is meeting the goals of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The authors, among them scientists at Ecologic Institute, argue that the European Union is not on a path to fulfil its ambition of achieving sustainable use of its seas, despite being fully capable to do so using the current array of existing policies and knowledge. The report is available for download.
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3. Climate Science and Communication for the Baltic Sea Region – Publication

   The BACC II (Second Assessment of Climate Change for the Baltic Sea basin) is an updated assessment of ongoing climate variations in the Baltic Basin for the period 2009-2014. The book offers new and updated scientific findings in regional climate research for the Baltic Sea basin. The evidence collected and presented in BACC II shows that the regional climate has already started to change and that this is expected to continue. Dr. Grit Martinez from Ecologic Institute is co-author of the article 'Climate Science and Communication for the Baltic Sea Region' and handles the communication of the science to regional policy-makers.
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4. Green Infrastructure: A Bridging Concept Between Biodiversity Conservation and the Green Economy – Publication

   In this book chapter Timo Kaphengst, McKenna Davis and Sandra Naumann of Ecologic Institute examine how the concept of green infrastructure (GI) matches with the most fundamental elements of the green economy, paying particular attention to the enhancement of "natural capital" and fostering of green and social innovation outside of protected areas. The ecosystem services approach is utilized as a bridging concept between the human and natural spheres, highlighting the extent to which GI is suitable for supporting the functionality of ecosystems and their provisioning of services for humans. The theoretical analysis is underpinned with empirical evidence from research in the field of GI within Europe and previous projects completed by Ecologic Institute.
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5. Mid-term Evaluation of the Renewable Energy Directive – Presentation

   Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, joined Bettina Kampman from CE Delfton 2 July 2015 to present and discuss mid-term evaluation of the Renewable Energy Directive at Directorate-General for Energy (DG Energy) in Brussels (Belgium). The study had been carried out by a consortium of CE Delft, Ricardo-AEA, Ecologic Institute, E-Bridge and REKK, and been published recently on DG Energy's website. The audience consisted of around 25 representatives of DG GROW, AGRI, ENV, RTD, JRC, CLIMA, COMP, TAXUD, TRADE, Legal Service and Secretariat General. The presentation is available for download.
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6. Regional Cooperation in the Context of the 2030 Governance Framework – Presentation

   On 17 June 2015, Katharina Umpfenbach presented the working paper "Regional cooperation in the context of the new 2030 energy governance" in Berlin (Germany), which takes a closer look at the existing landscape of regional institutions in the European electricity sector to explore their potential contribution to an effective future governance framework. The presentation is available for download.
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7. German Participatory Forum on Fish Protection and Downstream Migration – Presentation

   On 22 June 2015, Eleftheria Kampa, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation on the German Forum on fish protection and downstream migration at the 5th International Fish Passage Conference in the Netherlands. In her presentation, she illustrated how the Forum has been a successful instrument for participation and improving acceptance for measures on fish protection and downstream migration, which are topics of intensive and often controversial discussions in recent years in Germany. The presentation slides are available for download.
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8. History for a Sustainable Future – Presentation

   In the first week of July 2015 environmental historians from around the world met to exchange their empirical findings for a sustainable future and to discuss further applied research trends amongst the humanities. Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute presented the outcomes from the perspective of the environmental history drawing on results from the projects Resilience Increasing Strategies for Coasts (RISC-KIT), which is funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), and Regional Adaptation Strategies for the German Baltic Sea Coast (RADOST), in addition to others. In her presentation Dr. Grit Martinez explained that the specific characteristics of German adaptation measures to environmental risk and a changing climate may be explained not only by economic, political and social circumstances, but also by their cultural tradition and developments in contemporary German culture. The presentation slides are available for download.
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9. Sustainable Soil Management Aimed at Reducing Threats to Soils under Climate Change – SmartSOIL Final Conference

   The final conference of the SmartSOIL project will highlight the key messages on the impact of soil management practices on crop productivity, soil organic C stocks and other ecosystem services. The conference will introduce participants to the SmartSOIL Decision Support Tool and discuss policy options for the future. The conference will take place on 30 September 2015 in Brussels (Belgium). Registration is still open.
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10. Navigation through the Green Economy Indicator Jungle – News

    After almost two years of work led by Ecologic Institute on the NETGREEN, the initiative's main output was unveiled: a database for Green Economy indicators. However, this product is a multifunctional tool rather than just a simple database. The tool helps to identify and understand the best indicators to measure progress towards the green economy. Therefore, it is useful for policy-makers and people trying to influence them. This initiative is of particular interest for the Directorate-General for Environment, as can be seen in a recent interview with the NETGREEN project team. The interview is available online.
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11. Ecologic Institute Seeks Student Assistant – Opportunity

    Ecologic Institute is currently seeking new staff, in particular the position of a Student Assistant for the HR team, for a 1-year-contract. For more information regarding the requirements and the necessary application documents, please visit our website. Please apply online.
    http://ecologic.eu/opportunities