Contents:

1. The EU in Turbulence – Publications
2. Early Ratification of the Paris Agreement by the EU – Publication
3. EU Effort Sharing after 2020 – Publication
4. Case Studies of Regional Bioeconomy Strategies across Europe – Publication
5. Resource Efficiency in Practice – Closing Mineral Cycles – Publication
6. Implementation of "Land Degradation Neutrality" in Germany – Event
7. Soils2Sea: Reducing Nutrient Loadings into the Baltic Sea – Film Premiere
8. A Practical Illustration of the Human Dimension in Coastal Systems and its Drivers for Change – Moderation
9. Food Waste Solution Contest – Call for Submissions
10. Ecologic Institute is Looking to Hire a (Senior) Fellow in the Field of EU Agricultural and Soil Policies – Job Opportunity
11. Ecologic Institute is Looking to Hire a Senior Controller – Job Opportunity

1. The EU in Turbulence – Publications

   With the Brexit, migration, the Euro crisis, continued economic malaise and the rise of EU-skeptical parties and nationalist sentiment across Europe – the European Union is in turbulence. In two new papers, Ecologic Institute addresses the current state of the EU. A background paper by Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf and Benjamin Görlach discusses the different facets of the EU crisis, their causes and how they could affect EU climate and energy policy. A second paper presents a collection of six essays, in which climate policy experts from Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Lisbon, London and Warsaw express different views on the EU crisis. The papers are available for download.
   /14114

2. Early Ratification of the Paris Agreement by the EU – Publication

   As the EU considers early ratification of the Paris Agreement, this paper explains the related key legal questions that arise should the EU push to ratify without its internal burden sharing in place and without all Member States ratifying simultaneously. The paper is available for download.
   /14067

3. EU Effort Sharing after 2020 – Publication

   The Paris Agreement requires Parties to scale up their commitments every five years, i.e., with each consecutive "nationally determined contribution" (NDC). The recent proposal of the EU Commission for an Effort Sharing Regulation is essential for the EU to meet this obligation. The proposal, however, does not support adequately continuous scaling up of the EU greenhouse gas reduction targets. A new paper from Ecologic Institute discusses ways in which the Effort Sharing Regulation could support the scaling up of EU climate targets. The paper is available for download.
   /14112

4. Case Studies of Regional Bioeconomy Strategies across Europe – Publication

   How have stakeholders and citizens participated in the development, implementation and monitoring of regional bioeconomy strategies? How has the involvement of stakeholders and citizens affected the strategies' development, implementation and monitoring? What are good practice examples of stakeholder and citizen participation in national and regional bioeconomy strategies? These and other questions are addressed in this report on regional bioeconomy strategies across Europe, focused on four regional case studies: Scotland, South-West Netherlands, Saxony-Anhalt and Veneto. Ecologic Institute was tasked with researching the Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) in Saxony-Anhalt (Germany). The report is available for download.
   /14079

5. Resource Efficiency in Practice – Closing Mineral Cycles – Publication

   The issue of closing mineral cycles was analyzed in eight European regions and the results are presented in the report "Resource Efficiency in Practice – Closing Mineral Cycles". The authors of BIO IS, Ecologic Institute, AMEC, Danish Technical University, University of Milano and LEI, identified measures that support the closing of mineral cycles within the study regions. For each region, practical and strategic options to reduce the nutrient surplus further were derived. The report is available for download.
   /14069

6. Implementation of "Land Degradation Neutrality" in Germany – Event

   In implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Germany has to deal with a range of new challenges. Achieving goals in land and soil protection, for example, cannot build on a long tradition of policymaking or on a solid basis of information and data for monitoring. An expert workshop together with the Federal Agency of Environment (UBA) and Federal Ministry of Environment (BMUB) on 6 July 2016 in Berlin sought to clarify how Germany can achieve "land degradation neutrality" domestically. Stephanie Wunder from Ecologic Institute presented results from a report, which served as the basis for intensive discussions among the participants.
   /13970

7. Soils2Sea: Reducing Nutrient Loadings into the Baltic Sea – Film Premiere

   On 14 October 2016, the documentary film "Soils2Sea: Reducing nutrient loadings into the Baltic Sea" premiered in Poland. Developed and produced by Dr. Grit Martinez (Ecologic Institute) and Anne Berrini (berrini films) with support from Dr. Przemyslaw Wachniew (AGH University of Science and Technology Krakow), the movie illustrates the societal story of implementing the EU's nitrate directive at regional realities in the EU member states, particularly in the Kocinka catchment area in south central Poland. The 35-minute film will be available soon on Ecologic Institute's website.
   /14127

8. A Practical Illustration of the Human Dimension in Coastal Systems and its Drivers for Change – Moderation

   From 4 until 6 September 2016 the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association (ECSA) held its 56th multidisciplinary research conference entitled "Coastal systems in transition from a 'natural' to an 'anthropogenically modified' state" in Bremen (Germany). Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute and Prof. Paolo Ciavola of the University of Ferrara hosted a special session on "Practical illustration of the human dimension in coastal systems and its drivers for change". Presenters from the FP7-Project RISC-KIT highlighted the state of the art of their interdisciplinary research on reducing human risk in coastal areas which was complimented by further participants from other European and world-wide research projects. The presentation slides are available for download.
   /14125

9. Food Waste Solution Contest – Call for Submissions

   REFRESH, a European project on food waste, has launched its Food Waste Solution Contest and is looking for the freshest ideas to tackle food waste across Europe. The contest aims to highlight and support solutions to food waste and food packaging waste at any part(s) of the food chain. Anyone from Europe that has developed a food waste innovation — including individuals, organizations, start-ups and large companies — is encouraged to submit a video or visual essay about their project. The contest is organized by the Ecologic Institute as a partner to the REFRESH project. The deadline for submissions is 30 November 2016.
   https://eu-refresh.org/contest

10. Ecologic Institute is Looking to Hire a (Senior) Fellow in the Field of EU Agricultural and Soil Policies – Job Opportunity

    As a (Senior) Fellow in the field of EU agricultural and soil policies you would provide key support to our team in the preparation of current projects with a particular focus on agriculture, soils and land use. In the medium term you would be expected to acquire and lead projects in this area with the goal of permanent employment.
    /13800

11. Ecologic Institute is Looking to Hire a Senior Controller – Job Opportunity

    As a Senior Controller you strengthen our Finance team and make sure that our Institute is consistently supplied with the proper management information.
    /14105