Contents:

1. A Climate Law for Europe – Publication
2. Future of the EU: What Role for Climate and Energy Policies? – Discussion Paper
3. Utilizing Urban Living Laboratories for Social Innovation – Publication
4. Assessing Urban Risk and Vulnerability and Prioritizing Action – Presentation
5. What Next for Coal? – Panel Discussion
6. The Club of Rome's New Report: Come On! – Dinner Dialogue
7. Plastic Pirates are on Tour Again on Rivers and Streams! – Order Campaign Materials!
8. 2018 Arctic Summer College – Call for Applications
9. International Fellowship – One Year Trainee Program

1. A Climate Law for Europe – Publication

   The climate protection laws of countries, regions and cities have several things in common: legally binding reduction targets, emission budgets, verification systems and independent institutions. These characteristics are essential to effective climate change legislation and crucial to the implementation of the Paris Convention. However, current EU rules on climate change do not include many of these features. Therefore, the existing EU acquis is neither what countries and regions have adopted nor what full implementation of the Paris Agreement means. The Regulation on Governance for the Energy Union as adopted by the European Parliament would remedy a number of shortcomings. These are the main findings of a new paper from Ecologic Institute, which is available for download.

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2. Future of the EU: What Role for Climate and Energy Policies? – Discussion Paper

   The EU has been going through a series of crises – from the Eurozone crisis and Brexit to controversies about migration. In response to Brexit, the EU has embarked on an process to reform itself. As a contribution to this process, the Ecologic Institute explores the interlinkages between the process on the Future of the EU and European climate and energy policies. At its first meeting, the working group discussed, among other, Dr. Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf's (Ecologic Institute) paper: Reforming the EU: What Role for Climate and Energy Policies in a Reformed EU? The discussion paper is available for download.

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3. Utilizing Urban Living Laboratories for Social Innovation – Publication

   Can urban living labs support social and governance innovations and therewith contribute to sustainable urban planning? Can they serve as a tool to assist cities in adapting to new emerging challenges? As part of the new Urban Planet book, Sandra Naumann and McKenna Davis from the Ecologic Institute authored a chapter together with Michele-Lee Moore and Kes McCormick to address these questions. The chapter introduces a brief history of urban living labs and the governance challenges they intend to address, and subsequently explores whether urban living labs hold potential as a new forum for urban governance innovation experiments to support positive transformative change. The open access chapter and book are available for download.

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4. Assessing Urban Risk and Vulnerability and Prioritizing Action – Presentation

   From 26 to 28 April 2018, the Global Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation took place in Bonn (Germany), just after the March Cities IPCC Conference, a few days ahead of the midyear Bonn climate talks and a few months before nations review SDG 11 on cities and human settlements. For the INNOVA project, Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute presented INNOVA's approach to risk assessment in the session "Assessing urban risk and vulnerability and prioritizing action." The presentation slides are available for download.

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5. What Next for Coal? – Panel Discussion

   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 as well as with the introduction to and moderation of the event.

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6. The Club of Rome's New Report: Come On! – Dinner Dialogue

   Professor Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, co-president of the Club of Rome, introduced the Club's new report "Come On! Capitalism, Short-termism, Population and the Destruction of the Planet" at a Dinner Dialogue hosted by Ecologic Institute. The event featured guest speakers Professor Klaus Töpfer (former Environment Minister of Germany and Executive Director of UNEP) and Dr. Simone Peter (President of the German Renewable Energy Federation), who commented on the book. Ecologic Institute’s director Dr. Camilla Bausch initiated and moderated the event.

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7. Plastic Pirates are on Tour Again on Rivers and Streams! – Order Campaign Materials!

   The first research period in 2018 of the "Plastic Pirates" started in May. "Plastic Pirates" is a citizen science campaign for young people aged 10 to 16 years under the research focus "Plastic in the Environment", which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). German school classes and youth groups collect, document and analyse data on plastic litter in and along waterways throughout Germany. The results are registered online and displayed on a digital map of Germany. Subsequently, scholars of the Kieler Forschungswerkstatt use this data for their scientific research. Further information (in German) and the possibility to order materials are available online.

   https://bmbf-plastik.de/plastikpiraten

8. 2018 Arctic Summer College – Call for Applications

   Ecologic Institute and its partners are pleased to announce the 2018 Arctic Summer College and are seeking applications from emerging leaders working to improve Arctic governance from around the world. This year applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.

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9. International Fellowship – One Year Trainee Program

   The Ecologic Institute offers a one-year Trainee Program at the Institute's headquarters in Berlin to internationally-orientated graduates and young professionals who have profound knowledge in the field of environmental policy or environmental law. Online applications will solely be accepted until 27 May 2018.

   /international-fellows-2018