Contents:

1. 2019 Global Think Tank Ranking – News
2. Climate Laws in Europe: Good Practices in Net-Zero Management – Publication
3. Addressing Climate Change in Cities - Catalogue of urban nature-based solutions – Publication
4. Mobilizing Up-scaling of Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change Throughout 2020 and Beyond – Chairing
5. Multiple Pressures and their Combined Effects in Europe's Seas – Publication
6. International Governance for Environmentally Sound Supply of Raw Materials – Publication
7. Rural Urban Nexus – Global Sustainable Land Use and Urbanisation – Publication
8. Sustainability and Participation in the Bioeconomy – Publication
9. On the Way to Demand Driven Climate Services – Presentation
10. Transdisciplinary Research: And in practice? – Knowledge for Future – The Environment Podcast

1. 2019 Global Think Tank Ranking – News

   Ecologic Institute has been ranked third worldwide among Environment Policy Think Tanks in the University of Pennsylvania's 2019 Global Think Tank Ranking. This marks the 10th consecutive year under the top 10 in this category. Ecologic Institute was also ranked among the Top 10 in the category "Best Quality Assurance and Integrity Policies and Procedures" for the fourth consecutive year.

   https://ecologic.eu/17227

2. Climate Laws in Europe: Good Practices in Net-Zero Management – Publication

   No two climate laws are the same, but Ecologic Institute's analysis of nine existing laws in Europe finds that most draw on a set of common design elements to streamline action, align policy goals, establish expert and public review mechanisms and monitor progress towards national climate goals. The assessment of existing national legislation highlights good practices and identifies several improvements to European climate governance that could be made via the pending EU climate law. The full report and a short summary are available for download.

   https://www.ecologic.eu/17233

3. Addressing Climate Change in Cities – Catalogue of urban nature-based solutions – Publication

   Nature-based solutions (NBS) are solutions that are inspired and supported by nature. They can be used in urban settings to complement or replace "traditional" or "grey" solutions to perform functions, such as thermal insulation and stormwater retention and filtration. Focusing on addressing climate change, this catalogue presents a wide selection of NBS that exemplify high climate mitigation potential and applicability across a range of urban contexts. The catalogue is available for download.

   https://ecologic.eu/17229

4. Mobilizing Up-scaling of Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change Throughout 2020 and Beyond – Chairing

   On 4 and 5 February 2020, Ecologic Institute's McKenna Davis and Ewa Iwaszuk attended an expert workshop on "Mobilizing up-scaling of Nature-based Solutions for climate change throughout 2020 and beyond" convened by the Directorate-General for Environment of the European Commission (DG ENV). McKenna Davis moderated a discussion on mobilising the biodiversity benefits of nature-based solutions (NBS) deployed for climate action.

   https://ecologic.eu/17279

5. Multiple Pressures and their Combined Effects in Europe's Seas – Publication

   This report presents, for the first time, an overview of anthropogenic pressures and their combined effects on Europe's seas. The assessment covers the period from 2011 to 2016 and presents how human activities and pressures on seas have changed over a longer time horizon. The highest potential combined effects are found along coastal areas of the North Sea, Southern Baltic Sea, Adriatic and Western Mediterranean. However, there are also positive developments and the report points to improvements in nutrient levels, hazardous substances and northern fish and tuna stocks. The report, to which Dr. Ulf Stein and Katrina Abhold of Ecologic Institute contributed essential parts, is available for download.

   https://ecologic.eu/17220

6. International Governance for Environmentally Sound Supply of Raw Materials – Publication

   This research report from Ecologic Institute addresses how Germany can contribute, through international governance, to reducing the environmental impacts of mining activities outside its territory. It provides a stocktake of existing governance approaches at the international level or with transboundary effect. It then develops specific policy options and recommendations for the German federal government to strengthen international governance for an environmentally sound supply of raw materials. The research report is available for download.

   https://ecologic.eu/17273

7. Rural Urban Nexus – Global Sustainable Land Use and Urbanisation – Publication

   The report "Integrated approaches for sustainable urban-rural development" published by the German Federal Environment Agency at the end of 2019 summarizes the results of the three-year research project "Rural Urban Nexus – Global Land Use and Urbanization" (RUN). The findings of the project, led by Ecologic Institute, show that there is already a wide range of strategic approaches, instruments and institutional forms for better collaboration between cities and their surrounding areas. Rather than establishing new instruments, administrations and policy makers should make greater use of existing possibilities – especially informal instruments of regional planning – and to integrate sustainable urban and peri-urban development into existing policies. In particular, the development of regional food strategies can be an important entry point and catalyst for achieving sustainable urban rural development.

   https://ecologic.eu/17281

8. Sustainability and Participation in the Bioeconomy – Publication

   This report outlines the conceptual framework of the BE-Rural project and provides practical guidance to the design and implementation of the five regional Open Innovation Platforms (OIPs) within BE-Rural. This conceptual framework aims to provide guidance regarding the overall ambition of BE-Rural, and the foundations by which the project will operate throughout its duration. The first part of this document describes the context, objectives and regional focus to be taken within the project. In the second part Ecologic Institute's authors outline key concepts and founding principles that lay at the heart of the project. Following this, the conceptual framework of BE-Rural is presented and discussed. The report is available for download.

   https://ecologic.eu/17210

9. On the Way to Demand Driven Climate Services – Presentation

   The concept of climate services is rapidly climbing research-funding agendas word-wide. Initially, climate services focused on improving access to climate data, but they have since evolved into user informed activities. Still, there is a long way to go to make climate services not only usable but also useful for regional and local decision makers. In light of this, the sixth International Climate Service Conference in Pune, India focused in part on the architecture of user participation, the contextualization of climate services and ethical questions on their provision. Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute presented the Institute's respective recent research results from the European research project Innovation in Climate Service Provision.

   https://ecologic.eu/17293

10. Transdisciplinary Research: And in practice? – Knowledge for Future – The Environment Podcast

    Science creates neutral facts. It responds – in the best case without value judgement – to questions from its field, society and politics. But not everything discovered through science is actually interesting to society as a whole. Sometimes, there is simply a lack of practical relevance. The focus of the seventh episode of the environmental podcast "Knowledge for Future" is on cooperation between research and private sector companies. What does this cooperation look like? What advantages can be gained and what challenges need to be overcome?

    https://ecologic.eu/17221