Contents:

1. Heddi and the Plastic Heroes – Publication
2. European Approach for Reducing Consumer Food Waste – Publication
3. Why the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility Must Prioritize Investments in Building Renovation – Publication
4. Why the EU Needs an Emission Budget – Publication
5. Scoping the Market for Fish-friendly Hydropower Technologies – Publication
6. Challenges and the Development of Cross-sector Adaptation Measures at River Basin Level – Publication
7. Strengthening Coordination in River Basin Governance in Southern Spain – Publication
8. Germany, Multilateralism and the Climate Crisis – Publication
9. Harnessing the European Green Deal to Address the Climate Crisis – Think2030 Conference
10. Innovative Nature-based Solutions from Berlin as an Inspiration for Polish Local Governments – Presentation
11. Online Course on Environmental Law for Russian and German Students – Moderation
12. Ecologic Institute is Looking to Hire – Job Opportunities

1. Heddi and the Plastic Heroes – Publication

   Plastic avoidance explained easily: The PIXI book "Heddi und die Plastik-Helden" (Heddi and the Plastic Heroes) was created in the context of "Plastics in the Environment", a research focus coordinated by the Ecologic Institute. It explains how plastic gets from land to sea, how long it stays in nature and how it can be avoided in everyday life with simple decisions in a child-friendly and appealing way. Copies of the book can be ordered free of charge.

   https://ecologic.eu/17730

2. European Approach for Reducing Consumer Food Waste – Publication

   Published by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a new book deals with the reduction of food loss and waste globally. It includes an article that sums up results of the EU research project REFRESH, and in particular the work on policies to reduce consumer food waste, led by Ecologic Institute. The book is available for download.

   https://ecologic.eu/17732

3. Why the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility Must Prioritize Investments in Building Renovation – Publication

   Modernizing the EU's building stock is essential to meet the twin goals of climate action and green recovery. The building sector is responsible for 27 % of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and for 36 % of energy-related GHG emissions when considering direct and indirect GHG emissions. According to the European Commission, building renovation rates must double to contribute to the envisioned 55 % emission reduction by 2030 – and this in turn is vital to go climate neutral by 2050. The Ecologic Institute report is available for download.

   https://ecologic.eu/17646

4. Why the EU Needs an Emission Budget – Publication

   What matters for the climate is the total amount of emissions and removals over time and corresponding levels of atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration. The current focus on reductions achieved at a specific moment in time disguises this. Emission budgets that quantify the total amount of permissible emissions would address this problem. The EU should establish an emission budget within its Climate Law. This emission budget should include all GHG emissions, not only CO₂. These are some of the key findings of Ecologic Institute's briefing paper. It's available for download.

   https://ecologic.eu/17643

5. Scoping the Market for Fish-friendly Hydropower Technologies – Publication

   Hydropower remains essential to achieve Europe's climate commitments. At the same time, the sector must innovate to decrease its negative impacts on Europe's rivers and freshwater fish. This FIThydro Brief, written by Ecologic Institute's Hugh McDonald and Gerardo Anzaldúa, assesses the current and future demand for fish-friendly hydropower in Europe. It concludes that EU and national policy and economic developments offer a chance to innovate and address rising social and environmental concerns about hydropower's negative impacts. The brief is available for download.

   https://ecologic.eu/17655

6. Challenges and the Development of Cross-sector Adaptation Measures at River Basin Level – Publication

   Climate change is already causing an increase in extreme weather events, including an increase in the frequency and duration of periods of dry and drought conditions. In this paper, colleagues of the Emschergenossenschaft and Ecologic Institute summarize discussions on coordination and cooperation approaches for low water management and prevention at a workshop in the Emscher region.

   https://ecologic.eu/17660

7. Strengthening Coordination in River Basin Governance in Southern Spain – Publication

   This Briefing Paper examines coordination and implementation challenges between the water and agricultural sectors in relation to water quantity in the context of WFD implementation in the Spanish Guadalquivir river basin. The challenges are interlinked by the underlying difficulty of imposing unpopular decisions against the will of powerful actors in the agricultural sector. To address these challenges, the authors suggest various coordination instruments based on incentives, voluntary cooperation, persuasion and information exchange. The Briefing Paper presents one of six analyses of cross-sectoral coordination challenges that were conducted as part of the STEER research project and on which separate Briefing Papers are available.

   https://ecologic.eu/17644

8. Germany, Multilateralism and the Climate Crisis – Publication

   In the wake of Joe Biden's election as the 46th President of the United States, Dr. Camilla Bausch contributed a blog post for the Global Public Policy Institute's Peace Lab on how multilateralism could help address the climate crisis. This is a timely contribution as it is complementary to the current work on the German government's new White Paper on multilateralism. In her blog post, Dr. Bausch addresses a broad range of climate diplomacy topics, taking into account the role of Germany as well as the European Green Deal, the Paris Climate Agreement, the UN Agenda 2030, the dynamics within the G20 and the role of science.

   https://ecologic.eu/17727

9. Harnessing the European Green Deal to Address the Climate Crisis – Think2030 Conference

   Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute, Prof. Hans Bruyninckx, President of the EEA and Prof. Klaus Töpfer, founder of TMG and former Executive Director of UNEP kicked off the Think2030 Conference, which was organised virtually on 16 and 17 November 2020 as part of the 25th anniversary of Ecologic Institute. More than 300 participants from across Europe made the conference an interesting, stimulating and enjoyable event. Keynote speeches by high-level speakers and interactive breakout sessions provided new perspectives on how the European Green Deal can be harnessed to address the climate crisis and foster a green recovery. Video recordings of the conference sessions are available online.

   https://ecologic.eu/17558

10. Innovative Nature-based Solutions from Berlin as an Inspiration for Polish Local Governments – Presentation

    Ecologic Institute's Ewa Iwaszuk discussed a number of innovative urban nature-based solutions pilot projects introduced in Berlin in the last 20 years during the conference "Blue and Green Infrastructure for Urban Climate Change Mitigation" held online in the Polish language on 27 October 2020. Her presentation discussed the sites' contribution to climate mitigation and adaptation and the key success factors behind Berlin's efforts to combat climate change in the city using nature-based solutions. The presentation slides and the event recording are available online.

    https://ecologic.eu/17723

11. Online Course on Environmental Law for Russian and German Students – Moderation

    Training the next generation of environmental lawyers is crucial for ensuring that environmental law is complied with and can thus serve its function of protecting the environment. Dr. Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute, co-moderated an online course for German and Russian students entitled "Ecolaw and ecoactivism in Germany and Russia".

    https://ecologic.eu/17658

12. Ecologic Institute is Looking to Hire – Job Opportunities

    • Researcher in the Field of Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure
      The biodiversity team at Ecologic Institute is working on projects on national and European biodiversity and green infrastructure-related policy. We are looking forward to receiving applications from candidates with expertise in these areas, able to conduct research at the intersection between biodiversity, ecosystem services, land use, green infrastructure and climate change adaptation. In the position, you will work within an interdisciplinary team of highly motivated scientists who are advancing the topic of biodiversity and green infrastructure.
    • Student Assistant in the Field of Agriculture, Environmental and Climate Policy in the EU
      To strengthen our team in Berlin (with the option of location-independent mobile work), we are looking for a student assistant in the field of agriculture, environmental and climate policy in the EU starting at the next possible date. You will support our team in researching content, writing reports and carrying out communication tasks within national and international projects with a special focus on agriculture, environment, climate protection and climate adaptation.
    • Visual Designer / Web Designer / Graphic Designer
      As Visual Designer at Ecologic Institute you prepare information for environmental policy projects in web and print. You will prepare the graphic design of our online presentations and online tools, develop and complement corporate identities and create infographics and explanatory films for our environmental policy projects.