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Contents:

1. Ecologic Institute among Top 10 Environmental Think Tanks in 2010 Global Ranking - Press release
2. Lessons for Cancun: Why biodiversity negotiations at Nagoya succeeded where Copenhagen failed - Publication
3. One Planet Economy Network: Europe (OPEN: EU) - Event
4. Environmental sustainability thresholds and indicators - Study and summaries online
5. Potential use of radioactively contaminated materials in the construction of houses from open pit uranium mines in Gabon and Niger - Study online
6. Preservation of Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes - Experiences and Further Development - Event
7. EU Arctic Footprint and Policy Assessment - Presentation
8. German-Arab Media Dialogue: Climate Change and Energy Policy in the Arab Region - Event

1. Ecologic Institute among Top 10 Environmental Think Tanks in 2010 Global Ranking - Press release

   Berlin, Germany / Washington DC (25 January 2011): Ecologic Institute, based in Berlin, Germany, ranked 6th in the "Environmental Think Tanks" category in the 2010 Global "Go-To Think Tank Index" of the University of Pennsylvania. In the fourth such ranking, Prof James McGann of the University's Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program tabulated the global ranking. The US-based World Resources Institute (WRI) ranked first among environmental think tanks, and Brookings Institution came in first overall in the ranking.
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2. Lessons for Cancun: Why biodiversity negotiations at Nagoya succeeded where Copenhagen failed – Publication

   In this article in the online edition of IP Global, Germany's leading foreign policy magazine, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Senior Policy Advisor of Ecologic Institute, looks at the outcomes of the COP 10 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) in Nagoya (Japan) and the reasons behind them. His analysis points to opportunities on the road ahead for the international climate negotiations beyond the UNFCCC COP 16 in Cancun (Mexico) at the end of 2010.
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3. One Planet Economy Network: Europe (OPEN: EU) – Event

   How can our progress towards sustainable development be measured? Which sustainability indicators are most needed and which tools are currently being developed in the OPEN: EU and INSTREAM projects to help in decision making? These issues will be discussed at two workshops held back to back on 8 and 9 February 2011 in Brussels. Registration is open until 31 January 2011.
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4. Environmental sustainability thresholds and indicators – Study and summaries online

   Knowing the limits of the planet's ability to provide resources and absorb pollutants is directly linked to debates on the limits to growth. Together with their partners from SERI, Ecologic Institute analysed environmental thresholds and associated indicators for monitoring unsustainable trends caused by human activity that could lead to the crossing of environmental thresholds in Europe. The areas covered are freshwater quality and quantity, soil erosion, and nonrenewable resource consumption. The study and summaries are available for download.
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5. Potential use of radioactively contaminated materials in the construction of houses from open pit uranium mines in Gabon and Niger – Study online

   Ecologic Institute, represented by Tanja Srebotnjak, and Sebastian Veit, completed a study commissioned by the European Parliament (EP) on the use of radioactively contaminated materials in the construction of residential dwellings in Gabon and Niger. In particular, the study examines practices in the disposal of materials discarded in the mining of uranium in these two countries and is based, inter alia, on a fact-finding mission to Gabon by Sebastian Veit. The full report can be downloaded.
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6. Preservation of Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes - Experiences and Further Development – Workshop

   On 12 January 2011, 80 specialists from academia, government agencies, and various associations participated in a workshop hosted by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) in Berlin. The event, organised in part by Ecologic Institute, served to encourage the exchange of experiences concerning integrative use concepts and sources of funding instruments to protect biodiversity in agriculture between Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The discussion also dealt with how these experiences can be integrated into the development of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU after 2013.
   http://ecologic.eu/9024

7. EU Arctic Footprint and Policy Assessment – Presentation

   Sandra Cavalieri, Fellow and Arctic Programme Coordinator at Ecologic Institute, presented the results of the EU Arctic Footprint and Policy Assessment project at a conference hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA) on 8 December 2010 in Paris, France. The results show Europe's Arctic environmental footprint from a broad range of sources, and added to the discussion on how ESA can improve its satellites and remote sensing data to contribute to the EU's Arctic policy development. The presentation is available for download.
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8. German-Arab Media Dialogue: Climate Change and Energy Policy in the Arab Region – Event

   From 28 November to 1 December 2010, the Ecologic Institute convened 25 journalists and other professional experts from Germany and the Arab region to discuss the prospects for renewable energy and climate policies in the Arab world. The German-Arab Media Dialogue was organized in cooperation with the German Embassy in Abu Dhabi, with generous support from the German Federal Foreign Office. The program was complemented by field trips to Masdar City and to a groundwater recharge project in the Liwa desert.
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