In a blog post on the US State Department's "Our Planet" blog, Dominic Marcellino, Fellow at Ecologic Institute US, relates the story of how the village of Ascha in Bavaria went from being completely energy dependent to producing over 100% of its electricity and 50% of its heating needs from renewable energy.

This study by Ecologic Institute develops an organizing framework to summarize scientific findings concerning a wide selection of indicators and assesses their potential applicability for tracking sustainable industries and sustainable industrial development.

Ecologic Institute coordinated the work for the new 2012 Indicators Report for a Sustainable San Mateo County (SSMC), Ecologic Institute in San Mateo took on the role of Report Coordinator and Editor. Supported by more than 40 volunteers, among them students from Mills High School in Millbrae and students of urban and regional planning at San José State University, the report was developed and produced in a six month timeframe and can be downloaded free of charge from the website of Sustainable San Mateo County.

In the international negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Parties are discussing new market mechanisms that expand the concept of crediting emission reduction efforts with tradable units beyond the existing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to include a broader group of mitigation opportunities that could involve entire economic sectors of advanced developing countries.

<p>Emissions trading systems are one of the most effective and cost-effective options to meet agreed climate change targets. Many countries in Latin America, including Brazil, Mexico, and Chile, are currently trying to implement such market-based instruments. In order to promote emissions trading systems as well as a continuously growing network of emission trading schemes in these newly industrialized countries, Ecologic Institute initiated contacts between employees of the German Federal Ministry of Environment and Latin American stakeholders dealing with emissions trading and its possible implementation.</p>

Bilateral cooperation with the USA is key for achieving the long-term goal of a global carbon market. This projects aimed to support a focused dialogue on aspects of climate change, in particular emissions trading, by providing background information and continuous reporting on current developments, as well as by supporting transatlantic communication and cooperation.

<p>On 26 March 2012, the Danish Embassy in Washington, DC hosted an event called "The Renewable Energy Island" as part of the DC Greening Embassies Forum. The Forum is a collaboration of the US State Department, the government of Washington, DC, and the foreign embassies in the city; the intention of the forum is for the embassies and the city to share best practices and to work together to make the city greener and more sustainable. This event highlighted the work of Søren Hermansen and the island of Samsø in Denmark.</p>

At the largest annual event for family farmers, ranchers and rural communities in the United States, Michael Mehling, President of Ecologic Institute in Washington DC, described European experiences with renewable energy in agriculture.