From 23 until 26 October 2012 the conference 'Taking stock' on the future of the EU Common Fisheries Policy was held in Lübeck as part of a series of seminars for European journalists. The conference was organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN) in collaboration with the Ecologic Institute.

Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke was one of Willy Brandt’s helpers in his 1969 election campaign, was co-founder of the German Green Party, has founded—together the with Lutz Mez—the Environmental Policy Research Centre (FFU) at the Free University of Berlin, and has thus taken part in creating the scientific infrastructure of environmental policy consultancy. Moreover, Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke is co-founder of the "Berlin School on Environmental Policy Sciences," which gained worldwide recognition and whose approach is also followed by Ecologic Institute. As a policy consultant, Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke is a key figure in Germany, where he was part of the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU). Seventy-five years old, he is now travelling more than ever and is one of the most important consultants for the Chinese government. On 18 October 2012 Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke was interviewed by R. Andreas Kraemer about the beginning of environmental policy consultancy in Germany. Portions of the conversation (in German) can be watched online.

In his presentation, Dr. Wolfgang Urban, picked out the future expansion of renewable energies. He presented, from the perspective of the German federal government, the challenges and prospects for biogas. After the placement of bioenergy in the "orchestra of renewable energies" he examined the contribution of biogas and biomethane in order to achieve the policy objectives. He ended his remarks with a presentation of the latest developments and the conveyor frame. The presentation slides are available for download.

On 27 August 2012, Dr. Hans-Joachim Ziesing, together with Doris Knoblauch of Ecologic Institute, presented the results of an evaluation of the German directive regarding the funding of climate mitigation projects in social, cultural, and public institutions within the framework of the National Climate Initiative ("Richtlinie zur Förderung von Klimaschutzprojekten in sozialen, kulturellen und öffentlichen Einrichtungen im Rahmen der Klimaschutzinitiative", short: Kommunalrichtlinie) on the occasion of the final conference of the project "Evaluation of the National Climate Protection Initiative" in Berlin. Both presentations are available for download.