In an interview with "Bürger schaffen Wissen", the central platform for citizen science in Germany, Linda Mederake (Ecologic Institute) and Tim Kiessling (Kiel Science Factory) talk about the history of the citizen science project "Plastic Pirates", their experiences in working with school classes and their expectations for the ECSA Conference 2022.

The environmental disaster on the Oder River has brought the issue of environmental crime back into the spotlight. In a video report by the TV station Deutsche Welle, experts, including Stephan Sina from Ecologic Institute, explain the reasons for the difficulties in prosecuting environmental crimes and possible approaches for improvement. The contribution "Environmental Crime – How do they get away with it?" can be viewed online.

In an interview with Sinan Reçber of the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel, Rodrigo Vidaurre and Benedict Bueb of Ecologic Institute discussed what measures can be taken in various sectors to lessen the impact of droughts in Germany. In addition to water-sensitive urban development, which increasingly relies on nature-based solutions to store water during dry periods, this includes the cultivation of drought-resistant agricultural varieties as well as the rewetting of peatlands.

The biodiversity and climate crises are increasingly threatening planetary biodiversity and dependent livelihoods. Linkages between these two crises are already recognised by science and policy, but they are still not sufficiently addressed in integrated manner in practice. Nature-based solutions (NBS) and ecosystem-based approaches have the potential to enhance these synergies and deliver multiple benefits for ecosystems, biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, human well-being among other objectives. This topic was explored during the "International workshop on strengthening synergies for biodiversity and climate in multifunctional landscapes", organized by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). Sandra Naumann, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute, was a keynote speaker, presenting on the potential but also limitations of NBS to achieve climate and biodiversity goals.

Concrete and asphalt make cities up to 10 degrees hotter than the rural areas. In Poland, however, there is a persistent impression that greenspace is a nuisance that is best gotten rid of, says Ewa Iwaszuk of the Ecologic Institute in Berlin. She points out that the situation in Germany is better because nature has been considered an indispensable part of the city since the 1990s. She talks about innovative nature-based solutions that can mitigate climate change in cities and explains the introduction of blue-green infrastructure. Monika Sędzierska from the COSMO editorial office moderated the conversation.

Carbon farming refers to a range of agricultural techniques that increase the ability of the soil to sequester carbon from the atmosphere. This is crucial to achieving the European Green Deal goal of becoming CO₂-neutral by 2050. However, there are still many political and technical issues. Ecologic Institute's panel discussions included input on the report "Carbon farming. Making agriculture fit for 2030" and presented further thinking on carbon farming.

The two-day workshop, funded under the BMUV's Environmental Research Plan, took place on 30 and 31 May 2022 at the Federal Environment Agency in Dessau (Germany) and was dedicated to the topic of "Technical-Hydraulic Assessment of Fish Protection and Downstream Migration at Hydropower Plants".

At the theme day on plastics in the environment on 6 May, children, young people and adults could inform themselves at more than 20 interactive exhibition stands and talk to researchers from all over Germany. In addition to a photo exhibition, a science and poetry slam, improvisation theatre and discussion rounds, participants had the opportunity to get involved in exciting hands-on activities. For example, water samples will be taken directly from the Spree to test for microplastic contamination.

R. Andreas Kraemer, founder of the Ecologic Institute and co-chair of the investment committee of the Ökovision Fund, puts it in a nutshell: "Neither nuclear power nor coal can replace gas or oil from Russia, and right now it is becoming clear how important energy efficiency and renewable energies are. We at Ökovision are counting on this and see no reason to reconsider our strict criteria". The article in the magazine "Finanztest" also shows that there are large grey areas in sustainable investment because criteria are formulated and applied differently. Especially with index funds or ETFs, investors cannot be sure how their money is invested.

Exciting news: We are developing an Urban Governance Atlas for nature-based solutions as part of the INTERLACE project … and we want you to be a part of it! The Urban Governance Atlas (UGA) will be an interactive online database of around 250 good practice policy instruments that support the use of nature-based solutions (NBS) for urban ecosystem restoration and more inclusive green space planning.

In the article "Will Russia's War Spur Europe to Move on Green Energy?" by Paul Hockenos, R. Andreas Kraemer and Sascha Müller-Kraenner, both founders of Ecologic Institute, explain the opportunities and possible paths for an accelerated energy transition and independence from Russian gas.

The 4i-TRACTION Community of Experts Coffee Hour format is one of the stakeholder engagement activities. This dynamic series of Coffee Hours addresses and engages members of the "Community of Experts", a select group of experts with different backgrounds on the "4Is" of the project: Innovation, investment, infrastructure and integration. Each session explored critical issues in EU climate and energy policies, fostering an open and insightful exchange under the Chatham house rule.

The podcast series "Ernährungswende – Regional Gedacht" is part of "Knowledge for Future - Der Umweltpodcast" and a collaboration between Ecologic Institute and Detektor.fm. The four episodes with a focus on sustainable food systems and activities of the KOPOS project network deal with approaches, ideas and already implemented projects that can contribute to transforming the current food system.

Young people aged 12 to 17 can take part in the photo competition until 10 March 2022. Great prizes await the winners!

On 19 January 2022, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, participated as an expert in a hearing of the Committee for Environment, Agriculture, Nature and Consumer Protection of the North Rhine-Westphalian Parliament on the motion of the parliamentary group BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN "Bekämpfung von Umweltkriminalität in NRW endlich stärken – Schwerpunktstaatsanwaltschaft und Koordinierungsstelle für NRW einrichten" (Drucks. 17/14258). Together with three other experts and the working group of the municipal umbrella organizations of North Rhine-Westphalia, he commented on the motion and answered questions from members of parliament.