Ecologic Institute hosted the fourth green salon of the American Voices Abroad on the 16^th of August 2011. Three introductory presentations by Lucas Porsch, Tanja Srebotnjak and Rich Rosen on the need for and the challenges of Beyond GDP indicators triggered a lively discussion on the information needs of policy makers that aim at sustainability. To this end, important similarities and differences were examined in the attitudes to welfare measurement in Europe and the US.


The 2011 Arctic Summer College, hosted by Ecologic Institute, provides a platform for Arctic researchers to debate and develop ideas about a range of issues facing Arctic decision-makers, such as: Arctic economic, environmental and security policy; the impacts of large scale energy projects at the regional scale; and approaches to ecosystem-based management.

<p>On 11 July 2011, Max Grünig, Fellow at the Ecologic Institute, delivered a presentation on the transportation sector: possibilities for substitution and elasticity of demand in mineral oil consumption at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).</p>&#13;

This event was the third stakeholder workshop of the FP7 project IN-STREAM and was organised by the Ecologic Institute Berlin and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP). The focus of this workshop was green growth and green innovation and it brought together experts, statisticians, policy makers and representatives of civil society organisations to discuss and share experiences on how to improve the use of indicators to assess the progresses on economic and sustainability goals. The presentations are available for download.&#13;

<p>&#13; The "Network Resource Efficiency" as part of the project "Advancement of Resource Policy" invited to the 7th network conference on Monday, 27 June 2011 in Berlin. New approaches in politics and businesses are highlighted under the guiding theme "2011 – agenda setting for the resource turnaround". Max Grünig presented first ideas describing which actors should be included in a societal debate on resource efficiency.</p>&#13;

"Waking the sleeping giant - Instruments for more energy efficiency in the EU" was the topic of the 19th Climate Talk, hosted by Dr. Camilla Bausch and Benjamin Görlach of Ecologic Institute and Dr. Susanne Dröge of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik in June 2011.

How does the communication between providers of climate data and political decision makers work? This question was the central point of a three-day workshop held in Berlin and Timmendorfer Beach from 15 to 17 June 2011. Scientists and stakeholders from administrations and political bodies from different Baltic countries first met at Ecologic Institute in Berlin to discuss different aspects of the availability of regional climate facts. The second part of the workshop was held at a local Baltic venue - in Timmendorfer Strand, where a case study on the engagement of local stakeholders was examined.

During the VDI conference "Biogas 2011" Dominik Müller and Dr. Wolfgang Urban of the Ecologic Institute spoke on the experiences with the German law to promote renewable energies (EEG) and its imminent revision. They presented the premises of the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the planned substantial changes in the EEG. They also reported on the monitoring results. The presentation slides and script are available for download.

During the European Biomass Conference 2011, Dr. Wolfgang Urban (Ecologic Institut) delivered a presentation on biomethane. From the German government's perspective, he described political goals, especially the Energy Concept 2050. In addition he explained how biomethane could contribute to achieving these aims and to climate protection in general. The presentation slides are available for download.

Lead by Ecuador’s Ambassador to Germany, his Excellency Jorge Jurado, and Ivonne Baki, who is the country’s top negotiator for the Yasuni-ITT Initiative, a high-level delegation presented an Ecuadorian proposal for the protection of climate and biodiversity at the Ecologic Institute.&#13;

What are the expected impacts of climate change at the regional and local level at the German Baltic Sea coast? How can local stakeholders adapt to these? What kind of scientific information do they need as a basis for implementing such measures? These questions were discussed by 75 scientists in the fields of climate and natural science research, political science and sociology, together with representatives from politics, administration, economy and civil society in several science-practice dialogues.

As part of the workshop "Biogas Feed-In", organized by Fraunhofer UMSICHT, Ecologic Institute's Wolfgang Urban gave a speech about "The Legal Framework - Instruments for the Efficient Use of Biomethan". The presentation dealt with political aims regarding renewable energies, results of the monitoring of the Renewable Energies Act and marketing prospects of biomethan. The presentation slides are available for download.