Where do Canada and Germany stand in the field of renewable energies and energy efficiency? Which initiatives and projects are leading the way? Who is driving development – and how can Canada profit from Germany’s experiences? These and other questions framed the Canadian-German Study Tour that took place from 22 to 28 March 2015 in Berlin and Hamburg, focusing on the theme "Energy Transition in Germany". The study tour had space for 11 high-level participants with professional backgrounds in policy, science, business and NGO works.
The "Teacher Training Renewable Energy" project aimed to improve the capacities of future teachers in regards to their knowledge about renewable energies and also to identify methodologies that may help teachers share this knowledge in schools. During three years of project work, Ecologic Institute, Solare Zukunft, and the Independent Institute for Environmental Issues (UfU) developed a rich and comprehensive pool of (German) training materials. All teaching materials are also available beyond the project's duration and can be downloaded for free.
The online course offers the possibility to achieve basic knowledge about the German energy system, renewable energies and the challenges the "Energiewende" in Germany has to face. The course provides interactive and entertaining questions regarding sustainable energies and takes about 2 to 2,5 hours of time, while each chapter lasts 15 to 30 minutes. The course is part of the project "Erneuerbare Energien in der Lehrerbildung verankern!" and thus includes suggestions for teaching approaches.
Between September and December 2014, the first group of students from the University Colorado Denver successfully participated in the newly established semester abroad program "Sustainability in Berlin." In addition to two courses on "Environmental Politics and Policy" taught by Prof. Christoph Stefes and a course on "The Global Ecological Crisis" taught by Stephanie Wunder from Ecologic Institute, the students experienced firsthand what sustainability means in practice. During field trips to Berlin, Dessau (Germany), and Copenhagen (Denmark) they learned about alternative concepts for transport, energy, food waste, diets, housing, and climate change adaptation.
This workshop aimed at discussing the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade agreement under negotiation between the European Union and the United States of America with regards to the specific food and agricultural provisions that would be included in the agreement. Issues with regulatory cooperation between the two systems as well as eliminating trade barriers to facilitate the flow of goods across the Atlantic were discussed. Ecologic Institute, US (EIUS) co-hosted the workshop with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on 9 January 2015.
Ana Frelih-Larsen, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation to a group of international journalists during an Informational Tour for Journalists and Experts in the context of the Green Week in Berlin. She gave an overview of the process of climate change mainstreaming in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), outlining the underlying scientific evidence base and discussing the basic principles of mainstreaming. She further illustrated the various tools that Member States can use to integrate climate objectives in the CAP 2014-2020 and discussed the key practical aspects and barriers to mainstreaming implementation.
This study developed a Technical Guidance for the managing authorities of Rural Development Programs (RDPs) on how to further mainstream new and innovative climate actions in RDPs. The study was commissioned by the Directorate General for Climate Action and led by Ecologic Institute. The study report, which includes the Technical Guidance, is available for download.
The aim of the study was to provide an initial scoping assessment of potential priorities and policy options to support the transition to a circular economy in the EU. The study reviewed existing literature, identified potential priority areas for action where accelerating the circular economy would be beneficial and where EU policy has a particular role to play, and developed policy options for consideration across a range of areas.
Garmendia,Maialen et al. 2014, "A new Adaptive Marine Policy Toolbox to support Ecosystem – Based Approach to management", BC3 Policy Briefing Series ,05, 2014. Bilbao: Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3).
Despite the European Union's efforts to promote good governance in Armenia, economic resources and political power have become interwoven in often illicit ways. Corruption is widespread at all levels of the state apparatus. Against this background, this case study, co-authored by Christoph Stefes and Katherine Weingartner of Ecologic Institute, looks at the causes of environmental crime in Armenia-taking the mining sector as an example-and describes measures that the European Union could take to contribute to preventing future environmental crime in the country. The case study is available for download.
Following the conference "Research for a Post-Carbon Future," on 17 September 2014 in Berlin, a cocktail reception celebrated Ecologic Institute’s 20th year as an organisation. During this reception, the official change in management was announced.
Kaphengst, Timo and Christiane Gerstetter (2015). Addressing Multiple Values of Biodiversity in Development Cooperation - Policy Brief January 2015. Berlin: Ecologic Institute.
Ecologic Institute, as part of a pan-European consortium led by NEEMO, is supporting the European Commission in a four-year framework contract by monitoring LIFE+ projects and contributing to communication about the LIFE programme and other linked activities.
The European Commission and the Council call for increased regional cooperation between Member States. In addition to strengthening the internal market, this cooperation is meant to facilitate the implementation of the EU 2030 energy efficiency and renewable targets. In this policy paper, Ecologic Institute's Katharina Umpfenbach, Andreas Graf and Camilla Bausch take a closer look at the existing landscape of regional institutions in the European electricity sector to explore their potential contribution to an effective future governance framework. The policy paper is available for download.
A system to monitor the implementation of the Swiss adaptation strategy needs to be developed. The system will verify the achievement of the Swiss adaptation strategy’s objectives and ensure optimal adaptation to climate change. The project will support the establishing of the monitoring system and will develop indicators to identify outcomes and impacts of the existing climate adaptation impact model. The indicators will be derived from the adaptation strategy’s objectives and from evaluation questions. Ecologic Institute supports the project lead by INFRAS. The work of Ecologic Institute is mainly based on the experience gained from developing the indicator report for Germany’s adaptation strategy.