On 17 March 2025, Doris Knoblauch (Ecologic Institute) gave a presentation on "Plastics and the Environment", highlighting the negative impacts of plastics and plastic pollution at a post-graduate course attended by 21 experts from ministries, authorities, municipalities, NGOs and industry from low-income countries and emerging economies. The focus was on why plastic pollution is a problem for both the environment and human health, the role of textiles, and why we urgently need an international, legally binding plastics treaty.

In the face of rapidly changing marine environments, innovative strategies are essential to preserve biodiversity and promote sustainability. Gregory Fuchs recently led a series of workshops on the island of Vilm (Baltic Sea, Germany), highlighting how Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) can address complex marine challenges. He also shared insights from research projects like Marine SABRES.

On 4 April 2024, Mandy Hinzmann presented communication insights and best practices of the citizen science program "Plastic Pirates" at the European Citizen Science Conference in Vienna. The presentation highlighted that effective communication strategies are crucial for the success of citizen science initiatives.

On 13 March 2024, Doris Knoblauch (Ecologic Institute) gave a lecture on "Plastics and the Environment" highlighting the need for a global plastics treaty at a postgraduate course, where 21 experts from ministries, authorities, municipalities, non-governmental organizations and industry from low-income countries and emerging economies were represented and exchanged. The focus was on why plastic pollution is a problem and why we urgently need an international, legally binding plastics treaty.

On 16 October 2023, Doris Knoblauch (Ecologic Institute) gave a lecture on "Plastics, green urban environments and local climate protection" at a postgraduate course, where 19 experts from ministries, authorities, municipalities, non-governmental organizations and industry from low-income countries and emerging economies were represented and exchanged. The focus was on showing how the triple crisis – plastics pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change – are intertwined and reinforce each other, and what role cities could play in tackling this triple crisis.

The 87th UNEP/UNESCO/BMUV International Short Course focuses on ecosystem restoration for the SDGs. Gregory Fuchs of Ecologic Institute was invited to deliver a lecture on marine and coastal ecosystem restoration. The course is specifically aimed at experts who prepare and implement political decisions and practical measures towards the goals of ecosystem restoration and sustainable development.

At the invitation of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), Dr. Camilla Bausch held a "Lectio Magistralis". At this Lectio, leading experts such as Jean-Claude Trichet (Former President of the European Central Bank) and Sergei Guriev (Professor of Economics at Sciences Po in Paris) discuss key political and scientific insights with master's students of the ISPI School. Dr. Bausch's lecture focused on dynamics, setbacks and breakthroughs in international climate policy – including an outlook on 2023 and identifying opportunities for the students themselves to take action.

On 15 January 2023 Ewa Iwaszuk gave a lecture to the students of Intercollegiate Academy of Climate, a post-graduate diploma course jointly run by three universities in Poland. Ewa’s lecture presented key steps and elements that need to be considered by local governments when developing climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. It also presented a landscape of local governance instruments that can be developed and implemented to support integrated planning, cross-sectoral cooperation, participation of citizens and sustainable implementation of such strategies.

In her presentation, titled "Evaluating environmental policies with citizen science data? An example from the Plastic Pirates investigating plastic pollution of rivers", Linda Mederake (Ecologic Institute) presented an approach to evaluate the Single-Use Plastics Directive with the help of citizen science data.

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.

Doris Knoblauch gave a presentation on plastic waste at the Freudberg School in Berlin on 9 December 2020. The lecture took place as part of the "Plastic Pirates" project.

Training the next generation of environmental lawyers is crucial for ensuring that environmental law is complied with and can thus serve its function of protecting the environment. Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute, co-moderated an online course for German and Russian students entitled "Ecolaw and ecoactivism in Germany and Russia".

Environmental journalism has always been a cross-cutting topic. There are journalists in many countries who specialise in environmental topics. However, environmental topics mostly do not have their own department at media outlets. Hence, publishing such media pieces often highly depends on current political processes and above all on current, public discussions. Ecologic Institute's Marius Hasenheit discussed the role of media, especially social media, in communicating environmental issues in Egypt, at the 61st Cairo Climate Talks.

On 29 May 2019, Doris Knoblauch and Linda Mederake, both scientific researchers at Ecologic Institute, were guest "professors" at the Nürti Üni, the pupils' university of the Nürtingen Primary School in Berlin Kreuzberg. They held a lecture on "Plastics Crisis – Advantages of Plastics and the Problems of Plastic Consumption".

At the dialogue event "The River, the Waste and Me" by the Berlin initiative "Alles im Fluss" in cooperation with "Stadtgespräch Wasser bewegt Berlin" on water pollution control and waste on the banks, Linda Mederake, scientific researcher at Ecologic Institute, presented the project Plastic Pirates. In this citizen science project for children and teenagers, school classes and youth groups throughout Germany can collect data on the amount of plastic waste on and in German rivers and thereby become scientists themselves.

In the winter term 2018/2019 Doris Knoblauch, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, organized the seminar "Think Tank Policy Consulting" at the Otto Suhr Institute (OSI) of the Free University Berlin. It was the first time that this seminar was held by an Ecologic Institute researcher at the OSI. Similar courses have been taught before at the Bremen University of Applied Sciences.

On 30 November 2018, Linda Mederake, Junior Researcher at Ecologic Institute, presented the Institute's activities in the field of plastics governance to a group of students from the International Degree Program Political Management (B.A.) at Hochschule Bremen, City University of Applied Sciences. The presentation took place in the context of an excursion of the study programme, during which the students got to know the "political Berlin" and exchanged views on several selected topics with various actors from research, politics, business and civil society.

At a time of turbulence and change in the EU, the Tönissteiner Kreis discussed options for "Building green bridges for Europe" at its annual conference. As part of this broad subject, Dr. Camilla Bausch of Ecologic Institute discussed the energy transition, its prospects and international dimensions with Graeme Maxton (General Secretary of the Club of Rome), Martin Kaiser (Executive Director at Greenpeace Germany) and Dr. Markus Hartwig, a green energy entrepreneur.

George Mason University's "German Campus Weeks" program, sponsored by the German embassy, featured a presentation on climate and energy policy by Ecologic Institute's Elizabeth Zelljadt. She explained Germany's energy transition (Energiewende) and the country's role in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to about 40 undergraduates.

<p>On 23 May 2017 a CommBeBiz webinar featured a discussion with Ecologic Institute&#39;s Holger Gerdes and Zoritza Kiresiewa, on the topic &quot;Creating Networks for the Transition to a Bio-based and Circular Economy.&quot; They gave deeper insights into recommendations for effective engagement in the bio-based and circular economy. These recommendations were published in a BioSTEP policy paper, which is available online.</p>

On 5 July 2016, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, held a presentation on "The Energy Transition in Germany and the Renewable Energy Sources Act: Context, Legal and Procedural Aspects" for a delegation from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of the People's Republic of China. The presentation was part of a study tour on European and German Climate Change Legislation organized by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety. The presentation slides are available for download.

The Arctic Summer College (ASC) is proud to have recently completed its fifth successful year. This year, the Arctic Summer College had the exciting opportunity of hosting a breakout session at the Arctic Circle Assembly on 16 October 2015 in Reykjavík. Ecologic Institute's Arne Riedel, Max Grünig and Katherine Weingartner took part in the conference as part of the German delegation.

Learning everything from books? Not at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen which emphasizes the incorporation of practical knowledge into students’ academic routine. It provides students with added value as it illustrates future career opportunities. Therefore, Doris Knoblauch and Evelyn Lukat, senior fellow and researcher at Ecologic Institute, organized the seminar "Think Tank Policy Consulting" in 2015/2016. It was the sixth time that the seminar was held by employees of Ecologic Institute.

On 21 September 2015, Dr. Eleftheria Kampa, Senior Fellow at Ecologic, gave a lecture on EU water and river basin management policy at the Potsdam Summer School on Facing Natural Hazards (14 - 23 September 2015). The presentation slides are available for download.

What does policy consultancy mean in practice? What is a think tank and what does it do? Christiane Gerstetter and Susanne Langsdorf discuss these and other questions with students of the bachelor program "Internationales Politikmanagement" (ISPM) at Bremen University of Applied Sciences. About 20 students participate in the seminar "Policy consulting in intermediary organisations".

From 14 to 15 November 2014 the conference, "Transformations of the Ecology Movement: from the 'Limits to Growth' to the Rio Conference," took place in the Archiv Grünes Gedächtnis (Green Memory Archive) of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin. Doris Knoblauch and Susanne Langsdorf (both of Ecologic Institute) presented two articles on the development of environmental policy consultancy in Germany, which were written for the project "From 'The Blue Sky above the Ruhr' to the 'Energiewende.'"

On 7 July 2014, Christiane Gerstetter, Senior Fellow of the Ecologic Institute, presented the EU-funded project "Climate Change, Hydro-conflicts and Human Security (CLICO)" to a group of students, which are members of different German academic foundations. In CLICO, the Ecologic Institute was the leader of one work package conducting a policy analysis and giving policy recommendations. The presentation is available for download.

On 15 January 2014, Doris Knoblauch presented work from the transdisciplinary research organization, Ecologic Institute, whose main focus is environmental research. At the lecture series "Facets of Sustainable Development" at the University of Applied Sciences Bremen, Doris Knoblauch showcased different aspects of policy advising, applied research and think tanks, with a particular focus on Ecologic Institute's work.

The course Energy and Climate Finance introduces students to environmental markets and the policies that create them, focusing mainly on emissions trading systems (ETS) to mitigate climate change. The course also provides an introduction to attributes of the financial sector through its analysis of markets for environmental commodities. Ecologic Fellow Elizabeth Zelljadt has taught this course in summer 2014.

Human-caused marine pollution presents an increasing threat to biological diversity. This kick-off event of the event series entitled "Biodiversity - local/global" depicts the dangers. In his presentation R. Andreas Kraemer, Founding Director and CEO of Ecologic Institute, describes the extent of the global marine pollution and it's effects on the diversity of marine life. The video references are available online.

Sustainable river basin planning and management are not "business-as-usual" approaches, creating exceptional challenges for water managers across Europe. To address these challenges, additional knowledge and know-how in designing dissemination activities and management approaches are needed. Ulf Stein from Ecologic Institute and Beatriz Medina from Amphos21 held a lecture on "Communicating Science" as part of the second WaterDiss2.0 Summer School.

Fifteen participants from different parts of Mexico who are spending a year in Germany with support from the "International Leadership Training (ILT)" programme in order to learn conceptual, holistic and anticipatory thought for sustainable business development, took part in the course, carried out at the International Education Center (IBZ) in Mannheim from 7 to 9 December 2012. Michael Mehling, President of the Ecologic Institute in Washington DC, delivered the course contents, drawing on training material developed previously for a project commissioned by the Academy of International Cooperation (AIZ).

As part of the Berlin Program of Duke University of Durham, North Carolina, R. Andreas Kraemer will this fall again teach on European integration and environmental policy in the context of transatlantic relations.

The International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) successfully convened another ICAP training course on Emissions Trading for Emerging Economies and Developing Countries to build capacity in emissions trading systems (ETS). The ICAP Training Course 2012 took place in Alajuela (Costa Rica) from 19 to 28 March 2012. Benjamin Görlach and Michael Mehling of Ecologic Institute led the course and spoke about ways to avoid carbon leakage and competitive distortions, as well as the impact of policies on the design of ETS.

On 24 and 25 October 2011, Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Legal, and Gesa Homann, Researcher at Ecologic Institute, held a seminar on current issues in German and European environmental law at the Berlin Academy of Public Administration (Verwaltungsakademie Berlin).

On Thursday, 13 October 2011 the Yale Center for Environmental Law &amp; Policy (YCELP), in partnership with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), presented R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute in a web-based seminar on The Nuclear Phase-out and Green Power Shift in Germany. A recording of the presentation is now online available.

From 22 to 26 August 2011 the Vereinigung für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (VÖW) organized a summerschool on "Sustainable Production Chains" together with the Humboldt University of Berlin. Part of the diverse programme for PhD and master students was a seminar held at the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim (ATB) on renewable energies with a special focus on bioenergy and biomass from agro-forest systems. In his presentation Timo Kaphengst, Coordinator for Biodiversity and Forest at Ecologic Institute, highlighted different sustainability challenges within the biomass production chain and presented current policy responses on EU and German level. The presentation can be downloaded.

In the summer term of 2011, Christiane Gerstetter and Doris Knoblauch, Fellows at the Ecologic Institute, taught a seminar on policy consulting at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen. Some 35&nbsp; students, enrolled in&nbsp; a bachelor&rsquo;s programme, participated. The seminar consisted of a block of three units for a total duration of 32 hours&nbsp; for a full course credit.

<p>&#13; In a Faculty and Expert Seminar, R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute delivered the Keynote Address to an audience of mainly US and Canadian university and college faculty.  The group travelled to Berlin and Brandenburg to study local, regional and national approaches to sustainability.  The Studienform Berlin organised the study tour as part of the Transatlantic Climate Bridge.</p>&#13;

At the invitation of the U.S. Consulate General Leipzig Katharina Umpfenbach held a lecture on U.S. climate and energy policy on 27 May 2010. The event was part of a lecture series titled &ldquo;Obama and the &lsquo;new&rsquo; U.S.&rdquo; organised jointly by the political science faculty of the University of Erfurt, the Regional Center for Political Education and the U.S. Consulate General.</p>

<p>&#13; The Political Science Department of the United States Naval Academy offers a course to 3rd and 4th year Political Science majors on Energy and Security. Dominic Marcellino, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, was invited to provide a guest lecture on the use of market mechanisms in climate change policy.</p>&#13;

Christiane Gerstetter and Doris Knoblauch, Fellows of Ecologic Legal, are teaching a seminar at the University for Applied Sciences Bremen in the summer term 2010. The seminar is entitled &quot;Policy consulting by intermediary organisations&quot; and is part of the International Degree Course in Policy Management; its aim is to provide students with first-hand insights into the work of an environmental think tank.

<p>&#13; The 2010 Senior Congressional Staff Study Tour of Germany brought Chiefs of Staff of members of the US Congress to Berlin and Cologne to take stock of the political situation in Germany after the federal election in September 2009 and before the vote in North Rhine-Westphalia in May 2010. On invitation by The United States Association of Former Members of Congress (USAFMC), R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute led a discussion on the current trends and outlook for energy policy in Germany and the European Union.</p>&#13;

<p>&#13; Christiane Gerstetter, Fellow Ecologic Legal, provided an introduction to various international agreements to a Palestinian audience during a workshop in Ramallah on 29-30 March 2010. The workshop was convened by the Environmental Quality Authority of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Its aim was to raise awareness among Palestinians about international environmental agreements.</p>

<p> On 24 November 2009, the Ecologic Institute was invited to address students in a lecture series titled &ldquo;Generation Green: Germany and the Environment&rdquo;&nbsp; organized by the Center for German Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. The course explored how and why Germany&#39;s Green movement addressed&nbsp; pressing environmental challenges a generation before the release of Al&nbsp; Gore&#39;s &quot;An Inconvenient Truth&quot;, allowing students to consider how specific cultural contexts shape personal attitudes, public policies and&nbsp; technological advances. Michael Mehling shared insights on &ldquo;Germany&#39;s Ecological Tax Reform: Perspectives from a Think Tank&rdquo;.</p>