On 14 November 2024, the district of Wittmund (Lower Saxony, North Sea coast, Germany) hosted a workshop addressing key challenges at the intersection of marine and coastal protection, sustainable tourism, and climate adaptation. For the first time, marine protection will feature as a dedicated focus in the district's climate protection and adaptation concepts, reflecting a progressive approach to tackling climate impacts in the North Sea region.

At the International Pond Conference 2024, which took place online from 12 to 13 November 2024, Hugh McDonald from the Ecologic Institute in Berlin presented the results of a comprehensive study on the financing of ponds and pond landscapes as nature-based solutions (NbS). The work analyzed public and private financing models and assessed their suitability for the implementation of pondscapes, and for financing NbS more broadly.

On 8 November 2024, the final webinar of the EU project PONDERFUL took place. Led by Professor Jeremy Biggs (Freshwater Habitats Trust) and Hugh McDonald (Ecologic Institute), it discussed how national and regional plans can be developed to protect, restore and create ponds and ponded landscapes. The aim was to inform policymakers on how these small but effective ecosystems can be used as nature-based solutions (NbS) to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

On 25 and 26 September 2024, McKenna Davis and Natalia Burgos of Ecologic Institute contributed to two landmark nature-based solutions (NbS) events in Brussels, focusing on advancing NbS through collaborative efforts.

On 3 September 2024, Dr Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, held a presentation on ‘Legislation between Climate Action and Security of Supply - Challenges of the Energy Transition’ as part of a visit by a delegation from the Legislative Affairs Commission (LAC) of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China to the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action. In addition to two further presentations by representatives of the Ministry, there was an exchange of views with the Chinese delegation.

On 26 and 27 June 2024, policymakers, researchers, and environmental experts gathered in Brussels for the kick-off conference of the EU-LAC Policy Dialogue on Nature-Based Solutions (NbS). The high-level event aimed to foster collaboration between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) regions on NbS. Natalia Burgos Cuevas and McKenna Davis moderated key discussions on collaboration opportunities and pathways.

At the occasion of the 16th NESS – Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference in Turku (Finland), from 4 to 6 June 2024, Ecologic Institute's Doris Knoblauch presented the findings of two projects in a workshop dealing with "Governing urban climate transformations: Towards climate neutrality and resilience".

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.

Hugh McDonald presented preliminary findings from the final report "Funding climate friendly soil management: Appropriate policy instruments and limits of market-based approaches" to an audience of more than 100 staff from the German Environment Agency.

From 15 to 17 May 2024, Barcelona hosted the CONEXUS Conference, a flagship event bringing together over 100 experts from Europe and Latin America to discuss nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate-resilient cities. This conference was a melting pot of ideas and innovations, fostering exchange on the economic, social, environmental, and political facets of NBS implementation. Among the key sessions were "Governance, Politics, and Planning" and "Economics, Values, and Work," where Ecologic experts Dr. Ulf Stein, McKenna Davis, and Jenny Tröltzsch shared their research and insights.

Dr Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation on prosecution under the amended Environmental Crime Directive at an information event organised by Green Legal Impact and Stop Ecocide Germany on the new EU environmental criminal law. He began by describing the special features of criminal prosecution in the environmental sector and the reason for the first-time inclusion of criminal prosecution provisions in the Directive. He then gave an overview of the regulations on resources and training, co-operation between authorities, the national strategy for combating environmental crime and statistical data. The presentation ended with examples of challenges and approaches to implementing the directive in Germany.

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.

Ecologic Institute was part of the first European Carbon Farming Summit, which took place from 6 to 7 March 2024 in Valencia. This event gathered hundreds of people from academia, the private and public sector, farmers and farmers associations who engaged in the discussion around the upcoming EU Carbon Farming Certification Framework (CRCF). Aaron Scheid and Julia Pazmiño Murillo shared the outcomes of their work as part of the CREDIBLE Project and hosted a breakout session to discuss the minimum requirements to ensure carbon farming delivers sustainability benefits within the CRCF framework and beyond.

Doris Knoblauch, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute and Coordinator for Urban and Spatial Governance, gave a presentation on 23 February 2024 at the event "Climate Protection through Nature-based Solutions", organized by Verbraucherzentrale Sachsen. She gave an introduction to the effects of climate change in Germany and Leipzig and presented the concept of "nature-based solutions". She also showed which nature-based solutions can help to adapt to which climate change challenge. Finally, Doris Knoblauch presented examples from Leipzig.