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About us

Who we are

Ecologic Institute is an independent, academic think tank for environmental research and policy analysis. Since its founding in 1995, Ecologic Institute has been dedicated to improving environmental policy, sustainable development and policy practice. We strengthen the European and international dimensions in research, education and environmental policy discourse.

Our experts cover the entire spectrum of environmental policy, sustainable development and socio-ecological research. We are committed to mainstreaming environmental issues into other relevant policy areas. We research, support and evaluate political processes on the local, national, European and international levels, bringing together actors from academia, policy making and practice. The results are in-depth analyses and innovative recommendations. We are also committed to education and cooperate with different partners from across the globe  including leading American and German universities.

Ecologic Institute is a private, not-for-profit think tank financed through its project work. Funding partners include the European Commission, the European Parliament, German Parliament, German ministries and agencies, civil society organizations and various foundations.
Ecologic Institute operates without basic government funding. Donations are tax deductible.

What we do - Ecologic Institute EU

Scientific Research

Ecologic Institute works on relevant social-political questions of sustainability research. This is done in interdisciplinary project teams that investigate their respective topics from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives.

Research topics include:

  • Analyses and evaluations of natural resource consumption. In the process, the factors that influence the status of air, water, soil, and biological diversity are taken into consideration.
  • Analyses and evaluations of the socio-economic and ecological impacts of measures, policies, and strategies to improve environmental status.
  • Interdisciplinary social-ecological research on the societal transformation to a sustainable community.
  • Research on the acceptance and governance of transformation processes, as well as the pertinent citizen participation on regional, national, and supra-national levels.

Policy Studies

Ecologic Institute consults a wide range of political institutions, including European governments and parliaments, the European Union, and the United Nations, as well as non-governmental organizations. This consulting is scientific and neutral. A significant portion of Ecologic's work as a think tank focuses on the development of environmental policy in the European Union and its Member States. Ecologic Institute also fosters intellectual exchange globally, especially within the transatlantic policy context.

Ecologic Legal Team

Ecologic Legal links environmental analysis and policymaking to legal frameworks and the law-making process. Ecologic’s team of specialized lawyers inform decision makers on all aspects of international, EU and domestic environmental law and governance. Ecologic Legal also contributes to Ecologic’s interdisciplinary projects and furthers academic and policy debates through publications, studies and analyses of key issues in environmental law.

Ecologic Events Team

The conferences and workshops organized by Ecologic Institute foster dialogue on environment-related issues. Ecologic's events provide a forum for discussing scientific findings, exchanging views on societal challenges and developing policy solutions. The Ecologic Events Team provides professional event organization to ensure well-run events tailored to those involved. Ecologic Institute regularly hosts Dinner Dialogues. This event series brings international environmental experts to Berlin for an informal debate with opinion leaders and decision-makers.

Ecologic Web Team

The Ecologic Web Team provides colleagues, partners and sponsors with web-based information and communication tools. The Ecologic Web Team conceptualizes and implements well-structured information services and user-friendly, interactive web 2.0 functionalities tailored to meet the needs of targeted audiences. The Ecologic Web Team prepares project-related websites that serve both public relations and project management. Additionally, the Ecologic Web Team advises clients and funding bodies on their internet presence, especially in regards to user requirements, internet usability, database and interface design, graphic design, mulitmedia integration, content management, information structuring and visualization, as well as web writing.

How we work - Ecologic Institute EU

Solution oriented

Our work aims to generate results that are socially and politically relevant. Our research seeks to find solutions to current problems, and this problem-solving power makes our research excellent. We want our research results to be applicable, useful, and available when they are needed.

A project example: Individuals in Context: Supportive Environments for Sustainable Living (InContext)

 

Interdisciplinary

Scientists at Ecologic Institute think beyond the boundaries of disciplines. For example, on the way to a sustainable society, environmental protection issues need to be integrated into agricultural and transportation policy. We realize the exchange of information and discussions with other scientific disciplines in our multidisciplinary project teams, which work on national and international research projects.

A project example: Global Land Use and Sustainability (GLOBALANDS)

 

Transdisciplinary

We involve actors from politics, civil society, and business at the very beginning of our research activities, both in the formulation of research questions and in the actual research process. With this integrative approach, we create societal acceptance at a broad level and support the implementation of our research results in everyday life.

A project example: Regional Adaptation Strategies for the German Baltic Sea Coast (RADOST)

 

In Dialogue

An important component of our self image is to share our store of knowledge. The knowledge and skills of our scientists should be reproducible, and our problem solving methods should also be able to be applied by others. That is why researches at Ecologic Institute are engaged in teaching in a variety of ways: with university cooperation in Germany and abroad, with teacher training, with summer schools, and with teaching assignments.

A lecture example: Duke University Course on Environmental Policy in Europe

 

Our Staff - Ecologic Institute EU

The competence of our staff has been a leading factor in the development of the institute. Today, more than 100 employees are working in international and interdisciplinary project teams. The diversity of backgrounds, nationalities and experience of the staff at Ecologic Institute is a crucial asset to our dynamic and innovative work.

In 2007, the Chamber of Commerce in Berlin recognized Ecologic Institute as a qualified provider of apprentice training in financial administration and event management.

Ecologic Institute Staff
Infographic: 20 Years Ecologic Institute

Our Finances – Ecologic Institute EU

The Ecologic Institute is a not-for-profit private organisation committed to its statutes and statutory purposes. It is tax-exempt, because these purposes are of general benefit. A distribution of profits is excluded.

You can support our work with your donation. Donations are tax-deductible.

The Ecologic Institute works independently and finances itself from its projects. It receives its project funding in particular from parliaments, governments, federal, state and local administrations, environmental and consumer protection organisations as well as foundations.

The annual financial statements of the Ecologic Institute have been audited by chartered accountants since 2005 and were always given an unqualified audit opinion.

Our Partners - Ecologic Institute EU

Ecologic Institute is the German partner in the network of Institutes for European Environmental Policy. It co-operates closely with the experts of these institutes and thus has access to their experience in environmental policy. Ecologic Institute is also engaged in the exchange of information with other research institutions. Furthermore, the memberships of the directors and officers and of Ecologic's fellows in various bodies ensure close contacts with other scientific societies and  environmental policy institutions.

Ecologic Institute participates in consortial research projects working mostly with such project partners as universities and institutes but also with business associations, ministries, Federal Offices and environmental organizations. These co-operations establish a net of international contacts which is being continuously fostered and has proved useful on many occasions.

Ecologic's clients and sponsors include Parliaments, Governments, administrations on the Federal, State and local levels, industrial associations, trade unions, governmental and non-governmental organizations, environmental organizations as well as consumer protection agencies. Ecologic's work involves national and international policy-makers and business leaders, technical experts and representatives of civil society organizations and covers a growing geographic area with a primary focus on Europe and North America.

Our Responsibility - Ecologic Institute EU

As an Employer

Ecologic Institute's staff is employed in accordance with applicable statutory requirements on social security. Our employees are generally employed on a permanent basis; only in exceptional cases do we hire employees for a limited duration. In addition, we take the Collective Wage Agreement for the Public Service (TVÖD) into consideration when determining employee wages. In 2007, the Berlin Chamber of Commerce recognized Ecologic Institute as a qualified provider of apprentice training. Our individual professional development policies support our employees' personal and professional growth.

 

 

 

Contact Person: Anneke Klasing

As a non-profit Organisation

Ecologic Institute is officially registered with the Local Court of Berlin-Charlottenburg as Ecologic Institut gemeinnuetzige (non-profit) GmbH. In its statutes [pdf, 71 kB, English] or bye-laws, the Institute states its commitment to the not-for-profit goals of environmental protection, research, and education. Any surplus or profit needs to be re-invested in activities contributing to these objectives. Since its foundation, the non-profit status of the institute has been verified and confirmed by competent German authorities. Ecologic Institute does not receive any core funding from public bodies.

 

 

 

Contact Person: Agnès Reinsberg

As a Research Institute

Since our founding in 1995, we have conducted hundreds of research projects. Our research partners include some of the world's most renowned universities and institutions. As a research institute, we always apply scientific best practices to our work. For us, this includes embracing a diversity of opinions within the institute, constantly challenging our research results and encouraging feedback on our work. For this reason, the institute has created its own guidelines for safeguarding good scientific practices [pdf, 49 kB, English]. These guidelines were reviewed and approved by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the main funding body for academic research in Germany.

 

 

 

Contact Person: Dr. Grit Martinez

As an Institute with Relevance for Policy

Ecologic Institute provides advice to a wide range of political institutions, including European governments and parliaments, the European Union and the United Nations, as well as non-governmental organizations. Our advice is scientific and neutral. The German Federal Government, the Federal Audit Office (Bundesrechnungshof) and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities have all created guidelines for scientific policy consulting:

These guidelines incorporate requirements pertaining to public administration, which are indirectly relevant for Ecologic Institute and are therefore followed. Ecologic Institute is politically and ideologically neutral. Ecologic Institute does not engage in lobbying for third parties and the vast majority of its work is carried out for public institutions or other not-for-profit clients. Ecologic Institute publishes all fundamental information regarding current and past projects on its website.

 

 

 

Contact Person: Dr. Camilla Bausch

As a Promoter of Sustainable Development

Our goal is to contribute to a high level of environmental protection and to sustainable development through our work. We promote sustainability not just on a political level, but also on smaller scales, including in our offices. We are setting a good example by maximizing the ecological sustainability of our work.

Sustainable Working at Ecologic Institute

Ecologic Institute has committed itself towards the promotion of sustainable development through various research and dissemination efforts. However, our work does not stop there: we do not only want to promote sustainability on a political level, we also want to increase sustainability in our everyday lives – starting at the office.

As experts on sustainable development and environmental protection, we developed an internal project entitled "Sustainable Working at Ecologic Institute" that analyzed and optimized the ecological sustainability of the following work areas:

  • Office Supplies
  • In-house Catering
  • Mobility
  • Technical Equipment

Raising Awareness and Communicating Improvements

The project had two main goals. The first was to determine how sustainable the current operations at Ecologic Institute are, and determine where there is room for improvement. The second was to raise awareness on how certain small changes in behavior can have a big impact on the environment. Because what’s the use of providing power strips that can easily be switched on and off for every office space, if no one uses them?

During the course of the project, an employee survey was conducted in order to collect ideas, suggestions and criticisms. The lively participation of our staff stressed the will for a more sustainable working environment. Furthermore, it became obvious that more communication is needed, as a lot of the already existing improvements were not known to the staff members.

Action Week with Quiz and Movie Night

After an extensive analysis of the current state and the more than 100 employee suggestions, Ecologic Institute introduced some significant improvements. An important step to compensate for the information deficit was the action week that took place in July at Ecologic Institute. In the course of this week that was put together under the motto “More Sustainability in the Work Place”, the project results were presented in an internal presentation, and further information was disseminated for a more environmentally friendly work place. Labels, the availability of information at central places, and a daily quiz, which proved to be very popular, were used to increase the staff’s awareness of the issues. The program also initiated an internal book swap (and other items), as well as a movie night centered around the topic of “plastic”.

In the following sections you will find an overview of the results of the sustainability project:

Office Supplies

Office SuppliesWe buy office, kitchen and sanitary supplies on a regular basis, and have already been, for some time now, paying attention to the eco-friendliness of the products we purchase. The greatest amount of office supplies are purchased from memo, an online shop for environmentally and socially responsible products. We only use FSC-certified recycled paper, energy saving bulbs, and fair trade coffee. Due to the results of the sustainability project we have now also introduced recycled paper towels, and toilet paper. Moreover, through the use of smart thermostats, green electricity, and with a majority of taps only providing cold water, Ecologic Institute has increased its resource efficiency.

In-house Catering

Catering

The catering for our in-house events is exclusively vegetarian. Furthermore, vegan catering is also possible on request due to our cooperation with the supermarket Veganz.

A problem that still has to be solved is the portion-sized packs for coffee cream - an issue criticized by many of the staff members. This problem is recognized; however, due to a lack of suitable alternatives at the present time, it cannot yet be solved. Furthermore, there are still problems with the purchase of organic juice and cookies, which are not available in the desired size and quality.

Mobility

MobilityThe topic of mobility deals with business trips and the transport choices used for commuting to and from work. Through the introduction of a Job ticket for public transport, a partly possible refund of the railway pass “Bahncard,” as well as the promotion of the contest of the General German Bicycle Association (ADFC), "Take your bike to work", the choice of eco-friendly means of transportation is being supported.

In order to reduce business trips—especially flights—as much as possible, the use of video conferences is being promoted. Nevertheless, many (long distance) flights are taken, where CO2 compensations (e.g., carbon offsets) are not paid for by the public clients. As a non-profit institute, we strongly call upon those responsible to change these regulations and allow for compensation of business trips in the future, e.g., through atmosfair.

Technical Equipment

Technical Equipment

The IT team of Ecologic Institute also considers the environmental friendliness of the devices they buy. We use Snom-IP-Telephones, which have very low power consumption, and wax printers. These work with non-toxic wax-based ink sticks, do not produce ozone during the printing process, and generate 80% less waste than laser printers. In addition, we use FSC-certified paper, as mentioned above. Small measures, such as making two-sided printing the default setting, and the need to release your print job through a password, also contribute to more sustainable practices.

In the course of the project, every office space was equipped with a power strip that gives us the opportunity to completely switch off all devices during the night. To sensitize our staff members to the importance of energy conservation, and to remind them to use the power strips, information stickers were attached to each computer.

Awareness QuizIn general, the project “Sustainable Working at Ecologic Institute” further increased the awareness of our staff members as to how sustainability can be practiced in our everyday lives. This was already a big step in the right direction, but we still see plenty of room for improvement!

The project has been and is organized by the Ecological Volunteers Elena Hofmann and Ida Lübben.