http://www.ioew.de/ IÖW-News en http://www.ioew.de/ http://www.ioew.de/ IÖW-News TYPO3 - get.content.right http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Wed, 15 May 2013 17:56:00 +0200 http://www.ioew.de/no_cache/en/news/article/sustainable-food-consumption-experts-demand-ambitious-governance-reforms-in-the-eu/ For two days more than 50 specialists from 15 countries discussed current food consumption trends and necessary reforms in order to achieve a sustainable food system. Identified hotspots that call for interventions are, firstly, the damages to environment that are caused within the food chain, such... Link policy and researchers - time is up for a shift “For me, for Portugal, it is important to link policy makers and researchers”, stated Nuno Vieira e Brito, Secretary of State of Food and Agrifood Research from the Portuguese Ministry for Agriculture Sea, Environment and Spatial Planning. “It is time to shift towards sustainable food consumption”. “Past food production and consumption have been mining the planet” explained Prof. Tim Lang from the Centre for Food Policy, City University London, UK. “Evidence suggests large-scale system change is needed, not just small-scale individual change. Consumers need help. A new Intergovernmental Panel on Sustainable Diets could chart new directions for food culture. And the EU needs to map how the current CAP can become a Common Sustainable Food Policy”. These thoughts were confirmed by the workshops participants. Especially integration of policies nowadays fragmented into different areas is needed to overcome institutional blockades. “A holistic policy integration” was requested by Prof. Sirpa Kurpa from MTT Agrifood Research Finland. Against Food Waste Approximately 300 million tons of food are wasted in the industrialized countries every year – an amount that is estimated to be enough for feeding the 870 million malnourished people in the world. “Keeping this in mind, it is obvious that we must put great effort on opposing food waste”, explained Frieder Rubik from the Institute for Ecological Economy Research in Heidelberg. Food waste is generated along the whole value chain during cultivation, processing, distribution and consumption. Rubik: “It is of uttermost importance to minimise food losses in each stage. Required changes include label formulations other than “best before”, suitable storage and packaging or a change of portion sizes. The recent campaign ‘Too good for the garbage bin’ by the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection is one example of addressing these challenges.” Andrew Parry from WRAP UK pointed out pathways for changing consumer behaviour, based on success demonstrated in the UK, such as “raising awareness, encouraging action, making use of partnership working, and promoting new habits around food”, concluding that “A more integrated approach to food related objectives, be they related to health, waste, safety or sustainability, could deliver greater impact”. Ambitious Governance Reforms needed The experts called for more ambitious food policy which addresses the combined environmental, health, economic and societal problems of food production and consumption. “Food security goes beyond the concern for food availability” underscored Alexandre Meybeck from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “It also entails issues of accessibility, utilization and stability”. The complexity involved in shaping the future of sustainable food consumption and production calls for strong governance structures and actions by the several players in the food system. “Sustainable food systems are on the current UN agenda” added Alexandre Meybeck, pointing out to recent initiatives, such as the work developed by the Committee on World Food Security and its High Level Panel of Experts on food security and nutrition (HLPE) and the FAO/UNEP program on sustainable food systems. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ About RESPONDER:
The European project RESPONDER aims to promote sustainable consumption by assessing potential contradictions with economic growth. The project links four communities by facilitating a structured dialogue: science, policy, pro-growth, and beyond growth. Further information: http://www.scp-responder.eu ]]> Fri, 10 May 2013 10:55:00 +0200 http://www.ioew.de/no_cache/en/news/article/forscher-unterstuetzen-berlin-auf-dem-weg-zur-klimaneutralitaet/ Berlin aims to be climate neutral in the year 2050 – how this goal can be reached is to be shown by a team of experts from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the IÖW and others, on behalf of the Berlin Senate. "Europe and the whole world is monitoring the Berlin metropolis,"... Senator Müller: "Berlin has to be a highly energy-efficient and modern city" The Berlin Senator for Urban Development and the Environment, Michael Müller, highlights the significance of this feasibility study: "Berlin has to be a highly energy-efficient and modern city and make use of its opportunities for innovation and investments! This is not only to contribute to the energy transition in Germany. We want to live up to our responsibility for the future and lead by example." IÖW analyzes economic advantages of climate neutrality “We will have a perspective beyond Berlin itself in mind to develop our analysis and recommendations,” Bernd Hirschl from the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) says, who is deputy head of the project. “A climate neutral Berlin will cooperate with the state of Brandenburg on different levels. We want to emphasize the economic advantages of climate neutrality”. Scenarios for urban greenhouse gas reduction Until the end of the year, the researchers are going to map out scenarios for the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions in the city, aiming at a reduction of per capita emissions from roundabout six tons a year today to less than two tons a year. This amount would fit into the goal to limit global warming to less than two degrees. To achieve this, significant improvements in the energy efficiency of buildings are necessary as well as a massive integration of renewable energies and the conversion of the transport sector. A workshop with various stakeholders is starting in April. Socially acceptable paths to climate neutrality

“Berlin is a city of renters, with a rather average economic power in relation to the other German states,” PIK sociologist and head of the feasibility study, Fritz Reusswig, says. “Therefore it is crucial to point out practicable and socially acceptable paths to climate neutrality for Berlin. This is an exciting challenge for our team.” PIK is coordinating the pool of eight involved parties and will be responsible for the fields private households and consumption. “Without the active involvement of citizens, climate-neutrality cannot be achieved,” Reusswig says. Berlin legislation for the energy transformation Senator Müller also aims at reaching beyond the feasibility study itself. “We are working on an idea for a Berlin legislation for the energy transformation. We know this is an ambitious plan that needs visioning as well as the whole city’s support. The feasibility study is an important milestone on the way to this legislation.” PIK director Hans Joachim Schellnhuber stressed the model character of the project: “Our institute analyses the impacts of climate change for the earth system – and develops solutions for very tangible problems and situations all the same. Two years ago we were advisors in climate mitigation and adaption for Brandenburg’s capital Potsdam as our home. We are glad to contribute our expertise for the German capital as well.” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Members of the consortium headed by PIK are:

• the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), that worked on the “Energiekonzept 2020” for Berlin already
• the energy consulting office BLS Energieplan
• the Berlin office for urban development UmbauStadt
• the Innovation Centre for Mobility and Societal Change (InnoZ) Berlin, with a focus on the transport sector
• the Potsdam office Aerial image, Environment and Planning (LUP), which focuses on the potential of open spaces
• the landscape architect office Becker, Giesecke, Mohren, Richards (bgmr)
• the laywers office HFK advocates, that will map out the legal framework for the path to climate neutrality.
  
  

Registration for the workshops: Five parallel groups on energy supply, buildings, transport, economy and private households/consumption will meet on April 15th at InnoZ on the EUREF campus in Berlin Schöneberg (Torgauer Str.12-15). The event is public, due to limited space registration is needed. Please contact wiebke.lass@pik-potsdam.de]]> Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:45:00 +0200 http://www.ioew.de/no_cache/en/news/article/sustainable-mobility-for-european-cities-experts-sketch-the-future/ Urban mobility is crucial for making Europe’s cities more sustainable. The key for improvement is concerted and goal-directed planning, say Europe’s leading mobility experts. It is important that the cities develop long-term goals for their respective mobility future. Last week, more than 60... “No success without a long-term urban mobility vision” “Transportation infrastructure has planning horizons which makes corrections in retrospect very difficult”, says Richard Filcak from the Institute for Forecasting Studies in Bratislava. “Therefore, especially for coming up with sustainable urban transport systems, it is of uttermost importance to develop long-term scenarios. Only if a city follows clear goals, it will arrive at a mobility structure which will satisfy citizens’ needs and match with the requirements of sustainable development.” Adapting infrastructure, developing “compact city strategies” The experts found out that in the past GDP growth has always also led to an increase of traffic. This is also the situation in the host city, declared Tibor Schlosser, Chief Traffic Engineer of the City of Bratislava. “Each day, we have a traffic jam on all axes to the city; more than 250,000 cars moving daily across the river Danube app 150 -200,000 commuters enter our city of 430,000 inhabitants. Therefore, we have to create smart transport conditions”, he declared. “Our sustainable urban mobility plan will prefer public transport, prepare smart services for the people living in the city and elaborate a new strategy in our parking policy”. The specialists stated that a new approach to city planning is required: “To avoid urban sprawl, a higher density in cities is needed”, explained Prof. Petter Næss from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, adding “We need a compact city strategy”. More ambitious mobility policy The experts called for more ambitious mobility policy which builds on measures that address both the technological side and the demand side. Appropriate means for stimulating behavioural changes could be, e. g., ticket pricing of public transport or more consistently internalizing the external costs for cars. “It is necessary that the municipal politics explores any potential option to achieving a modal split that improves the city’s individual mobility record. There is a number of inspiring examples to learn from”, stated Frieder Rubik from the Institute for Ecological Economy Research in Heidelberg. “The German city Munster, e.g., has achieved a share of more than 50 % for walking and cycling. Other European cities like Tallinn in Estonia have recently experimented with public transport for free.” Further information: http://www.scp-responder.eu]]> Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:06:00 +0100 http://www.ioew.de/no_cache/en/news/article/-e69efdc625/ Although we know that consumption patterns must become more sustainable, this knowledge has not yet led to a respective response in European policy making. Following a pan-European effort, consumption experts have today released the policy brief “Enabling Sustainable Consumption”. The policy brief... Policy Brief: Effective Toolkit for Policy Makers The condensed policy brief is a good way – especially for busy readers – to grasp the outcomes in a subway ride. After a sketch of barriers to sustainable consumption the “Policy Maker’s Toolkit” displays the range of instruments that can be applied to promote sustainable consumption. Three examples from different policy sectors – transport, food and housing – show the role of scientific evidence in policy making. “The project CORPUS has shown that it is worth making the effort to bridge the gap between researchers and policy makers”, explains Gerd Scholl, scientist at the Berlin-based Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW). “Though knowledge exchange is often taken for granted, the different professional environments of the respective communities mean that it does not lead to common ground on its own. We have found that active knowledge brokerage is necessary, and provides benefits such as proper use of scientific evidence, time-saving, and effective communication with the target group.”

Design Principles for Knowledge Brokerage

The experts have learned that successful knowledge brokerage relies on three design principles: Participation, activation and a modular approach. If all three principles are combined, it is possible to translate information into knowledge, create a common understanding and connect experts across communities. The policy brief includes an overview of methods and tools, such as collaborative scenario building or scenario back-casting, their respective purposes and necessary resources. The brochure closes with an overview of the use of online tools for knowledge brokerage.      

Pan-European Collaboration

The consortium CORPUS has been funded within the EU Seventh Framework programme. It experimented with, and developed, new integrative modalities of knowledge brokerage on sustainable consumption policies. All results have been published on www.scp-knowledge.eu, the website established as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and professional networking.

Download: CORPUS Policy Brief “Enabling Sustainable Consumption” (pdf) ]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:59:00 +0100 http://www.ioew.de/no_cache/en/news/article/green-ict-for-sustainable-consumption-in-europe-experts-explore-potentials-and-trends/ Modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can have a great influence on shaping a more sustainable world. The mega-trends Cloud Computing and Smart Systems in the areas of energy, transport and housing, have the potential to substantially reduce environmental impacts and, thus, green... Enabling Sustainable Consumption, Reinventing Consumer Behaviours Used in a clever way, information and communication technologies can be deployed for triggering sustainable effects in various spheres and, hence, lead to green growth which is decoupled from carbon use. “Green smart phone apps, for example, can inform consumers and promote behavioral change”, comments André Martinuzzi, coordinator of the consortium RESPONDER and director of the Vienna-based Research Institute for Managing Sustainability (RIMAS). “The idea of sustainable lifestyles can spread rapidly by modern technologies. Alternative consumption concepts and business models such as sharing, bartering and renting are emerging rapidly. And we are convinced that we are just seeing the beginning. The new consumption concepts, which are enabled by ICT, have the potential to reinvent consumer’s market behaviours.” Hot ICT-Topics: Smart Grids and Cloud Computing Among the latest trends in ICT for sustainable consumption are the potentials of ICT-use in the energy sector, often shortened in the magic words “Smart Metering” and “Smart Grids”. The intelligent combination of electricity production and consumption is at the heart of arising concepts which address the transformation of the fossil energy system towards a low-impact, renewable energy scheme. The experts stressed that activating the potentials in this domain calls for a closer cooperation between the energy and the ICT sectors.
With regard to the new trend of Cloud Computing the ICT-specialists on the one hand agreed on the sustainability potential of shared use of resources and facilities in clouds. Cloud Computing can enable smarter, cleaner and more efficient process in many different areas of the economy. “Moreover, if cloud computing advances as we expect it will, there could be as many as 7 million cloud-related jobs in IT worldwide by 2015”, said Ray Pinto, Government Affairs Manager of Microsoft, one of the keynote speakers of the event. On the other hand, the increased demand for energy in cloud solutions is not yet sufficiently analyzed in order to quantify the net environmental effects. “When we talk about enabling effects of ICT, we should not forget that ICT may also enable unsustainable behaviours”, stressed Inge Røpke, an ecological economist from Aalborg University, and another keynote speaker at the event. In addition, the technical standards and safety regulations are yet far from making Cloud Computing a broadly operable option. European cloud rules are a must-have for advancing Cloud Computing. RESPONDER – Linking Science and Policy The European consortium RESPONDER aims at advancing sustainable consumption by closing the gap between science and policy. “Coming up with up-to-date policy instruments requires a systematic integration of the latest scientific knowledge”, says Martinuzzi. “Networking and community building are critical, especially in domains that evolve as rapidly as information and communication technologies.” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ About RESPONDER: The European project RESPONDER aims to promote sustainable consumption by assessing potential contradictions with economic growth. The project links four communities by facilitating a structured dialogue: science, policy, pro-growth, and beyond growth.
Further information: http://www.scp-responder.eu ]]> Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:28:00 +0100 http://www.ioew.de/no_cache/en/news/article/making-housing-in-europe-more-sustainable-science-and-policy-experts-propose-new-research-agenda/ Today European science and policy experts released “The CORPUS Research Agenda for Sustainable Housing in Europe”. Having a significant impact on the environment, health and social cohesion, housing is widely seen as a major issue in the politics of sustainable consumption and production (SCP).... “Creating Attractive, Safe and Eco-friendly Neighbourhoods” “Housing is one of the key issues in the attempt to make our current way of life more sustainable”, explains Gerd Scholl, scientist at the Berlin-based Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW). “Not only does housing account for approximately 40 % of our energy use and emissions, but it also concerns sustainability issues such as urban poverty, suitable dwellings for vulnerable groups, as well as access to health services and education. In brief, sustainable housing is about creating attractive, safe and eco-friendly neighbourhoods.” Hot Topics: Social Innovation, Renovation of the existing building stock, and High-quality Data According to the agenda, key areas of research in sustainable housing should, amongst other things, address social innovation like the collection and evaluation of emerging trends from marginal movements such as eco-villages. The experts also recommend fostering research in behavior change. As an example, they would like a better understanding of the impact of energy prices on citizens’ activities concerning energy efficiency investments. Among the hottest topics on the agenda is the renovation of existing building stock. In this context, the roles of owners and tenants, or possible funding mechanisms are research questions. The experts also stress the need for comprehensive data sets with high-quality data on existing building stock. Pan-European Collaboration The agenda has been developed as a result of collaboration by housing and consumption specialists from all over Europe. The European consortium “CORPUS – Enhancing the connectivity between research and policy-making in sustainable consumption”, which connects researchers and policy makers, in order to foster evidence-based policy-making in sustainable consumption, has hosted a series of three conventions. At workshops, the experts have discussed current housing trends and sustainability challenges, policy instruments and future visions for sustainable housing. The consortium “CORPUS – Enhancing the connectivity between research and policy-making in sustainable consumption” is funded within the EU Seventh Framework programme. It aims to experiment with, and develop, new integrative modalities of knowledge brokerage on sustainable consumption policies. In addition to Sustainable Housing, the consortium has come up with a Research Agenda for Sustainable Food, and Sustainable Mobility. The website www.scp-knowledge.eu has been established as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and professional networking. The documentation of the housing workshop series is available at: http://www.scp-knowledge.eu/og/housing-group.]]> Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:56:00 +0100 http://www.ioew.de/no_cache/en/news/article/a-green-economy-for-europe-experts-discuss-the-transformation-of-the-concept-into-a-policy/ For two days European science and policy experts convened last week in Brussels to discuss Europe’s sustainable future. The “European Dialogue on Sustainable Consumption and Economic Growth” organised by the knowledge brokerage consortium RESPONDER addressed the challenges of the concept of...
Sustainable Jobs, Resources, Finance – experts address crucial policy areas At the dialogue the discussions concentrated on the three key policy areas: jobs, natural resources, and finance. Promoters argue that greening the economy has to be a key strategy to reduce environmental impacts and to trigger new employment. They demand a transparent and long-term policy framework that fosters sustainable investments. Critics, however, label the concept as naïve, and argue that it ignores geopolitical realities and cannot be made compatible with today’s economic model.

Paul Ekins, Professor at University College London and keynote speaker at the event: “It is past time to intensify the debate about a sustainable future. A major challenge is the mismatch between the urgency of environment and resource problems and the political solutions that are put forward to resolve them. There are three key objectives which need to guide a new political approach to the problems: climate stability, resource security, and environmental quality. Either we find ways to achieve these basic objectives, or we put at risk fundamental and valuable aspects of our way of life.”

Green Economy on the rise “Within recent years, and especially around Rio+20, the concept ‘Green Economy’ has experienced a rapid ascent”, says Martinuzzi. “Many people perceive the Green Economy as a new paradigm for achieving sustainable development. Yet, there are numerous questions unanswered, which we address in the European project RESPONDER.”

The project seeks answers by creating a common ground for two spheres that rarely interact: science and policy. “We can observe a gap between science and knowledge on the one hand, and political realities on the other. Therefore, networking and community building are decisive for coming up with new ideas on sustainability issues”, says Martinuzzi, “for ideas that are not only attractive in theory, but also pragmatic enough to be implemented in practice.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

About RESPONDER:
The European project RESPONDER aims to promote sustainable consumption by assessing potential contradictions with economic growth. The project links four communities by facilitating a structured dialogue: science, policy, pro-growth, and beyond growth. Further information: http://www.scp-responder.eu 

]]> Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:27:00 +0100