Category Archives: Resource Use
Report on resource efficiency indicators and targets for the EU
In a new report, BIO Intelligence Service, the Institute of Social Ecology and SERI present a basket of resource use indicators and corresponding targets for the Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative on Resource Efficiency. The researchers suggest a set of consumption and production based indicators that covers both, the environmental pressures and impacts from material, energy, [...]
New paper on Material Flow Accounting
Just recently a new paper on the state of the art of Material Flow Accounting (MFA) was published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology [...]. The paper encompasses the expertise of the main scientists working in the field of MFA and sets a standard regarding methodology, indicators and quality of data sources. As such, the
Closing the eco-innovation gap: The Eco-Innovation Observatory publishes its new annual report
The second annual report produced by the Eco-Innovation Observatory has recently been published. The report “Closing the eco-innovation gap” looks particularly at evidence of the economic benefits from eco-innovations and argues that eco-innovation in European companies is an opportunity for strategic investment rather than a cost factor. [more]
New project “Green Noses” starts with today’s World Water Day
Today, 22 March, the World celebrates the International World Water Day which is held annually as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. Each year, the World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater – this year it is “Water and [...]
Resource Efficiency in developing and emerging economies
SERI´s research group “Sustainable Resource Use” investigates the use of natural resources on which our societies are built. Some of the central concerns in this field include differences in extraction, consumption, trade and efficiency across different countries and world regions.
The basis of much of our work in this field is the website www.materialflows.net, an online portal for material flow data providing easy access to global data on resource extraction for more than 200 countries and the time period of 1980 to 2008, aggregated into 12 categories of material flows. The website is based on the first comprehensive and worldwide database on global resource extraction, set up and administrated by SERI in cooperation with the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy.
Vacancy in the working group “Sustainable resource use & global responsibility”
For our team of the working group “Sustainable resource use & global responsibility” we are looking from the beginning of March for a 1-year temporary replacement (maternity leave) – with possibility for a later permanent employment – for a 30h-position as Junior Researcher for the collaboration in national and international research projects regarding the sustainable use of natural resources.
New project: European Environmental Pressure Index
Content of the project “Environmental Pressure Index” is the construction of a composite indicator that describes the pressure for the environment on EU territory. It will comprise the major strands of European environmental policy: climate change and energy use, nature and biodiversity, air pollution and health impacts, water use and pollution, waste generation and use [...]
New tool launched to help EU policies go beyond resource efficiency
The One Planet Economy Network EU project (OPEN:EU [...]) has just launched a unique new tool for mapping ecological carbon and water footprint data across all the 27 EU member states.
Over the past 2 years the project, in which SERI was one of 8 partners, has carried out evidence gathering, software tool design
