Since 2002, the forest area in Germany has increased by about 50,000 hectares.
On the occasion of the International Forest Day on 21 March 2019, the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Julia Klöckner, went to see the situation on site.
"The storm damage in winter, in summer, then the prolonged drought, plus the bark beetle infestation - last year was a disaster year for our forests, the damage is worrying. In 2018, more than 30 million cubic metres of damaged wood accrued. This is the fourth most severe damage event in German forestry in the past 30 years," the Minister said. "The continuing, serious bark beetle infestation will also lead to the death of more forest areas, and the exact extent of the damage caused will in some cases only be foreseeable in a few years' time.
Protecting the forest as much as possible is important. Because our forest fulfils a number of crucial tasks. It is a protector of the climate, a supplier of wood, a preserver of biodiversity and a place of recreation for citizens. For this reason, the BMEL will continue to work with the Länder to ensure that sufficient aid is available for clearing and reforesting damaged areas.
The jury selected nine prize winners this year, and in addition seven commendations were awarded. 134 projects were submitted, all of which, according to the jury, "demonstrate a level of craftsmanship that can hardly be surpassed". They were awarded on 30 June in CUBUS Wolfurt.
The "Vorarlberger Holzbaupreis 2017" was awarded to:
Category "Apartment buildingRow house LG, Lustenau
Rehabilitation" categoryOeconomy Building Josef Weiss, Dornbirn, Julia Kick DI ZT Architect, Dornbirn
Category "Single-family houseHouse Birne, Nüziders, DI Martin Mackowitz, Feldkirch and Helmut Taudes, Nüziders
Category "Single-family houseResidential house W, Bezau, cukrowicz nachbaur architekten ZT GmbH, Bregenz and Jürgen Haller, Mellau
Category "Other/holiday home": Haus am Stürcherwald, Laterns, architect Bernardo Bader ZT GmbH, Dornbirn
Out of the country" categoryHouse A, Eschlikon, Srich & Oswald Gmbh, Zurich
Out of the country" categoryResidential home for refugees, Hanover, MOSAIK Architekten BDA PartGmbH, Hanover
Ecology and Sustainability" CategoryResidential building F, Dornbirn, cukrowicz nachbaur architekten ZT GmbH, Bregenz and Jürgen Haller, Mellau
When the Vorarlberg Timber Construction Prize was awarded for the first time in 1997, it was a pioneer of its kind. Today it is considered the benchmark of the industry, is internationally known and helps to market the Vorarlberg region to tourists. Around 30,000 architectural tourists come every year because of the outstanding timber architecture, according to the press release of the organisers. vorarlberger holzbau_kunst - a regional network of planners, craftsmen and companies that is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Making life in the neighbourhood more ecologically, socially, economically and culturally sustainable together with the residents; that is the aim of "Real-world laboratory 131: KIT finds the city" at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). In Karlsruhe's Oststadt district, researchers in this laboratory are looking for ways to reduce CO2 emissions, conserve resources, strengthen neighbourhoods and improve the health of people in the district. The project has now been honoured twice by the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE).
"The special thing about this project is that we work directly with the people living and working on the ground at eye level and can therefore not only incorporate specific local knowledge and think ahead. Rather, this makes it possible to take action for sustainable development," says Alexandra Quint from the project team at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS). Ways to make neighbourhoods more pedestrian-friendly are being researched, as are new methods for energy-efficient building refurbishment, and services for sustainable living and sustainable mobility behaviour are being developed. The researchers' work is highly interdisciplinary: "Architects, philosophers, landscape planners, cultural scientists, environmental scientists and geoecologists work together in this team," says the urban geographer.
This is not just research, but also very practical work: "For example, there is a newly developed energy concept for increasing the proportion of renewable energies in existing buildings or initiatives for slowing down our increasingly hectic everyday lives," reports Dr Oliver Parodi, Head of Reallabor 131. In the "Beds and Bees" project, citizens and scientists have jointly designed a snack bed with herbs, fruit and vegetables in public spaces and set up a hive as a home for bees. Quint explains that this not only serves to raise environmental and nutritional awareness, but above all to build community. All of this is done in co-operation with civil society groups, the city administration, associations, businesses and, above all, the local citizens who regularly take part.
A series of events also provides approaches and ideas for alternative consumer behaviour. Parodi mentions plant swaps, clothes swap parties and a regular repair café. "Reallabor 131 is designed as a platform for participation and has a strong networking character." The project's own "Future Space for Sustainability and Science", a former shop, combines the characteristics of a neighbourhood office, a science shop and a community centre and is now a popular meeting point, event and educational venue.
According to Quint, the concept is attracting worldwide interest: "The laboratory is a model, is designed to be transferable and has so far been researched by scientists from the Netherlands, Spain and Australia, with requests for cooperation coming from Mexico, Russia, Switzerland, the USA, Estonia, Portugal and Spain."
Honoured as a transformation project
The German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), which advises the German government on sustainability issues, has now honoured the Reallabor twice: with the "Project Sustainability 2017" seal of quality and as one of four "transformation projects" nationwide. With this seal, the RNE recognises initiatives from society that make a special contribution to sustainable development in Germany and the world. Around 240 projects applied for the award. According to the jury, the transformation projects honoured have particularly great potential to make the world more sustainable. The awards were presented at the end of May at the RNE's annual conference in Berlin.
The website provides information on all the activities of the real-world laboratory: www.quartierzukunft.de
The lecture by Dr. Stefan Gärtner, IAT Gelsenkirchen (minutes 17 to 56): Production in the city: opportunities, risks and your integration into urban value creation is far-sighted.
It shows examples of how production can be brought back into the city and how mixed use can succeed.
The SOLAR.shell research project clarifies how the yields of photovoltaic components on building facades can be increased by up to 50 percent compared to vertically installed PV elements by tilting and turning the elements.
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