Habitat III: DDD #18 "Cities" - Complete eBook now free to download
Published
With only a few weeks left until the Habitat III conference, DDD #18 on "Cities" has now published 22 insightful articles around the topic of urbanisation. Authors from all over the world have told us about urban life in Africa, Asia, Middle East and the Americas. With a close eye on the conference's outcome, they directed the attention towards inspiring initiatives that aim for a positive change.
With completion of DDD's issue #18, we are happy to provide the entire issue as an eBook.
A new "Export Initiative for Environmental Technologies" of the Federal Ministry for the Environment is to support the foreign business of the German environmental industry and thus promote the development of environmental infrastructure. Interested companies and organisations can apply until the end of April. In total, the BMUB five million euros available this year.
Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks: "Germany is the world export champion in environmental protection. We want to maintain this position. In the meantime, other countries have also recognised that environmental protection goods are a key market of the future. With the export initiative, we want to support our companies in developing their Know-How continue to successfully market internationally while driving sustainable development."
Applications are open to institutions from Germany that are working on the development of environmental infrastructure abroad. Funding is available, for example, for projects in the field of circular economy, sustainable water management, sustainable, efficient construction, mobility or sustainable and nature-friendly regional infrastructure development. The initiative will also specifically provide funding for urbanisation partnerships and international "Smart City-projects" will be used. The initiative is also intended to help accelerate the application of global environmental standards abroad.
Together with the unveiling of the building sign, they heralded the start of construction on the grounds of the Ellener Hof Foundation Village: (from left) Sabine Schöbel.) Sabine Schöbel, Head of the Ellener Hof Foundation Village, Wolfgang Haase, Speaker of the Advisory Board in Osterholz, Alexander Künzel, Senior Director of the Bremen Home Foundation, Jens Deutschendorf, State Councillor at the Senator for the Environment, Construction and Transport, Anja Stahmann, Senator for Social Affairs, Youth, Women, Integration and Sport, Bremen's Mayor Dr. Carsten Sieling and André Vater, Chairman of the Board of the Bremen Home Foundation. Photo: Bremer Heimstiftung, Photographer: Martin Rospek
"Municipalities are crucial drivers for the sustainable development of our society," explains Dr. Werner Schnappauf, Chairman of the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE). "All 17 sustainability goals are directly or indirectly related to the tasks of a municipality. The new reporting framework sustainable municipality, the BNK, can be a great help for further progress in the field of sustainability", says Schnappauf.
From the municipal side, there has long been great interest in a tool for good sustainability reporting. Many municipalities have already developed sustainability strategies, for example within the framework of the project "Globally Sustainable Municipality" of the Service Agency Communities in One World (SKEW) of Engagement Global. However, until now there has been no instrument to evaluate the implementation of the strategies and to adjust them if necessary. The Dialogue "Sustainable City represented mayors have therefore asked the RNE in 2019 to develop a reporting system that can build on the German Sustainability Code (DNK) for companies. In response, the Sustainability Council, together with the mayors represented in the "Sustainable City" dialogue, the Regional Sustainability Strategy Network (RENN) and a large number of other stakeholders, has developed a "Sustainable Community Reporting Framework" (BNK).
"Based on my many years of experience as a district administrator, it is particularly important to me that the RNE represents an offer for all municipalities and is thus also available to districts. We are pleased that the RNE has also been cooperating closely with the districts since last year," said Schnappauf.
"As municipalities, we are implementing the transformation to sustainability" emphasizes Markus Lewe, Council Member, Lord Mayor of the City of Münster and Vice-President of the German Association of Cities, in the foreword to the BNK handout. "Overall, the BNK focuses on process orientation. It is not about evaluating results or comparing municipalities with each other. It is about moving forward together and the many steps on the way to more sustainability," said Lewe.
The BNK will be tested in joint projects with SKEW and many RENN partners from March 2021. The city of Aschaffenburg will be the first of probably 20 pilot municipalities from all over Germany to prepare its own sustainability report based on the BNK. The kick-off for the Aschaffenburg sustainability report was yesterday's city council meeting. "The city of Aschaffenburg sees itself as a municipality with the responsibility to perform all its tasks in terms of sustainability and thus to be a role model. This responsibility is seen as a cross-sectional task in the administration and the council, in which all citizens also participate, and has a long tradition in Aschaffenburg," said Jürgen Herzing, Lord Mayor of the City of Aschaffenburg and member of the RNE's "Sustainable City" dialogue.
The experiences from the 20 pilot municipalities will be incorporated into the further development of the reporting framework. The publication "Reporting framework for sustainable municipalities" is now available at here.
Source: PM of the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) of 4.3.2021
Environment Minister Heinen-Esser: "The protection of the starry night sky serves health, species and climate protection and enables fascinating nature experiences at night".
A fascinating natural spectacle: The Eifel National Park is one of few places in Germany where you can see the Milky Way with your naked eyes. Now the International Star Park Eifel National Park has received the final and so far unique recognition in western Germany. (Photo: Maximilian Kaiser)
Schleiden-Gemünd / Nettersheim, 05.04.2019. Experiencing the starry sky at night with twinkling celestial bodies is a special experience for many people that is now only possible in a few places in Germany - one of these places is the Eifel National Park. Since 2010, a regional initiative has been successfully campaigning for the protection of the night sky and the preservation of the natural night landscape - in 2014, this was followed by the provisional designation as the first "International Dark Sky Park" in Germany. Now this initiative can look forward to the final recognition as International Star Park Eifel National Park. On the grounds of the observatory of the astronomy workshop "Stars without Borders" in the Eifel National Park, Dr. Andreas Hänel, highest representative of the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) in Germany, presented the certificate of recognition to Environment Minister Ursula Heinen-Esser and the head of the Eifel National Park Administration Dr. Michael Röös. The distinction of being a protected area of the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) is a title that only a few regions worldwide can use to promote themselves, in Germany there are only four. For the Eifel National Park, which turned 15 this year, this recognition is a nice "birthday present".
The Eifel National Park is a refuge of undisturbed night skies and has been recognised as a star park since 2014. "Rarely does a topic offer so many win-win situations," said Environment Minister Ursula Heinen-Esser when handing over the certificate. She emphasised the many benefits of protecting the starry night sky: "Dark nights have a positive effect on health, conserve resources and thus help to protect the climate. Darkness is important for many nocturnal animal species, especially insects. Artificial light at night can be a serious threat to them." For North Rhine-Westphalia, he said, the final recognition of the Eifel National Park as the only star park in the entire western half of Germany was an outstanding honour. "The final recognition of the Eifel National Park as a star park helps to raise the profile of our state as a nature destination as well," the state environment minister summed up.
The initiative goes back to the astronomer and lighting consultant Harald Bardenhagen from Cologne, who managed to convince the region of the value of the starry sky. Initially, Bardenhagen found enthusiastic comrades-in-arms in the administration of the Eifel National Park, the district administration of Euskirchen, the national park towns of Schleiden and Heimbach, and those responsible for the Vogelsang property. However, until the final recognition as a Dark Sky Park, further efforts on different levels were necessary: In the design of the outdoor lighting to reduce the artificial light in the National Park and the directly surrounding villages or in the development of tourist offers for stargazing for the general public. The North Eifel Nature Park, in which the Eifel National Park is embedded, has also been intensively involved in this process.
Dr. Michael Röös, Head of the Eifel National Park Authority, thanked Mr. Bardenhagen for his unprecedented commitment against light pollution and his dedication to protecting the night sky and making it possible to experience it. "With the final recognition of the Eifel National Park as an International Star Park, we have reached an important milestone with the region and at the same time taken a pioneering role in the protection of darkness in North Rhine-Westphalia."
"Together we will significantly expand this unique selling point", Manfred Poth, Chairman of the North Eifel Nature Park, was pleased to say. With the innovative project application "Under the Tent of Stars - Eifel by Night", the nature park was able to prevail in the "Nature Park Competition.2021.NRW" of the NRW Ministry of the Environment and, for the first time in its history, took first place. "With the associated 400,000 euros in funding, the protection of darkness through public relations work, through educational offers of sustainable development and tourist infrastructure projects in the Eifel will experience a significant further development," explained Poth. More than 40 project partners, including the Eifel National Park Authority, want to participate in the realisation.
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