Video (2014) Places of the settlement GWL-Terrein were unsealed and greened
Published
In May 2014, the residents of the car-free settlement GWL Terrein in Amsterdam planted two stone squares on their own initiative. The residents planted the squares themselves and also covered the costs themselves.
In this 10-minute film, the transformation was documented:
At the proposal of the Federal Environment Ministry, the Federal Cabinet adopted the third German Resource Efficiency Programme (ProgRess III) on 17 June 2020. With this programme, the government aims to achieve an economical use of raw materials. Companies in particular are to use natural resources more efficiently along the entire value chain. Greater use is to be made of digital solutions to increase resource efficiency. The decision in favour of resource-saving products is to be made easier for citizens through improved information.
Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze: "A secure supply of raw materials is essential for the German economy. The Corona crisis with its impact on supply chains and raw materials markets has made this clear to us. Tomorrow's economy needs a push for more resource efficiency. Companies and consumers are equally challenged here. It is about using the opportunities of digital technologies for more prosperity and competitiveness, social justice and an intact environment. With its guiding idea of gradually making economic and production methods in Germany less dependent on primary raw materials, ProgRess makes an important contribution to making the German economy more crisis-proof."
Digitalisation contributes significantly to the increased consumption of raw materials. This is illustrated by the increasing spread of smartphones and tablets as well as the growing demand for server services. At the same time, digitalisation offers solutions, as the Federal Ministry for the Environment has also made clear in its environmental digital agenda: Thanks to ever faster processing of process data, production can be better controlled and the use of raw materials more efficient. ProgRess III is therefore devoting a new focus to digitalisation with measures for resource efficiency in the area of Industry 4.0 and data centres. Companies are supported in designing and producing products in a resource-efficient manner in the future. During the manufacturing, use and disposal phases, products should in future use a minimum of material, water and energy and still fulfil their function.
Not only in production, but also in consumer behaviour, digitalisation has so far been driving the increasing consumption of resources. Online trade, for example, has become an important segment of the retail trade today, with growth rates of around ten percent annually. Therefore, ProgRess III also focuses on raising awareness among the population, in everyday areas such as "working and living", "mobility" and "informing and communicating". Here, durability and quality are to become central selling points. Consumers should receive transparent, reliable, comparable, verifiable and easily understandable information for their purchasing decisions. The German Resource Efficiency Programme III focuses in particular on market incentives, information, advice, education, research and innovation as well as on strengthening voluntary measures and initiatives in business and society. The spectrum of topics covered by the 119 measures ranges from ecological due diligence obligations in raw material supply chains to the reparability of products, advisory services for companies and standardisation and certification systems for recyclates to investments in public transport and eco-labels for resource-efficient software.
In addition to an intensive consultation process with the federal states, associations and other social actors, extensive citizen participation was also carried out as part of the development of ProgRess III. Based on the results of this dialogue, citizens formulated a Citizens' Advice on resource conservation, which was integrated into ProgRess III.
Further information on ProgRess III can be found at HERE>
They are highly efficient, low-emission and quiet: New fuel cell heating units generate heat and electrical energy as mini CHP units with over 90 percent efficiency. They have been tested extensively in detached and semi-detached houses, and their function and design have been improved step by step. The first units are regularly on the market. They can be operated with natural gas as well as with hydrogen and methane produced from renewable energies or biomass. Fuel cells can generate electricity decentrally and on demand and can be used either to relieve the load on the grid or independently of the grid.
Continue on: www.bine.info/...brennstoffzelle...
(the ESD info service was discontinued at the end of 2020)
In 2013, ABG FRANKFURT HOLDING built an apartment building with 17 residential units at Cordierstrasse 4 in Frankfurt am Main as a passive house with energy gain in an existing neighbourhood. The orientation of the new replacement building, which was unfavourable for solar optimisation, posed particular challenges in achieving an energy surplus in the annual balance.
This final report documents the results of the measurement period from July 2014 to June 2016.
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
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