In October, the Habitat III Conference took place in Quito. The "New Urban Agenda" was adopted there. It is intended to help the world community to shape the global urbanisation process in a sustainable way. Why is there so little discussion about this in Germany?
Over 30,000 participants were accredited in Quito. Despite good organisation, there were hours of queuing and security checks to get into the conference area, which was declared a temporary UN exclave, and to attend the numerous lectures, forums, discussions, workshops and stands. But there was little of this euphoria in the German media. Habitat III did not manage to get through with a very big message, as the Paris Agreement managed to do with the two-degree target. So all in vain?
Prof. Dr. Philipp Misselwitz is Professor of International Urban Studies and Design/ Chair Habitat Unit at the Technische Universität Berlin http://habitat-unit.de
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
With efficiency, greater electrification and renewable energies, it is possible to organise completely greenhouse gas-neutral transport without having to accept restrictions on growth and quality of life. This is the result of scenarios developed by the Öko-Institut and presented today in Berlin by Parliamentary State Secretary Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter. The scenarios for greenhouse gas-neutral transport were developed together with key players from business and society.
Schwarzelühr-Sutter: "The options are there, the opportunities for the economy, the environment and people are great. Renewbility shows us that climate protection in transport is possible! And without sacrificing growth and prosperity, but on the contrary with a better quality of life. Climate protection in transport is no longer a question of whether. It's about how we design climate-neutral transport in the long term."
The results show: Complete decarbonisation of the transport sector is possible - and there are various options for achieving this. To achieve this, the energy basis of transport must be switched to renewable energies. And: Efficient vehicles and modes of transport must be prioritised. The latter is particularly important for two reasons. Firstly, it saves a lot of costs if renewable energies are not wasted unnecessarily. And secondly, it drastically improves the quality of life if, in addition to an energy transition, more environmentally friendly modes of transport are used.
Until now, it was often assumed that environmentally friendly transport would ultimately have to restrict the mobility of many people or the economy. The results of Renewbility disprove this. The research project shows that, on the contrary, greenhouse gas-neutral transport can actually promote growth and improve mobility and quality of life. Numerous discussions with stakeholders from politics, business and civil society form the basis for looking to the future. Suggestions from these discussions have set the direction. The results brochure, key graphics and further information can be found at www.renewbility.de .
An overview of all BMUB mobility projects can be found here: www.mobil-wandel.de
Over 60 innovative projects have been developed in the three key areas of "Metrozones", "City in Climate Change" and "Cosmopolis". The IBA project film presents them.
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