Institute Living and Environment (IWU): Vision of the energy-efficient city
Published
In cooperation between the TU Darmstadt and the Institute Housing and Environment (IWU), the endowed junior professorship "Models of Housing and Energy Policy in Cities" was established and filled by the scientist Kai Schulze. He teaches and conducts research at the Institute of Political Science in the Department of Social and Historical Sciences at TU Darmstadt.
Schulze's research focuses on environmental and energy policy analysis. To this end, he combines theories and approaches of policy analysis, comparative politics and Europeanisation. The junior professorship could also build thematic bridges to the engineering sciences. At the same time, the Institute Housing and Environment expects valuable impulses. The IWU, a non-profit institute financed by the State of Hesse and the City of Darmstadt, conducts interdisciplinary research on the housing market and housing policy as well as on the efficient use of energy in buildings. "From the cooperation with the endowed junior professorship, we hope to make valuable contributions to make findings from research more usable for policy and societal advice," says Dr. Monika Meyer, managing director of IWU. The Institute will bear the personnel costs of the junior professorship, which is initially limited to three years and can be extended for a further three years.
The number of car sharing users in Germany rose sharply again in 2016. On 1 January 2017, a good 1.7 million customers were registered with German car sharing providers. This is 36 per cent more than in the previous year. The German government now wants to promote the further expansion of the service through a car sharing law.
You can read all the information on this at:
www.carsharing.de/mehr-17-millionen-carsharing-nutzer-deutschland
In an article also published today, WiWo Green discusses whether Car2go, Drive Now & Co. actually benefit the environment.
Getting rid of your car and sharing one with others - that's the basic idea behind car sharing. The idea is to reduce the burden on the environment and traffic. But experts think so: In the meantime, the opposite is happening.
The planners' workshop embedded in the participation process for Viktoriakarree will take place between 31 August and 2 September. During these three days, four teams of planners will develop an independent planning concept on site, taking into account the results of the previous participation processes.
The planner workshop will open with the planner workshop kick-off event on Thursday, 31 August 2017, at 6.30 pm in the St. Remigius Chapter House. The evening event offers the opportunity to get to know the four planner teams and to find out about further opportunities for participation during the planner workshop. The evening will also address two of the main topics of the participation process to date, for which opposing views became apparent during the ideas workshop. The topics of "culture/education/history/leisure" and "work/commerce" will be explored in greater depth in two open discussion rounds, which will also involve the audience. The aim is to work out the conflicts of interest and commonalities in order to give all those present and, above all, the planning teams from outside the area an insight into the interests.
How can Bonn become climate neutral by 2035? This is the question that the participatory project "Bonn4Future - We for the Climate!" would like to discuss together with Bonn citizens over the next two years. Since mid-2019, the climate emergency has been in effect in Bonn; in November 2019, the Council decided that Bonn should become climate neutral by 2035. The city and the non-profit association Bonn im Wandel have now signed a cooperation agreement and thus launched "Bonn4Future".
Very important in "Bonn4Future" is a new culture of mutual listening and good cooperation. All those involved are looking for solutions on how climate neutrality can succeed for our city. Everyone takes responsibility and makes their contribution.
"In order to achieve climate neutrality in Bonn by 2035, it is not only a question of setting the right course at international and national level, but also of all of us here on site," says Mayor Katia Dörner. "On politics, administration, companies and the people of Bonn with their ideas and decisions. We want to enter into dialogue with them in the participatory process 'Bonn4Future', because only in this way can this great transformation process for Bonn succeed. I am very much looking forward to working with Bonn in transition and our committed urban society!"
Project modules: Developing and implementing measures
At Climate Day - which will be scheduled and planned depending on the pandemic situation - citizens are invited to develop a joint climate vision and action plan for a climate-neutral Bonn. The ideas and findings from this Climate Day will flow into a total of four planned Climate Forums - The first is to take place in the first half of 2021. There, 100 randomly selected citizens will work together with experts from business, science, associations, culture, administration and politics to develop strategies and concrete proposals for the path to climate neutrality in 2035.
Results and ideas from the forums are reflected in the administration and in politics. They serve as orientation and support for the further development of the already existing catalogues of climate protection measures.
An Project Advisory Board and an accompanying scientific evaluation ensure a high quality of the participation process.
"Climate change is on people's minds in Bonn, we notice that every day in our work," says Dr. Gesa Maschkowski, board member of the Bonn in Transition association. "Many people want to do something and want effective measures. Now we bring them together. The citizens, people from business, science, culture and the social sector as well as politicians from all parties. Because we have to plan and act now if Bonn is to be climate neutral by 2035 at the latest."
The broadest possible participation should produce constructive ideas and results over the next two years. To kick off the process, citizens can already express their views today at the urban portalwww.bonn-macht-mit.de inform about the process and contribute their ideas on how to make the process work well.
Reaching the goal together
"Bonn4Future - Wir fürs Klima!" already received a lot of support from more than 50 Bonn initiatives before the official start of the project. However, it is important to the creators to bring people from all areas of the citizenry on board. The process is to be supported by all social groups.
An accompanying Communication and education concept is dedicated to building up a communication network. In this way, multipliers are won over and care is taken to ensure that "Bonn4Future" remains a topic of conversation and that many people are motivated to participate.
An important communication tool is also the city-wide, interactive Sustainability platform. It will make visible initiatives, activities and dates on the topic of climate-neutral city, commitment to sustainability and citizen participation in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Background
The cooperation agreement that has now been concluded was preceded by a citizens' application for participation in achieving the goal of climate neutrality. Bonn in Transition and the Climate Watch Bonn introduced this at the beginning of the year. In the meantime, the participation concept is supported by about 50 initiatives, companies and organisations. The citizens' committee agreed to it. Bonn im Wandel then developed a concept for the multi-stage procedure with the support of experts for citizen participation and further developed it in cooperation with the city administration.
With a resolution in September 2020, the Council of the City of Bonn finally commissioned the administration to conclude a cooperation agreement with Bonn im Wandel for the coordination and implementation of the two-year process. Funds of up to 719,000 euros will be made available for this until the end of 2022. The project will be implemented in the "Bonn4Future" project office. Here, four experienced experts for communication and participation work on 2.4 positions, supported by the Bonn in Change core team. On the part of the city administration the project is coordinated and accompanied by a half position. There is also a close connection to the citizen participation portal "Bonn macht mit". The participation portal bundles all information on participation offerings of the city of Bonn and provides opportunities for direct participation.
Bonn im Wandel sees itself as an ideas and project laboratory for a sustainable city. The association brings a large network as well as nine years of experience in the initiation and organization of civil society projects and change processes into the process.
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