Structural change and socio-ecological transformation
27.02.2023
Structural change and socio-ecological transformation
Structural change is often specified in more detail with the so-called “3 Ds”. These are: Demographic change, decarbonization and digitalization. All three topics go hand in hand with far-reaching social changes, both individually and in their interactions with each other. Ageing societies and changing patterns of movement are changing people’s needs, for example in terms of care and mobility requirements. The political decision to phase out coal, which is necessary due to the climate crisis, goes hand in hand with structural changes. Certain jobs are disappearing and the use of renewable energy sources needs to be scaled up. These processes also offer opportunities for greater decentralization and thus also increasing democratic participation in the energy system, as can be seen in the example of energy cooperatives (see Holstenkamp /Radtke (eds.) (2018): Energy transition and participation). Similarly, advancing digitalization is permeating numerous areas of life, whether in professional or private contexts, and has long since become indispensable.
In terms of the vision of social and ecological transformation, structural change should also be seen as a window of opportunity: Instead of “just letting things happen”, steering mechanisms should be deliberately used to make the regions in question sustainable, resilient and fairer. Citizen participation has been an important concern for UfU since its foundation. This is because the corresponding processes should take place with regard to both distributive and procedural justice. In the RevierUPGRADE/MEIFAIR project, the focus is on the younger generation: young people are the ones who feel the effects of current actions (or lack thereof) the most in the course of their lives. This applies both with regard to tipping points in the Earth system (see https://www.pik-potsdam.de/de /produkte/infothek/kippelemente/kippelemente) and with regard to specific local measures that make their own “living space” attractive and enable them to stay in the first place. There is a lot to do in terms of climate protection, climate adaptation and democratic development. In order to jointly explore the status quo and current starting points for action and to bring the topics of structural change, youth participation and social-ecological transformation closer together, UfU is organizing a dialogue forum in Leipzig together with BUNDjugend on 24.03.2023. Further information and registration options can be found on the event page. Actors who are active in the Central German and/or Lusatian mining area and are involved in the areas of youth participation, environmental education or education for sustainable development as well as members of self-organized groups and/or sustainability initiatives and other interested parties are cordially invited to the event.
Saving energy with the little ones in INA.Kinder.gärten
© INA.KINDER.GARTEN 2023
October 19, 2023
We have been showing that energy-saving projects work well for over 30 years. Energy is saved in two ways. Firstly, by optimizing the behavior of the building users and secondly, through technical optimizations together with the janitor. Bringing children into contact with these topics at an early age is important in order to lay the foundation for climate-conscious behavior as adults. In daycare centers, energy is introduced to older children in a playful way by alternating between movement and knowledge transfer. The topic is broken down in such a way that it becomes tangible for our youngest children:
- The four “children of the sun” “Lisa Licht”, “Steffi Strom”, “Wilma Wärme” and “Bärbel Bewegung” introduce themselves
- The children make energy consumers in their facility visible by marking them with colored sticky dots
- Electricity meters are tested
- The hands are rubbed, thereby generating energy themselves
- Energy-saving slogans are considered and practiced
These are just some of the educational methods that the INA children can expect. In addition, there are energy tours to record the current situation of the building, team workshops for the entire team of educators as well as technical training and exchange sessions for janitors.
Through the INA.Kinder.Gärten energy-saving project, all facilities are made more aware of the issue of saving energy in everyday life and pull together. External support from outside also helps the daycare centers to make progress on a facility-specific basis and provides educators with suggestions for further work with the children. It also relieves the burden on the provider. This usually saves between 4 and 15 percent of energy. The first meetings in the facilities have already taken place. At the official kick-off event for the project on Thursday, October 19, the UfU energy consultants introduced themselves to the daycare centers. In addition, the individual project components and the project schedule were explained in more detail and the daycare centers were able to try out the first experiments, such as the “balloon rocket”, the “solar stove” and the “dragon eyes”. Finally, wishes, expectations and fears were addressed to UfU.
Successful participation of the population to promote green infrastructure in Vietnam
October 11, 2023
Successful participation of the population to promote green infrastructure in Vietnam
On On September 19 and 20, 2023, the GreenCityLabHuế project held public events in two districts of the city of Hue. Participants contributed their individual perspectives on ecosystem-based climate adaptation in their neighborhoods. Regarding the main challenges and threats in terms of heat stress and air quality, they stated that hot days are becoming more frequent due to climate change, plants and animals need more water and they need to install more air conditioners. They also emphasized that heat stress was occurring more frequently than before because there were few trees in inner-city areas. The increasing density of traffic and buildings is also having a major impact on air quality and causing more and more dust and exhaust fumes. When asked about the most important problems in connection with public and urban green spaces, the participants were divided. In the outer districts, they were satisfied with the green spaces of the existing orchards, but criticized the fact that although there was access to natural areas, there was a complete lack of urban green spaces within the district. In contrast, participants in the city center reported that the quality of public green spaces was not guaranteed, there was a lack of shade, the variety of trees was low, park construction projects took too long and there were only a few brownfield sites that could be converted into green spaces. The participants in the two workshops also gave very different responses to the question of the use of public green spaces. In the outer districts, participants were of the opinion that people lacked public spaces for relaxation, sport, cycling, children’s playgrounds and for walking pets. Participants in the inner city mentioned that public green spaces in their area were used in a variety of ways and needed to meet these different needs, e.g. for events, dancing, sporting activities, as a playground for children, as a place for people to meet and socialize, and as a place for street vendors and food outlets. The last part of the public events was an introduction to the“green shop windows” that were developed as part of the GreenCityLabHuế project. These are exemplary implemented nature-based solutions for climate adaptation. The participants expressed their support and looked forward to visiting these new green spaces as soon as possible.
Second round table on the development of green-blue infrastructure in Hue
On 21 September 2023, the GreenCityLabHue project also organized the second roundtable on the development of green-blue infrastructure in the city of Huế and the province of Thừa Thiên Huế. The aim of the event was to exchange expertise with representatives of authorities and agencies involved in green-blue infrastructure. The roundtable was an opportunity for the GreenCityLabHuế project to share and discuss its latest research findings on green-blue infrastructure development with local practitioners and policy makers. The roundtable participants agreed on the top five challenges for green-blue infrastructure development in Hue, including policy guidance, selection of climate-adapted tree species, available budget for green space management, digitalization, and research on historical factors of green space development. In particular, participants agreed that policies need to promote the development of green-blue infrastructure and create a favorable framework to meet the demands of urban adaptation to climate change and drive green growth in the province.
With creativity and vigor: Potsdam schools continue to save energy
September 29, 2023
With creativity and vigor: Potsdam schools continue to save energy
60,000 euros in energy-saving bonuses awarded to committed pupils and teachers
Press release no. 434 of the City of Potsdam dated 26.09.2023
In the past school year 2022/2023, the 40 Potsdam schools participating in the Energy Efficiency Program (EEP) of the Municipal Real Estate Service (KIS) once again demonstrated the importance of saving energy and integrating climate-friendly action into everyday school life through numerous creative projects and continuous climate-friendly behaviour. This joint commitment of pupils, teachers, janitors and school management will be honored on 26 September 2023 at the annual annual event with recognition awards totaling 60,000 euros. The most successful schools according to a points system were also presented. Lord Mayor Mike Schubert at the event: “It is impressive how pupils from Potsdam schools have once again contributed to climate protection and energy saving with many campaigns in the 2022/23 school year. And it is therefore a great pleasure for me to once again honor the many students and their teachers for their commitment and to present the awards today.” Kommunale Immobilien Service (KIS) has been implementing the project on behalf of the Department of Education and Sport of the state capital Potsdam since 1998. It is implemented by the Independent Institute for Environmental Issues (UfU) and the Berlin Energy Agency (BEA). In recent years, numerous activities focusing on correct heating and ventilation, conscious and economical use of electricity and water, resource-saving behavior and waste avoidance have been supported and recognized in up to 40 schools in the city. In the 2022/2023 school year, the theme of the annual tours and workshops was “Electricity and (renewable) energies”. Saving energy and electricity has naturally been one of the most discussed topics in Germany over the past year and a half. As a result, pupils have integrated these topics into everyday school life through a variety of activities and provided in-depth knowledge during the UfU and BEA visits. Climate protection and the energy transition have long been part of young people’s everyday lives and are discussed, creatively implemented and lived. For example, an internal school environmental day focused on the topic of renewable energies, which included building miniature models of wind turbines. School podcasts dealt with the question of “Saving electricity, but how” and helpful tips were developed. The EEP theme for the year was also embedded in everyday school life. Light switch services were introduced, checklists for energy-saving actions in everyday life were created and attention was also paid to energy-saving cooking in the school kitchens. The schools also dealt with other climate protection topics and continued their campaigns from previous years. For example, with the possibilities of saving water. To this end, water diaries were kept and measures were taken to save water in the school’s sanitary facilities. The issue of climate-friendly mobility was discussed in relation to renewable energies and, as part of this, project weeks and competitions were organized among pupils and staff. Class trips were increasingly planned using public transport or even by bike or on foot.
Results First place went to the Schulzentrum am Stern with 562 points, receiving 6,070.14 euros. Second place went to Oberschule Theodor Fontane with 541 points and a prize of 5,840.72 euros. In third place was the Karl Foerster School with 401 points, which was awarded 4,328.76 euros. The remaining funds are distributed among the other schools that took part in the 2022/23 school year. Points are awarded based on the activities of the individual school. However, the score also takes into account the schools’ respective energy consumption. Heat protection as a new annual topic In the current school year, schools are focusing on the topic of heat protection for the first time as an annual EEP project. The focus will be on user-oriented measures in the areas of “individual heat protection”, “heat protection indoors” and ideas for “heat protection on the grounds”. The aim is for users of school buildings to discover and try out ways in which they can better protect themselves from heat in everyday life. Our colleagues from Medical Civil Protection will provide us with technical support. All further information on the project can be found online at https://www.energieeinsparprojekt-potsdam.de/
ClimateFaces and children in crisis
September 28, 2023
ClimateFaces and children in crisis
Climate justice is often called for – but what does it actually mean? Our colleague Dr. Christoph Herrler, Deputy Head of the Department of Climate Protection and Transformative Education, talked about exactly this in episode 8 of the Krisenkinder podcast. Among other things, it deals with different levels of climate and environmental justice, the connection between climate change and migration and ethical principles that can be used to describe injustices. The KlimaGesichter project also takes up a lot of space. This project, which is funded as part of the National Climate Initiative (NKI), is led by Christoph Herrler at UfU and carried out together with the German Climate Foundation. The project offers people with experience of flight or migration the opportunity to present their views on climate justice.
Climate protection at Berlin schools
June 15, 2023
Climate protection at Berlin schools
The KlimaVisionen project and the “Day of Visions” event supports 40 Berlin schools in establishing climate protection measures. Climate protection measures defined by the school community are implemented through action days in order to drive forward the transformation to climate neutrality by 2045.
Over the past two years, 52 workshops have been held and 40 greenhouse gas balances drawn up. To realize the roadmaps as visions towards a climate-neutral school, climate protection action days are held at the schools. These primarily serve to implement concrete measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the climate protection action days make the school community aware that they can participate in climate-relevant measures at their own school. This is intended to encourage further action.
Examples of action days in June 2023
- The Grundschule am Stadtpark Steglitz elementary school held a school-wide climate protection action day. Initiatives such as Restlos Glücklich, Nemo and UfU supported the pupils with themed workshops.
- The Gustav-Heinemann-Oberschule (Tempelhof-Schöneberg) drew attention to the start of the project with a symbolic action and presented the planned climate protection activities to the entire school community.
- The Lina Morgenstern School (Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain) organized a flea market on the school grounds.
- The Anna-Seghers-Schule (Köpenick) celebrated the start of the protection of the trees in the schoolyard with a large internal tree care campaign.
The climate protection action days and other ideas for anchoring structural climate protection in schools were presented to other schools at the Day of Visions on June 9. The event focused on the exchange and mutual networking between the schools and their supporters. In order to ensure long-term climate protection in schools, long-term and reliable political support is required. For this reason, pupils were able to engage in a panel discussion with politicians Linda Vierecke (SPD) and Ferat Kocak (Die Linke). One student called for the creation of an internal school position that is exclusively responsible for climate and environmental protection. The background to this is the lack of coordination of the necessary measures due to a lack of staff and time at schools. This would ensure that responsibility does not just lie with a few dedicated teachers. UfU agrees with this demand and calls for structural climate protection to be prioritized in everyday school life. The KlimaVisionen project will continue to accompany schools on their way to climate neutrality over the next two years. New project participants are being sought. Please register by e-mail to Muriel Neugebauer (muriel.neugebauer@ufu.de).
Bioenergy without land conflicts
27.01.2023
Bioenergy without land conflicts
The cultivation of cassava on disused mining land for the production of bioethanol makes a meaningful contribution to climate protection in Vietnam.
For years, bioethanol production has been criticized for competing with the food industry for agricultural land. However, our project study from Vietnam shows that growing cassava on abandoned mining land circumvents this conflict, as such land is unsuitable for food production. The use of the resulting bioethanol leads to CO2 savings of up to 50% compared to conventional fuels.
Vietnam’s energy demand is steadily increasing due to economic growth and industrialization. In this context, the share of renewable energy is expected to increase from 3.7% in 2020 to 10% in 2030. To achieve this goal, the Vietnamese government has mandated the blending of bioethanol and the recultivation of abandoned mining areas. UfU benefits from this because in our CPEP project, we work with mining companies that use cassava to recultivate their abandoned mining land in order to make additional profits from the sale.
Abandoned mining sites are often contaminated by heavy metals and other toxins due to past activities, making them unsuitable for food production. Therefore, the cultivation of cassava does not compete with food production and is a suitable reclamation measure. On UfU’s test plots in Vietnam, cassava yields are in the good middle range at 25 tons per hectare. National average yields range from 13 to 35 tons. However, only 2 tons of ethanol per hectare could be produced, 1.5 tons less than the average. This indicates low sugar content due to lower soil quality.
Using bioethanol from cassava grown on abandoned mining land can save up to 50 percent in CO2 emissions compared to conventional fuels. This saving is also significantly higher compared to conventionally produced bioethanol. For example, large areas of rainforest are often cleared for conventional biofuel production, resulting in immense CO2 emissions. However, the negative effects of land-use change are avoided when using abandoned mining sites.
The cultivation of cassava on abandoned mining areas for the production of bioethanol can be a sustainable way for Vietnam to meet the increasing energy demand and at the same time save CO2 emissions. For this reason, the follow-up project will further analyze the cultivation and economic utilization of cassava in order to successfully scale up the production of bioethanol.
More on the opportunities and challenges of bioethanol production in Vietnam can be found in our new UfU paper:
Green-blue Infrastructure for Climate Adaptation
2. November 2022
Green-blue Infrastructure for Climate Adaptation
Winning Initiatives of the Design Competition “Hue Initiatives – Green Space, Green City” were selected
On September 30th, the Final Round and Award Ceremony of the Design Competition “Hue Initiatives – Green Space, Green City” took place at the Hue University of Sciences (HUSC) in Central Vietnam. In the Design Competition, the GreenCityLabHue invited young people from Hue and neighbouring cities to hand in their creative ideas showing how green-blue infrastructure such as trees, fountains and green walls can be used to enhance four currently vacant sites in Hue.
The benefits of green-blue infrastructure
Hue is already strongly affected by the effects of climate change like heat waves, storms and flooding. Green-blue infrastructures like parks and green roofs improve cities’ resilience against such events. Therefore, the GreenCityLabHue project has been looking for the best greening ideas for four sites in Hue – and many young people sent us their proposals. The best ideas have now been awarded and will be implemented in the next year. Through the competition students and decision-makers learn how to specifically integrate green-blue infrastructure into Hue’s infrastructure using practical examples and a “do-it-yourself” approach. In this way, they are empowered to implement their learnings in future urban planning projects.
Climate adaptation through participation
Simply incorporating more green-blue infrastructure into urban development in Hue is though not enough. It must be designed in such a way that it supports the land use objectives and also fully exploits its potential for climate adaptation. For example, trees and shrubs on unsealed surfaces help much more against heat waves than flowers in pots on asphalt. In order to achieve these optimizations and to create acceptance for green-blue infrastructure, it is important to jointly develop concepts through participatory events with both experts and local stakeholders. Therefore, the designs were intensively discussed at the final round of the design competition on the 30th of September. The teams received feedback and suggestions for improvement from representatives of the Hue City Government, Green Tree Company, Thua Thien Hue Association of Architecture, Thua Thien Hue Association of Urban Planning and the representatives from the previously co-selected sites.
The event was carried out by the Independent Institute of Environmental Issues (UfU, Berlin), the Faculty of Architecture of Hue University of Sciences, the MienTrung Institute for Scientific Research (MISR) and the Thua Thien Hue Institute for Development Studies (HuếIDS) as activity within the GreenCityLabHue project “Strengthening climate resilience of urban regions in Central Vietnam through nature-based solutions for heat adaptation and air quality improvement”. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The GreenCityLabHue Exhibition/Display
The Design Competition was accompanied by a visit of the GreenCityLabHue Exhibition/Display at the Faculty of Architecture at HUSC, where students and professionals alike could learn about the benefits of green-blue infrastructure in urban regions and ways to build a better, greener and more resilient city.
Winning Initiatives of the Design Competition “Hue Initiatives – Green Space, Green City”
Promoting dialog between nature conservation and architecture
October 31, 2022
Promoting dialog between nature conservation and architecture
Architecture and biodiversity symposium
Urban spaces have long been considered hotspots of biodiversity. Buildings are important habitats for many animal species. Architects can play a key role in promoting biodiversity through the design of buildings. This is why architects and leading scientists discussed what an ecologically sustainable building culture can look like at the Architecture + Biodiversity symposium.
What challenges lie ahead of us
Bird strikes on glass, light pollution and the destruction of nesting sites through construction activities endanger biodiversity in urban areas. In Europe and North America, 500 million to one billion birds fall victim to bird strikes on glass every year. Furthermore, in the second half of the 20th century, the intensity of night-time lighting increased by 3-6% annually. For insects in particular, night-time lighting leads to a veritable vacuum cleaner effect. There are already concepts such as animal-aided design that take into account the needs of animals or even create new habitats, but architects and builders are often unaware of them. To promote dialogue between architecture and nature conservation, UfU and BUND organized the Architecture + Biodiversity symposium. “The direct exchange between scientists on species protection in buildings and those who implement construction projects is something special that has never existed in this form before,” says Claudia Wegworth from BUND Berlin, the conference’s technical director. The need for this exchange is underlined by a statement from Jan Musikowski, who designed the Futurium in Berlin together with his architectural firm. “Our interest was the appearance and not nature,” he admitted, before reporting on how the Futurium’s glass façade was subsequently optimized with special films to prevent bird strikes. He emphasized that architects are already confronted with many regulations and need concrete guidelines for orientation.
What solutions are there
According to Christine Lemaitre, Managing Director of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), fully glazed façades are no longer a model for the future, even in terms of the energy efficiency of buildings. Prof. Dr. Thomas E. Hauck from the Vienna University of Technology also underlined the need to find new aesthetic preferences in architecture that benefit biodiversity: “The costs are relatively low. Peanuts compared to a parking space in an underground garage”. Cosima Lindemann, Chairwoman of the Rhineland-Palatinate Nature Conservation Association, also emphasized that old certainties need to be reconsidered with regard to the climate crisis. For example, nesting sites for birds should be placed on the north side of buildings to avoid direct sunlight. Dr. Franz Hölker from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries also highlighted the massive impact of light emissions on plants, animals and humans. For example, bridge lighting disrupts the migration of various fish species, which means that the ecological continuity of watercourses required by the European Water Framework Directive cannot be guaranteed. Annette Krop-Benesch from the “Sustainable Lighting” initiative therefore emphasized that the blue component of light should be reduced and that lighting should be used as weakly and precisely as possible. The concluding discussion showed that the initial exchange between nature conservation and architecture had already borne fruit. Nevertheless, satisfactory and sustainable solutions can only be implemented together in the future. The symposium “Architecture + Biodiversity” took place on September 27 at the German Architecture Center in Berlin and was funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Around 80 people took part on site, 200 more were connected online. A detailed documentation of the event can be found here.
