Climate Change and Spatial Planning in the Saarland: The Transnational C-Change Project. Interim Report September 2011

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1 Climate Change and Spatial Planning in the Saarland: The Transnational C-Change Project Interim Report 1

2 Contents 04>> Foreword 05>> What is C-Change? 08>> Regional Projects in Saarland 10>> Where do we stand now? Contribution to the new Saarland State Development Plan Action Programme in the Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture Open Space Development Programme of the State Capital Saarbrücken Tour d énergie A Climate Tour on Two Wheels 17>> Working Transnationally Means Joint and Mutual Learning! 2

3 Imprint C-Change regional lead partner Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie und Verkehr des Saarlandes, Landesplanung (Saarland Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Transport, Spatial Planning Department) Keplerstraße 18, D Saarbrücken Kontakt: Gerd-Rainer Damm Dr. Andrea Chlench C-Change project partners Landeshauptstadt Saarbrücken, Amt für Grünanlagen, Forsten und Landwirtschaft (Saarbrücken Authority for Green Spaces, Forestry and Agriculture) Nassauer Straße 2-4, D Saarbrücken Kontakt: Carmen Dams Maya Kothe Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie und Verkehr des Saarlandes, Stabsstelle Nachhaltige Entwicklung, Umweltbildung, Klimawandel, Wald und Landschaft (Saarland Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Transport, Department for sustainable development, environmental education, climate change, forest and landscape) Keplerstraße 18, D Saarbrücken Kontakt: Gangolf Rammo Holger Zeck Further partners Zweckverband Landschaft der Industriekultur Nord (LIK.Nord) (Special purpose association Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture ) Alexander-von-Humboldt-Str. 6, D Schiffweiler / Landsweiler-Reden Kontakt: Detlef Reinhard d.reinhard@lik-nord.de Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie und Verkehr des Saarlandes, Klimaschutz, Energie und Verkehr (Saarland Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Transport, Climate protection Department) Keplerstraße 18, D Saarbrücken Kontakt: Albert Busse a.busse@umwelt.saarland.de Regionalverband Saarbrücken (Regional planning association of Saarbrücken) Schlossplatz, D Saarbrücken Kontakt: Dieter Bülte dieter.buelte@rvsbr.de Project management and content editing agl Hartz Saad Wendl angewandte geographie, landschafts-, stadt- und raumplanung Kontakt: Andrea Hartz andreahartz@agl-online.de Sascha Saad saschasaad@agl-online.de Design and typesetting 3 310design Agentur für Design und Kommunikation ohg Kontakt: info@310design.de

4 Foreword The climate transformation will lead to lasting changes. We are hence obliged to increasingly apply preventive mitigation measures, whilst turning our attention to adapting to those consequences of advancing climate change which are already foreseeable today. An increasing number of hot and dry periods, heavy rains and floods corroborate the need for action, also in Saarland. Current planning and development programmes are being reviewed on a regional and municipal level in order to improve the integration of climate mitigation and adaptation measures. Among others, climate change presents a new challenge for the State Development Plan of the Saarland, which is currently being redrafted. Therefore, the contribution of the Saarland to the INTERREG IVB project C-Change has been placed under the aegis of the spatial planning department of the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Transport (MEET). Further project partners include the MEET s own sustainable development department and the Authority for Green Spaces, Forestry and Agriculture of Saarbrücken, the capital of the Saarland. The EU-project C-Change provides the spatial planning department with an opportunity for elaborating first proposals aimed at ensuring an adequate consideration of mitigation and adaptation in the State Development Plan. The city of Saarbrücken is engaged in reviewing the implications of open spaces on the climate, and in identifying potentials of how open spaces can help urban environments adjust to the consequences of climate change. Besides these planning approaches, the sustainable development department is working on the concrete implementation of a climate path between the towns of Göttelborn and Reden aimed at sensitizing people to climate change and its repercussions. The focus lies on the landscape s transformation from a mining region into one that is dedicated to renewable energies. Minister Dr. Simone Peter Saarland Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Transport This interim report provides a condensed summary of the initial results, with a particular focus on regional projects in Saarland. 4

5 What does C-Change aim to do? We will engage with citizens, practitioners and policy makers to facilitate changes in behaviour, land use and policy that will help to climate proof our cities now and in the future London Amsterdam Gelderland Luxemburg Frankfurt Rhein-Main Paris Saarland Transnational project partners in C-Change; source: modified 5

6 What is C-Change? C-Change stands for Climate Change and is the title of a transnational project addressing its repercussions. The project is supported by the INTERREG IVB European funding programme. Under the management of Groundwork London, representatives from various regions in north-western Europe jointly endeavour to answer the key questions: How can cities and regions adapt to the consequences of climate change? What can be done in the urban and regional planning to further mitigation and adaptation measures? How can the population and local protagonists be actively involved in the actual implementation of measures? But a sea change can also concern awareness. Which is exactly what C-Change is all about: using strategies and projects to help climate change being recognised as a key challenge, and contribute to the initiation of joint mitigation and adaptation measures. Many of the projects are therefore very directly addressed to the public, in order to raise people s awareness of the consequences of climate change, and to stimulate them into taking action themselves. Everyone can contribute! Transnational project partners: Groundwork London (Great Britain), project management Greater London Authority (Great Britain) Forestry Commission (Great Britain) ministerium für Umwelt, Energie und Verkehr des Saarlandes (Saarland Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Transport) planungsverband Ballungsraum Frankfurt Rhein-Main (Frankfurt Rhein-Main Conurbation Planning Association) ministère du Développement durable et des Infrastructures, Département de l aménagement du territoire (Luxembourg) Dienst Ruimtelijke Orening Amsterdam (Netherlands) Provincie Gelderland (Netherlands) Région Île-de-France (France) Project period: March 2009 to December 2012 Funding volume: Total volume for all regions: EUR Saarland: EUR 50% of which are respectively co-financed via EFRE Further information: C-Change steering group at regional level; source: agl

7 Wallonien Luxemburg Rheinland-Pfalz Saarland Greater Region Lothringen Saarland State Development Plan Kilometer NLIC Climate Path OSDP Saarbrücken Regional C-Change projects in Saarland; source: agl 7

8 Regional Projects in Saarland In the Saarland the C-Change project is implemented under the management of the Spatial Planning Department within the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Transport (MEET). Further partners include the MEET s Department for sustainable development and the Saarbrücken Authority for Green Spaces, Forestry and Agriculture. Current plans and development programmes on a regional and urban level are being examined in terms of how they can contribute to mitigation and adaptation: The state development plan for the Saarland coordinates the various space utilisation demands of modern society. It is presently being redrafted in order to address current challenges entailed by changes in the economic structure and demographics, as well as the energy-related reorientation. With the C-Change project the spatial planning avails itself of the opportunity for elaborating conceptual proposals for handling climate change from a spatial planning perspective as part of this redraft. The Spatial Planning Department furthermore intends to devote a sub-region of the agglomeration area the Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture (NLIC) to demonstrating concrete measures, by way of example, which can be implemented on a local level for mitigation and adaptation. To this end, ideas for an intermunicipal action programme are to be elaborated jointly with the local stakeholders. Besides the planning approach, the MEET s Department for sustainable development is preparing the implementation of one of the first measures within the C-Change project: The Climate Path in the Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture connects the two former mining locations of Göttelborn and Reden. The Climate Path affords the population and people seeking rest and relaxation an opportunity to inform themselves on the subject of climate change in an eventful and lively manner via several different stations. The focus areas include the promotion of regenerative energies as an important measure for mitigation, and the attendant transformation of the landscape. The regional planning association of Saarbrücken participates in C-Change as an informal partner with planning activities regarding the location provisions for photovoltaic and wind turbine systems. This concerns a land register for photovoltaic system potentials in roof and open areas (completed) and for wind turbine systems outside of settlement areas. The land registers for photovoltaic and wind turbine systems will be transferred to the land use and landscape plan by way of formal procedures following intensive public involvement. All regional projects will be concluded by March 2012 and are to be introduced to a broad expert audience as part of the 2012 Regional Park Forum. The state capital Saarbrücken is one of nine model cities taking part in the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development s Urban Strategies and Potentials to Combat Climate Change Experimental Housing and Urban Development programme ExWoSt. Starting from the Saarbrücken Open Space Development Programme (OSDP), the climatic relevance of open spaces is being examined with the aim of demonstrating how open spaces can help cities improve their adaptation to the consequences of climate change. The fundamentals and strategies for this are being developed as part of the C-Change project. Building on this, a broad involvement process is started in order to sensitise the population for this subject and jointly explore definitive action options. Source: state capital Saarbrücken 8

9 C-Change Saarland Interim Report Nonnweiler Nohfelden Nonnweiler Weiskirchen Weiskirchen Perl Perl Nohfelden Wadern Freisen Wadern Oberthal Oberthal Losheim am See Mettlach Freisen Namborn Namborn Losheim am See Mettlach INTERREG IVB - Projekt Tholey St.Wendel Tholey Merzig Schmelz Merzig Schmelz Beckingen Changing Climate, Changing Lives Marpingen Lebach Ottweiler Lebach Beckingen St.Wendel Marpingen Sensitivity of municipalities regarding heat stress Eppelborn Rehlingen-Siersburg Dillingen/Saar Dillingen/Saar Saarwellingen Heusweiler Saarwellingen Wallerfangen Saarlouis Wallerfangen Heusweiler Riegelsberg Schwalbach Saarlouis Ensdorf Riegelsberg Schwalbach Ensdorf Püttlingen Bous Püttlingen Bous Ueberherrn INTERREG IVB - Projekt UeberherrnWadgassen Illingen Illingen Bexbach Schiffweiler MerchweilerSchiffweiler Bexbach Neunkirchen Merchweiler Neunkirchen Friedrichsthal Quierschied Friedrichsthal Spiesen-Elversberg Quierschied Sulzbach Spiesen-Elversberg Kirkel Sulzbach Kirkel Nalbach Rehlingen-Siersburg Ottweiler Eppelborn Nalbach St.Ingbert Weiskirchen Homburg Homburg Nonnweiler Wadern St.Ingbert Freisen Oberthal Saarbrücken Changing Climate, Changing Lives Wadgassen Perl Mettlach Völklingen Nohfelden Losheim am See Saarbrücken Namborn Blieskastel Völklingen Blieskastel Tholey St.Wendel Mandelbachtal Grossrosseln Mandelbachtal Grossrosseln Marpingen Schmelz Merzig Kleinblittersdorf Lebach Gersheim Kleinblittersdorf Gersheim Beckingen Sensitivität (Gesamtergebnis) Sensitivity (overall result) Sensitivität (Gesamtergebnis) Illingen Nalbach Rehlingen-Siersburg gering (geringe nutzungsbedingte Sensitivität) gering nutzungsbedingte Sensitivität) low (geringe (low use-related sensitivity) mittel (mittlere nutzungsbedingte Sensitivität oder mediumgeringe (medium use-related+sensitivität sensitivity orweiskirchen Sensitivität) nutzungsbedingte hohe demographische (mittlere nutzungsbedingte oder mittel Wadern Nohfelden Merchweiler 1: : Heusweiler Saarlouis Oberthal Neunkirchen Friedrichsthal Quierschied Spiesen-Elversberg Sulzbach Riegelsberg ArbeitsgemeinschaftEnsdorf Schwalbach Arbeitsgemeinschaft Namborn HHP HAGE + HOPPENSTEDT PARTNER Rottenburg/N. Püttlingen Bous HHP HAGE + HOPPENSTEDT PARTNER Rottenburg/N. JRU JACOBY RAUM- UND UMWELTPLANUNG München JRU JACOBY RAUMUND UMWELTPLANUNG München Ueberherrn Tholey Juli 2011 Juli 2011 Verdichtungsraum Wadgassen St.Wendel Marpingen Schmelz Merzig Saarwellingen Freisen Wallerfangen Saarbrücken Völklingen Illingen Nalbach Rehlingen-Siersburg Kleinblittersdorf Schiffweiler Merchweiler Dillingen/Saar Saarwellingen Sensitivität (Gesamtergebnis) Heusweiler gering Saarlouis Mandelbachtal Ottweiler Grossrosseln Eppelborn Wallerfangen Blieskastel Lebach Beckingen INTERREG IVB - Projekt Neunkirchen Friedrichsthal (geringe nutzungsbedingte Sensitivität) Quierschied Gersheim Bexbach Homburg Changing Climate, Changing Lives Spiesen-Elversberg Riegelsberg (mittlere nutzungsbedingte Sensitivität Sulzbach oder Schwalbach mittel Ensdorf Bous Ueberherrn Püttlingen (hohe nutzungsbedingte Sensitivität oderst.ingbert mittlere nutzungsbedingte + hohe demographische Sensitivität) Wadgassen Völklingen Karte Grossrosseln Arbeitsgemeinschaft HHP JRU Saarbrücken Verdichtungsraum Blieskastel HAGE + HOPPENSTEDT PARTNER Rottenburg/N. JACOBY RAUM- UND UMWELTPLANUNG München Juli 2011 Sensitivität der Gemeinden gegenüber Hitzebelastung Mandelbachtal Weiskirchen Kleinblittersdorf Nonnweiler Nohfelden Gersheim Wadern Freisen Oberthal Perl Tholey Bewertungsmatrix: Ottweiler Eppelborn Illingen Nalbach Rehlingen-Siersburg conurbation Verdichtungsraum Schiffweiler Merchweiler Dillingen/Saar Saarwellingen Evaluation matrix Wallerfangen Sensitivity high medium Saarlouis Ensdorf low hot days high medium low hot days very high high medium Contingency capacity: >40% forest: high and very high vulnerability is lowered by one value stage Karte Lebach Beckingen sehr high hoch very hot days St.Wendel Marpingen Schmelz Merzig hoch high 5 9 Namborn Losheim am See Mettlach mittel medium Exposition 1: Kirkel geringe nutzungsbedingte + hohe demographische Sensitivität) Vulnerability of municipalities regarding heat stress hoch Vulnerability Vulnerabilität Homburg Kirkel St.Ingbert Sensitivität der Gemeinden gegenüber Hitzebelastung Sensitivität der Gemeinden gegenüber Hitzebelastung Source: HHP1.1.3 / JRU 2011 Karte Bexbach Schiffweiler Dillingen/Saar Nonnweiler geringe nutzungsbedingte + hohe demographische Sensitivität) low use-related + high demographic sensitivity) hoch (hohe nutzungsbedingte Sensitivität oder nutzungsbedingte + hohe demographische Sensitivität) (hohe nutzungsbedingte Sensitivität oder high mittlere (high use-related sensitivity or hoch Losheimdemographische am See mittlere nutzungsbedingte Sensitivität) Perl Mettlach medium use-related++hohe high demographic sensitivity) conurbation Verdichtungsraum Karte Ottweiler Eppelborn Heusweiler Schwalbach Bous Riegelsberg Bexbach Neunkirchen Friedrichsthal Quierschied Spiesen-Elversberg Sulzbach 1: Homburg Kirkel Püttlingen St.Ingbert Ueberherrn Arbeitsgemeinschaft HHP JRU Wadgassen Saarbrücken HAGE + HOPPENSTEDT PARTNER Rottenburg/N. Völklingen JACOBY RAUMUND UMWELTPLANUNG München Juli 2011 Blieskastel Mandelbachtal Grossrosseln Vulnerabilität der Gemeinden gegenüber Hitzebelastung Kleinblittersdorf Gersheim Source: HHP / JRU 2011 Vulnerabilität 9 Bewertungsmatrix: mittel hoch sehr hoch Verdichtungsraum 1:

10 Where do we stand now? Contribution to the new Saarland State Development Plan The C-Change project provides an opportunity to elaborate conceptual proposals for adequately addressing mitigation and adaptation in the redraft of the Saarland state development plan. The focus areas include strategies for adapting to the inevitable consequences of climate change. A start was made by evaluating regional climate models and analysing the vulnerability of land uses and structures to the consequences of climate change, whilst exploring adaptation capacities. Several workshops and bilateral coordination meetings with the various sector departments within the Ministry ensured that sectoral as well as regionally specific requirements find intensive consideration. The evaluation of regional climate models indicates that summertime heat stress in the Saarland will show an above average increase in comparison with Germany as a whole. Declining summer precipitations in combination with rising summer temperatures may furthermore lead to more frequent and/or longer dry periods. As heavy precipitations are on the increase nationwide, the frequency of flooding events and risk of soil erosion may also increase in connection with rising precipitation volumes in winter. The results of the vulnerability analysis regarding thermal stress, dry periods and flood risks shows that settlements and the soil, in particular, show a high vulnerability, but also agriculture and the nature conservation areas. It became clear that the cold air supply of the densely settled areas is of key importance. For this reason C-Change also included the localisation of climate-active areas and cold air outflow routes, which will need to be further concretised in both the state development planning and the local planning. Adaptation potentials regarding the heat stress in urban environments are for example provided by the development of a system of interconnected urban green spaces, an optimisation of air exchange processes between the city centre and surrounding areas, and in the linkage of nearby recreational spaces with a bio-climatic and air hygiene welfare function. Adaptation potentials regarding an increased number of flooding events are most of all provided in the fields of land use and building precautions and risk management, and by an active promotion of risk awareness. The results of the C-Change project provide numerous suggestions for integrating the topic of climate change in the regional planning, and in particular for designing and further developing the formal tools of state development planning, and will be directly included in the processing to follow. Sources: HHP HAGE+HOPPENSTEDT PARTNER Raum- und Umweltentwicklung; JRU - Jacoby Raum- und Umweltplanung (2011): Konzeptionelle Vorschläge für die Landesplanung zur Klimaanpassung und zum Klimaschutz und Lokales Modellprojekt Landschaft und Klimawandel in der Landschaft der Industriekultur Nord, Teil I. Auswirkungen regionaler Klimamodelle, Anfälligkeit von Raumnutzungen und -strukturen. Stand Im Auftrag des MUEV. Previously unreleased. Kubiniok, Prof. Dr. Jochen (2011): Ermittlung und Darstellung von Kaltluftentstehungsgebieten und -abflussbahnen im Saarland. April Im Auftrag des MUEV. Previously unreleased. No information provided 12,1% low sensitivity 0,06% very high sensitivity 13,47% no sensitivity 7% medium sensitivity 21,77% high sensitivity 52,60% high sensitivity 93% Sites of municipality importance: the sensitive areas percentage of the total area; source: HHP / JRU 2011 European bird protection areas: the water dependent areas percentage of the total area; source: HHP / JRU

11 Illingen Landscape Lab 4 Re-inviting small-scale agriculture in suburbia Urban fringe Landscape Lab 3 International bird migration and wildlife habitat Merchweiler Schiffweiler Old mining and industrial region Neunkirchen/Saar Landscape Lab 2 Forestry and natural dynamics Quierschied Friedrichsthal Landscape Lab 1 Nature-oriented subsequent usages on former mining sites Forest Involved municipalities and landscape labs as core areas of the large-scale nature conservation project Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture ; source: agl

12 Action Programme in the Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture C-Change also involves the implementation of a Landscape and Climate Change pilot project in the Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture (NLIC) the Saarland urban region s northern peripheral area, characterised by the decline of the steel industry and coal mining. The objective consists in drafting an intermunicipal action programme with a focus on nature and landscape, not least of all because NLIC is the location of Germany s very first federal large-scale nature conservation project to be implemented in an urban-industrial area. Two joint workshops with local actors will elaborate courses of action regarding the adjustment to the consequences of climate change as well as mitigation options. Of particular importance here are the involvement of local potentials and activities, ensuring coordination with the large-scale nature conservation project, and the development of initial ideas for projects and measures. Besides climate adaptation measures, the NLIC action programme is also to include the promotion of regenerative energies; source: agl / IndustrieKultur Saar GmbH (Wassergarten) 12

13 Vulnerability of settlement areas Vulnerablilität von von Vulnerablilität Siedlungsbereichen von Vulnerability Vulnerablilität Siedlungsbereichen Vulnerablilität hoch hoch low mittel hoch mittel medium gering mittel gering high Industrie- gering Industrie- industrial und sites und Gewerbeflächen Sonstige Sonstige Flächen Industrie- Flächen und Gewerbeflächen Other Sonstige Gewässer areas Gewässer Flächen Freiraum Freiraum Gewässer waters Freiraum open space Exposition: Thermal stress Identification of thermal stress areas: temperature gradients Sensitivity Identification of sensitive settlement areas Building density Population density Congestion Age pattern Sensitive structures / usage Social structure Natural adaptability + + I II Vulnerability Strategy and plan of action Greening of settlement areas Design and climatical function of green spaces: Green volumina Cold air production Ventilation paths Source: agl

14 Open Space Development Programme of the State Capital Saarbrücken Their building structure, population density and variety of infrastructures make cities particularly sensitive for climate change: more frequent heat waves and heavy rains, longer dry periods. The German Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) research programme Experimental Housing and Urban Development (ExWoSt) serves to examine how cities across the nation can prepare for the consequences of climate change. Saarbrücken is one of nine model cities taking part. Each pilot project simultaneously pursues an individual research focus. But the strategies and measures developed are at the same time also meant to be transferable and capable of serving other communities as a model. Saarbrücken puts an emphasis on the climatic relevance of open spaces. Open spaces are of particular importance for the urban climate and more accessible for adaptation measures than urban architectural structures. A starting point is provided by the Open Space Development Programme, which has established itself as an instrument of open space policy. It serves as a basis for current urban (district) development concepts, amongst others. The C-Change project provided a first stimulus for offensively integrating mitigation and in particular climate adaptation strategies in the Open Space Development Programme, but also important stimuli for an urban development which adequately addresses climate change. Building on a vulnerability analysis for the overall city and a well-founded assessment of the climatic relevance of various types of open space, adaptation strategies and options are being elaborated for the planning of urban open spaces. That is the contribution of C-Change. On this basis, concrete measures are being developed in two urban districts as part of the ExWoSt pilot project. Where dealing with heavy rains is concerned, the district of Rußhütte was selected, where flooding events with partly catastrophic repercussions for the residents have already occurred in the past. Two citizens events have already taken place here. Definitive adaptation measures for private and public spaces as well as necessary improvements in the risk management were discussed with local residents and those responsible in the municipal authorities and waste disposal companies, the Meteorological Service and the fire brigade. The dialogue continues. The adaptation to increasing thermal stress is to be elaborated using the district of Alt-Saarbrücken as an example. This district features a broad range of areas, from low to high stress, as well as a heterogeneous structure of open spaces and settlements. Both public and private open spaces provide starting points for adaptation measures. Two large-scale urban development projects where the consequences of climate change should find consideration in the planning are located within the district: the New Urban Centre by the River and the new residential area of Franzenbrunnen. The project is furthermore actively supported by a committed citizens district forum. Important institutions have been involved in the overall process right from the start: the Spatial Planning Department of the Saarland, the regional planning association of Saarbrücken, various municipal authorities and companies, but also private protagonists such as RAG Montan Immobilien GmbH. The focus is on exploring their action potentials for adaptation measures, and hence initiating a broad governance process for mitigation and adaptation. Sources: (ExWoSt-Forschungsfeld Urbane Strategien zum Klimawandel ), Zwischenberichte zum ExWoSt-Modellvorhaben der Landeshauptstadt Saarbrücken Freiraumplanung als Handlungsfeld für Adaptionsmaßnahmen (agl 2010 und 2011) Source: agl 14

15 Landscape Lab 4 Re-inviting small-scale agriculture in suburbia Urban fringe Landscape Lab 3 International bird migration and wildlife habitat Reden Göttelborn Old mining and industrial region Forest Landscape Lab 2 Forestry and natural dynamics Landscape Lab 1 Nature-oriented subsequent usages on former mining sites Sources: agl 2011; climate path: MUEV landsweiler-reden göttelborn 1»START: LENDING STATION // 2»REDEN ENERGY TYPES/GEOTHERMAL ENERGY // 3»CLIMBING THE TIP/PHYSICAL ENER- GY // 4»LANDSCAPES OF TOMORROW/REDEN TIP // 5»BIOMASS PRODUCTION IN IGNISCUM FIELDS // 6» FOREST AS CO 2 RESERVOIR // 7»FOREST AS POWER PLANT FACTORY GATE // 8»A POWER PLANT WITH A BRILLIANT TRADE BALANCE // 9»TREE AS PRODUCTION SITE // 10» REST BREAK STOPOVER // 11»FOREST AS POWER PLANT REGIONAL AND GLOBAL SIG- NIFICANCE // 12»MILESTONE: REFLECTION PERIOD STOPOVER // 13»FINISHING LINE: PHOTOVOLTAICS AND TURNING POINT 15

16 Tour d énergie A Climate Tour on Two Wheels The Tour d énergie is a climate path designed to sensitise people to climate change and its consequences. A simultaneous focus is on what we can do to protect the climate in concrete terms. Much in keeping with C-Change, visitors of the climate path can experience various aspects of climate change from a very unusual perspective. This helps to test new forms of communication for presenting a highly complex subject to the population in an exciting and event-filled manner. But what does a climate path actually look like? In 2010, an excursion had led the Tour d énergie project group as well as a number of students from the Saarland art college HBK in Saarbrücken, and the C-Change project group Climate Route Offenbach to the Climate House in Bremerhaven. This visit brought first impressions and cemented the cooperation between the two projects. In a seminar at the HBK college the group of students then brainstormed possible designs for individual stations within the climate path. They provided inspirations and ideas for addressing people in a targeted manner and arousing their interest over and beyond handed-down methods. Eleven presentations highlighted diverse aspects of the subject matter. The installations developed by the students appealed to the senses, and some of them later came to be included in the concept for the climate path in a modified form. Of initial importance after the brainstorming stage was the development of a clear profile for the climate path. To this end the area in question, the Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture, was once more subjected to an intensive analysis. The Saarland understands itself as a mining and industrial location, and traditionally also as an energy-generating region. In the Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture this tradition is still kept alive by the industrial and mining heritage. At the same time the development of regenerative energies is driven forward, also in the former mining locations. In addition to this, wood plays a central part in the richly forested Saarland as the oldest source of energy. Climate change and the energy turnaround are indivisibly linked: only if the development of regenerative energies is successful can mitigation be effectively implemented. The climate path addresses this subject, which is also the reason why it was given the name Tour d énergie. The Tour d énergie was conceived as a bicycle tour to be experienced between the former mining locations of Reden and Göttelborn, preferable on an electric bicycle. It connects two of the four landscape labs of the large-scale nature conservation project within the Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture. The route is divided into three main stages: a mountain, a forest and a sun section. While the mountain and sun sections address the subjects of energy generation and regenerative energy, the forest section is dedicated to the forest and its function for mitigation, for example as a CO 2-reducer, and for adaptation. At various stations visitors can either directly download information with their cellphones via QR code, or look up the messages in a brochure. The interventions as well as visual and textual treatment of the subject matter have been designed in a manner ensuring their suitability also for children and adolescents from the age of 13. Now that the concept of the climate path has been finalised and introduced to the communities concerned, as well as the special purpose association of the large-scale nature conservation project, its stations are currently being set up, including the attendant signage. In August 2011 the site was toured by the Saarland s Minister for the Environment, Energy and Transport, Ms Simone Peter, as well as representatives of the Neunkirchen district, the municipalities concerned, and the special purpose association. The climate path is expected to be completed and handed over to the public in the autumn of

17 Working Transnationally Means Joint and Mutual Learning! The C-Change project unites very diverse partners and projects in dealing with climate change. All of these partners are performing projects within their own regions which will contribute to the processing of C-Change s thematic focus areas on a transnational level: A change in the awareness of the protagonists and population, and their active participation Innovative solutions for climate change in urban landscapes Strategies for climate change in the spatial planning In Amsterdam, the project Healthy Climate WeZt involved students and pupils jointly developing new solutions for climateproof cities, buildings and open spaces over a period of 25 weeks. The project served to awaken interest in the subject, particularly in young people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and provide active access to definitive action options. Cross-references to the C-Change project in the Saarland in particular exist regarding the involvement of students in the design of the Climate Path. In Gelderland, C-Change involves various projects with and for children and adolescents: a climate change theatre, a summer school, the Park Lingezegen Open Day, and the first climate change classroom. These measures are designed to introduce young people to the topic of climate change, and awaken their interest in the subject early on and in a playful manner. The municipalities of Kelsterbach, Frankfurt, Offenbach and Mühlheim, the Frankfurt conurbation Planning Association, the Academy of Art and Design and the German Meteorological Service in Offenbach are jointly realising a Climate Route along the Main river. Nine stations will illustrate the repercussions of climate change for global river systems. The stations have been designed by students of the Offenbach Academy and are scheduled to be implemented before the end of this year. The Saarland Climate Path could be regarded as a twin project, despite the marked differences in the thematic focus and spatial dimensions. Students and pupils of the Healthy Climate WeZt project; source: Healthy Climate WeZt, C-Change Amsterdam 17

18 Groundwork London is developing all manner of projects linking the topic of climate change with concrete activities in urban districts: for example the North London community gardens, the East London Green Grid promoting green infrastructure, the South London Green Doctors providing households with energy saving advice, or also Tomorrow s Community Champions, informing the district s residents on climate change on a voluntary basis. The Forestry Commission in London is planning a project promoting locally produced wood as a regenerative fuel in an urban environment, and will provide producers and end consumers with assistance in this respect. The Saarland s Forestry Department also supports the use of firewood to a particular extent, and the Climate Path addresses the importance of wood as one of the oldest regenerative fuels with future potentials. The spatial planning at national level in Luxembourg addresses the topic of climate change as part of a revision of the Programme Directeur. A particular focus area here is the conceptual integration of mitigation and adaptation strategies in the Luxembourg planning system. On an urban-regional and local level the dynamic urban development of the DICI-area (Développement Intercommunal Coordonné et Interactif) in the south-western parts of Luxembourg city is in the foreground. Stakeholders are to be sensitised to the consequences of climate change as part of the future planning process. The approach in the Saarland is highly comparable with the Luxembourg C-Change project another twin project then, besides the Climate Route in Frankfurt. For the conurbation around Paris, the Ile-de-France with 11.5 million residents, adaptation and mitigation strategies are to be outlined in a Climate Action Plan. A first step in this direction was the Climate Green Paper, created with the broad involvement of relevant protagonists. To make the results of the process accessible to decision-makers on a local level as well as a wider public, a guideline has been created and a pilot project for greening the roof of a new school performed as part of a programme promoting ecological construction. The link between the strategic and planning levels on the one side and concrete measures plus a broad involvement process on the other here shows clear parallels to the approach pursued in the Saarland. The activities and projects in the regions provide a basis for the exchange of experiences and cooperation on a transnational level. This exchange on the one hand takes place bilaterally between regions with comparable projects, but also within a structured approach on a transnational level. Transnational expert groups (Expert Joint Planning Groups, EJPG) where experts from the regions regularly meet and discuss central C-Change subjects in greater depth have been established for this purpose. The transnational expert groups will evaluate the regional projects as case studies and elaborate recommendations for the final C-Change report. In addition to this, the regional projects are also analysed in terms of what their contribution to the overall project is and/or what their transnational added value for C-Change consists of as part of an evaluation performed by external experts, a so-called peer review. The co-financing by the European INTERREG programme is also linked to this, after all. 18

19 landsweiler-reden göttelborn EJPG 3 and 1a; source: Groundwork London 19

20 Questioning the C-Change Project in the Saarland: Are innovative answers to the challenges posed by climate change emerging? In the Saarland, C-Change involves the pursuit of integrated approaches designed to incorporate the cross-sectional theme of climate change in various levels of spatial planning from the state planning via the activities in the regional planning association of Saarbrücken and inter-municipal action programmes through to the planning of urban open spaces and network them intensively. Climate change is hence not, as is so often the case, processed independently of current planning processes, but instead embedded in them. Only this way can possible target conflicts between, for example, the expansion of regenerative energy and climate adaptation measures, or also between the concepts of compact vs. climate-adapted city, clearly emerge. Existing planning tools and processes need to be adjusted correspondingly. The answers for the design of the planning tools are meant to provide models for an effective approach to the subject of climate change, whilst bridging the gap to the actual implementation of measures. The C-Change project in Saarbrücken furthermore demonstrates the central importance of diverse types of open space for climate change-proof urban development, and elaborates concrete proposals for securing and/or upgrading climate-relevant open spaces. The results are systematised and can also be applied in other cities. The project additionally shows which basic data are meaningful and required for urban strategies addressing climate change. The Climate Path serves to try out new forms of communication designed to make the topic of climate change accessible to a broader public in an event-orientated manner without moralising. Are the protagonists and population effectively involved? Yes, and on all levels: on the state planning level as well as the regional and urban levels. C-Change served to initiate a broad governance project that brings important protagonists on board and involves them in a dialogue on mitigation and adaptation in the spatial development. Within the context of the city of Saarbrücken s open space project, broad citizens involvement is furthermore given in two selected districts: regarding heavy rains in the sense of a risk governance approach, and regarding thermal stress as a broadly designed discussion process building on the residents involvement structures already provided in the district. The regional planning association Saarbrücken informs the population on the results of the roof area photovoltaic land register online, a new approach for the region. In addition to this it also contributes to the C-Change project with its know-how regarding the environmentally and climatically sound conversion of schools, as well as the design of involvement processes on transnational level. Can regional activities and projects influence public policies? On the Länder level, the results of the C-Change project are included in the formal and binding state development plan. The action programme is to be implemented in the Northern Landscape of Industrial Culture via the municipalities, forestry and large scale nature conservation project. In the city of Saarbrücken the results are integrated in the Open Space Development Programme as well as the urban (district) development programmes. The C-Change project s direct link with existing plans and processes helps ensure an effective integration, and hence a positive impact on public policies with regard to mitigation and adaptation strategies. What is the significance of the transnational exchange for the region? The Saarland projects were selected as case studies for the work of the Expert Joint Planning Groups. They therefore decisively contribute to the processing of the C-Change themes, whilst the exchange with the experts from partner regions helps to further qualify the regional projects. 20