Parliamentary State Secretary Dr Bettina Hoffmann from the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) commented: “The advancing climate crisis makes consistent climate protection and consistent climate adaptation the central tasks of the century. With the first Federal Climate Adaptation Act, we have created a new framework for systematic preparedness and adaptation in this legislative period. But the federal states, local authorities, companies, research and civil society are also called upon to contribute to climate adaptation as a joint undertaking. The nominated projects show the commitment and good ideas with which local stakeholders have already set out to make Germany climate-proof. This is how good climate adaptation can work!“
UBA Vice President Dr Lilian Busse: “The record number of applications for the federal “Blue Compass” award demonstrates that Germany already has many effective solutions for climate change adaptation and preparedness. The projects nominated this year are “best practices” and they address, for example, the social aspects of climate adaptation, focus on nature-based solutions and use the potential of digitalisation for a climate-resilient future. Such projects encourage imitation and show that adaptation to climate change can be remarkably successful.”
The aim of the competition is to present innovative, effective and sustainable solutions for adapting to the consequences of the climate crisis in Germany, such as heat, drought and heavy rain. The award comes with prize money totalling 25,000 euros for each of the five award-winning projects. The “Blue Compass” federal award is presented every two years and the competition will take place for the fifth time in 2024.
The applications submitted were evaluated in an initial selection process with the support of the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) and the non-profit consultancy co2online, which acts as the competition office. The evaluation was based on the six criteria of good practice in climate change adaptation: effectiveness, robustness, sustainability, financial viability, positive co-benefits and flexibility. From today, up to and including 18 June 2024, the 20 nominated projects will compete for the community award in a public online vote at www.umweltbundesamt.de/tatenbank. The project that receives the most votes there will be one of the five award-winning projects prior to and independent of the jury meeting and will win 25,000 euros. The nominees will therefore be delighted with every vote cast.
The remaining four projects to receive the award in the respective categories will be decided by a jury consisting of representatives from the municipal umbrella organisations and from the fields of business, research, volunteering and climate communication. The BMUV and UBA are represented on the jury by Parliamentary State Secretary Dr Bettina Hoffmann and UBA Vice-President Dr Lilian Busse.
All five award-winning projects will be honoured on 19 September 2024 during Climate Adaptation Week at an award ceremony at the Federal Environment Ministry in Berlin. In addition to the prize money, the winners will also receive a trophy and support with their nationwide press and public relations work. In addition, short films will be made about their projects.
The nominees for the federal “Blue Compass” award 2024
The following 20 outstanding projects and measures for climate change adaptation from 12 federal states have been nominated for the federal “Blue Compass” award and will be competing for the community award until 18 June 2024 at www.umweltbundesamt.de/tatenbank
Category 1: Municipalities
- Hesse: The town of Maintal, “More spaces for trees”, 63477 Maintal
- Saxony: City of Leipzig, Office for Urban Greenery and Irrigation, “Integrated Water Concept (InWako) for the City of Leipzig and the Neighbouring Region”, 04317 Leipzig
- Bavaria: City of Schwabach, “Digital twin as an (interdisciplinary) tool for climate adaptation measures”, 91126 Schwabach
- North Rhine-Westphalia: City of Dortmund, “Dynamic Heat Action Plan Dortmund”, 44122 Dortmund
- Lower Saxony: City of Göttingen and the city’s waste management company, “Gö goes green – heavy rain precautions Göttingen”, 37083 Göttingen
Category 2: Private and municipal companies
- Bavaria: Urban Lab, “What if...?”, 90461 Nuremberg
- Mecklenburg-West Pomerania: Die Meck-Schweizer GmbH, “Dialog-Acker” (field dialogue), 17139 Basedow
- Rhineland-Palatinate: inventied GmbH, “Innovation platform for authorities and organisations with security responsibilities”, 67806 Rockenhausen
- Lower Saxony: Heinz Ewald GmbH Bedachungen, “Intensive roof greening – retention roof as rainwater management”, 30459 Hanover
- Berlin: EPC Project Corporation Climate. Sustainability. Communications. mbH (non-profit), “CLIMATE.PROFIT NRW”, 10785 Berlin
Category 3: Research and educational institutions
- Hamburg: HafenCity University Hamburg, “BlueGreenStreets”, 20457 Hamburg
- North Rhine-Westphalia: Leibniz-Gymnasium Dormagen, “With IoT to a climate-proof city”, 41540 Dormagen
- Baden-Württemberg: University of Stuttgart / Technologie-Transfer-Initiative GmbH (HydroSKIN TGU), “HydroSKIN - Building façade elements against flooding and heat”, 70569 Stuttgart
- Baden-Württemberg: Heidelberg University of Education, UNESCO Chair of Earth Observation and Geocommunication, “Klim:S21 – The digital learning game for climate adaptation”, 69115 Heidelberg
- Baden-Württemberg: State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart, “U°CA – Shading Strategies for Urban Microclimate Adaptation”, 70191 Stuttgart
Category 4: Clubs, associations and foundations
- Berlin: Technology Foundation Berlin, “Quantified Trees (QTrees) – Intelligent Irrigation Prediction for Urban Trees”, 10825 Berlin
- Brandenburg: BÄR meets ADLER e. V. – Association for a Good Tomorrow in Berlin and Brandenburg, “Heat helpers in residential neighbourhoods”, 14776 Brandenburg an der Havel
- Schleswig-Holstein: WWF Germany, CAU Kiel, DHSV Eiderstedt, Schutzstation Wattenmeer e. V., TU Braunschweig, “Sand Coast St. Peter-Ording”, 25813 Husum
- Bavaria: Oskar Hacker Foundation, “DENK-MAL MIT ZUKUNFT - Climate-friendly upgrading of the listed Hohenstein Castle Park”, 80805 Munich
- Berlin: Workers’ Welfare Association, “Heat-resilient and health-promoting living and working conditions in inpatient care”, 10961 Berlin
Contact for images
Here you can find printable press photo.
“Blue Compass” competition office
co2online gGmbH
Hochkirchstr. 9
10829 Berlin
Germany
blauerkompass [at] uba [dot] de
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