Blauer Kompass contest

German Environment Agency honours four climate adaptation projects

photomontage with a landscape and the banner "Blauer Kompass - Anpassungspioniere gesucht"Click to enlarge
UBA's contest "Blauer Kompass" honours pioneers of adaptation to climate change.
Source: Lars Galwoschus / ecolo

A renatured river course as a climate corridor, neighbourhood management of adaptation measures, a training course in climate-resistant building, and greening activities with urban businesses: these are the winners of this year's contest for the best solutions in adaptation to climate change in Germany. The German Environment Agency (UBA) awards local and regional measures which mitigate the risks of climate change through its Blauer Kompass contest and slogan "Wanted: Pioneers of Adaptation".

UBA's President Maria Krautzberger said: "The winners of the contest have demonstrated quite impressively the possibilities which exist to adapt to the impact of climate change. All four projects involved key players in society." Climate change affects many aspects of life, including health care, agriculture, and energy supply. And this makes it imperative that all the relevant societal groups become involved. The Blauer Kompass jury judged the selected participatory processes and the chosen precautionary measures in all four winning projects to be deserving of special merit.

Heavy rainfall, hot spells etc – the projects "Future Cities – Grün-blauer Klimakorridor Kamen" in the city of Kamen, "Natur in graue Zonen" in Bonn and "KiezKlima“ in Berlin show how to mitigate the risks of extreme weather episodes. The city of Kamen renaturalised a river and residents decoupled their properties from the sewage system as a flood prevention measure which also improves their living environment. The "Natur in graue Zonen" initiative in Bonn unsealed and greened urban spaces in pilot projects which involved businesses from Duisburg, Erfurt and Wiesloch. The effect in this densely populated area is positive on the microclimate and for the conservation of biodiversity. Unsealed soil can absorb rainwater and helps to improve amenity value. The Brunnenviertel district in Berlin encourages residents to develop climate adaptation measures in their neighbourhoods. The Frankfurt-Rhein-Main region has a training scheme called "Klaro: Klimarobust Planen und Bauen“ which aims to raise awareness among the skilled trades target group and draw attention to adaptation requirements in the construction industry.

UBA conferred the award to the four Blauer Kompass winners on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the ⁠KomPass⁠ Competence Centre on Climate Impacts and Adaptation on 21 June 2016 at the German Environment Agency in Dessau-Roßlau. The winners were selected from among more than 52 project proposals. Each winner will receive a video clip about their project and a trophy from the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg which was designed by the university's students in a creative competition.

Umweltbundesamt Headquarters

Wörlitzer Platz 1
06844 Dessau-Roßlau
Germany

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 adaptation to climate change  climate adaptation