Press kit
Green Capital of Tomorrow – the next generation’s perspective
Press conference on 14.12.2011, Park Hyatt Hotel, Hamburg, 11:30 a.m.
Content
Press release on GCoT
Abstract of pan-European study
Student memorandum GCoT
Biographies of participants in the press conference
Press release
Green Capital of Tomorrow – the next generation’s perspective
Study: Environmentally-oriented urban development is the core
societal challenge from the perspective of the "next generation" in
Europe
For the future decision-making generation in Europe, sustainability, environmental and
climate protection are the most important factors for achieving a sustainable urban
development. This is the result of a new representative, pan-European study. For most
cities further efforts are required and demanded in this area. The individual citizen is
viewed as the most important driver for the corresponding developments. Thus,
individuals have a duty to contribute by changing their own behaviour. Regional
governments together with the press/media are viewed as additional important societal
forces. Potential topics with regard to the production of energy and its consumption, for
instance in switching off nuclear power plants and energy efficiency, tend to play a
subordinate role.
Hamburg, 14.12.2011 – Around 1,100 students from nine European countries were
questioned as "The Next Generation" within the context of the international study
"Green Capital of Tomorrow – the next generation's perspective" on the perspectives of
sustainability, environmental and climate protection in their city. The project was initiated
by Siemens, realised by the Competence Centre for Renewable Energies and
EnergyEfficiency (CC4E) of the University of Applied Sciences HAW Hamburg and
supported by the City of Hamburg within the context of the Green Capital 2011. Two
students were selected from each country who were then involved in the project and
discussed the results of the study in a colloquium on 13 December in Hamburg, and
who also drafted a memorandum on sustainable urban development. The countries are
Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Spain, France, Poland and Belgium,
inspired by the successful Green Capital project "Train of Ideas", which called at the
cities in these countries.
The most important results of the study:
1. High interest and involvement in the environment
72 percent of all respondents are interested or very interested in environmental
topics, 27 percent are actively involved in concrete projects, in their education and
for instance through resource-conserving behaviour. Hamburg students, with 78
percent, have above-average interest. Simultaneously, with 72 percent the students
feel good or very good about their city, so they are very much integrated. In
Hamburg it's actually 88 percent, the second highest value behind Zurich.
2. Sustainability, environmental and climate protection is the most significant
socio-political challenge
Even before the fight against the financial crisis, which 65 percent of respondents
assessed as a very significant challenge, ranking number 1 is sustainability,
environmental and climate protection with 71 percent (very significant),
followed by the improvement of the education system (60 percent), the fight against
unemployment and improvement of family poverty. 57 percent of respondents feel
the struggle against family poverty is very significant, in Hamburg this is even
reported by 60 percent. The improvement of social justice is also viewed by 49
percent as very significant across cities – equally in Hamburg. In Hamburg 79
percent think environmental and climate protection are especially important, this
value is exceeded only by Trondheim and Barcelona (82 resp. 81 percent). Only 40
percent think switching off nuclear power plants is very significant – here Hamburg
ranks 1st place with 58 percent, Paris (23 percent) and Warsaw (21 percent) in the
last places. This result reflects the varying assessment of nuclear risks in the cities
of Europe.
3. Sustainable urban development of central relevance – securing resources and
expansion of renewable energies as most important fields of action
83 percent of respondents consider the sustainability developments in their own city
significant or very significant; however improved communication is needed and
demanded. 10 percent see themselves as well informed or 25 percent informed,
while 60 percent are only partially or not very informed about the challenges and
activities of their city – in Hamburg 39 percent see themselves as well or very well
informed. On the top spots when it comes to the significance of individual fields of
action from a total of 13 for sustainability and climate protection are the conservation
of resources with 57 percent, the expansion of renewable energies with 55 percent
and waste management/recycling (50 percent).
New mobility concepts and the inclusion of sustainability concepts in education
follow with 45 percent each. Energy efficiency, despite its de facto great potential for
climate protection, is assessed as very significant "only" by 43 percent. That social
justice for sustainability development would be especially important was expressed
by 33 percent, in Hamburg 35 percent. Overall, however, the "next generation"
would like to see progress in all fields of action. In Hamburg, above all the expansion
of renewable energies (58 percent) and transport concepts (50 percent), as well as
sustainability education (51 percent) are assessed above average.
4. Mixed evaluation of the chances for their own city in developing into the
"Green Capital of Tomorrow"
Only 13 percent see very good, 43 percent see good changes and prospects for the
own city to develop sustainability. 45 percent judge that their city has less good or
only partially good prospects. From the perspective of the students, Hamburg
displays the best prospects: 67 percent see good or very good chances. In total, 72
percent of respondents want their city to strengthen its efforts in sustainability.
5. Generation of acceptance and sense of responsibility among the individual
citizens
In the question of which tasks mark the path to the "Green Capital of Tomorrow", 79
percent see the most important task being that of individual citizens assuming
responsibility and changing their behaviour. This aspect is most strongly pronounced
in Hamburg with 88 percent. The European thought is especially emphasised by
respondents regarding the task of exchanging knowledge about solutions throughout
Europe (78 percent agreement, in Hamburg: 86 percent). Clear communication and
transparency of goals and strategies of sustainability are also required to generate
acceptance and a willingness to act (71 percent, in Hamburg: 79 percent).
6. The success of sustainability development depends on the cooperation of all
societal forces
National governments (80 percent) receive especially high valuations for the issue of
what significance individual societal forces have to success, with the media sector
(79 percent) ranking higher than the municipal authorities (71 percent) and the
European government (69 percent). Successful development into a sustainable city
is viewed as a local (14 percent), national (15 percent) or Europe-wide task (24
percent), or belonging to all jointly (47 percent).
Professor Dr. Werner Beba, Head of the CC4E and responsible for the study
summarises: "For the 'Next Generation' the significance of an environmental orientation
and sustainability is clearly anchored as an essential task of the future. The study also
shows that in the most important areas there is a cross-city common understanding.
Nonetheless, the previous efforts on the path to a sustainable city must clearly be
reinforced." As for Hamburg's showing, he comments: "At the close of its Green Capital
Year, the results for Hamburg are encouraging: When it comes to interest in the
environment, significance of sustainability and resource protection, but also with regard
to its prospects as a Green Capital of Tomorrow, Hamburg achieves acceptable
values."
In follow-up to the study, 22 students from the nine European countries that had
participated in the study met up. Upon the invitation of Siemens AG and under the
direction of HAW Hamburg, they discussed the results of the study within the context of
a colloquium and formulated a joint memorandum. The following points have the highest
pan-European relevance for the "next generation":
-
In addition to an increased expansion of bicycle and footpath networks, cities
should demand that each of their citizens take considerably more responsibility
themselves when it comes to sustainability.
-
Part of a really sustainable urban development, besides technical aspects, is
the social balance, including the fight against poverty.
-
Cities have to formulate clear goals for sustainability and be on the offensive
when communicating them to their citizens. Only in this way can acceptance and
changes in awareness be achieved.
-
Local sustainability goals should correspond with national goals: acting locally
while thinking globally.
Dr. Dorothee Stapelfeldt, Senator for Science and Research and Deputy Mayor: "I
congratulate the students and the HAW on this successful study "Green Capital of
Tomorrow – the next generation's perspective" and thank Siemens AG for their support
of this project.
This pan-European study is an excellent example for the knowledge-based metropolis
of Hamburg and a witness to the international character of our science and research
location. The basic idea and basic requirement of the EU for the "European Green
Capital" is also the exchange of ideas in Europe. Promoting this is of enormous
importance and is being implemented by the study in an exemplary manner. Its results
prove that the project "Green Capital" is successful. What is especially valuable here is
that students – The Next Generation / Young Influencers – themselves were the drivers
of the study. They demonstrate what sustainability and consequence in matters of
environmental protection have to look like – creatively, positively, actively. They are the
decision-makers of tomorrow and even now the shapers of today."
"The megatrend of urbanising is a challenge for Siemens, to which we have consciously
geared our business policy for some time now. For me, therefore, it was particularly
exciting to find out how the decision-maker generation of tomorrow, who will also be the
customers of tomorrow, view the topic of sustainable urban development," Michael
Westhagemann, CEO of the region Germany North of Siemens AG, commented on the
study. "And even if the European tour of the 'Train of Ideas' of the Green Capital 2011
has shown how similar the challenges throughout Europe are, the results of this study
have still made clear to us that we still have quite a long path ahead of us to reach
sustainability and effective climate protection – a path that we as an infrastructure
company of course will help shape."
Further details on the study are available online at www.haw-hamburg.de.
An extra page on the topic can also be found on the homepage of Siemens AG at
www.siemens.com/presse/trainofideas and/or www.siemens.com/presse/zugderideen
(German) as well as in English at www.siemens.com/press/trainofideas.
Contact:
Siemens AG
Siemens Germany
Communications
Region North
Lindenplatz 2
20099 Hamburg, Germany
Phone: +49 40 2889-2309
lars.klaeschen@siemens.com
HAW Hamburg
Press and communication
Berliner Tor 5
20099 Hamburg, Germany
Dr. Katharina Ceyp-Jeorgakopulos
Phone: +49.40.428 75-9132
katharina.ceyp-jeorgakopulos@haw-hamburg.de
Study abstract
"Green Capital of Tomorrow – the next generation’s perspective"
Representative study conducted October/November 2011 among 1,100 students from Belgium,
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, France, Spain and Norway.
Academic leadership: Competence Centre for Renewable Energies and EnergyEfficiency
(CC4E) of the HAW Hamburg under the direction of Prof. Dr. Werner Beba
The most important results:
1. High interest and involvement in the environment
72 percent of all respondents are interested or very interested in environmental topics,
27 percent are actively involved in concrete projects, in their education and for instance
through resource-conserving behaviour.
2. Sustainability, environmental and climate protection is the most significant sociopolitical challenge
Even before the fight against the financial crisis, which 65 percent of respondents
assessed as a very significant challenge, rank 1 is sustainability, environmental and
climate protection with 71 percent (very significant),
followed by the improvement of the education system (60 percent), the fight against
unemployment, alleviation of family poverty as well as social justice.
Only 40 percent think switching off nuclear power plants is very significant – here
Hamburg ranks 1st place with 58 percent, Paris (23 percent) and Warsaw (21 percent) in
the last places. This result reflects the varying assessment of nuclear risks in the cities of
Europe.
3. Sustainable urban development of central relevance – securing resources and
expansion of renewable energies as most important fields of action
83 percent of respondents consider the sustainability developments in their own city
significant or very significant, however improved communication is needed and called
for. 10 percent see themselves as well informed or 25 percent informed, while 60
percent are only partially or not very informed about the challenges and activities of their
city – in Hamburg 39 percent see themselves as well or very well informed.
On the top spots when it comes to the significance of individual fields of action from a
total of 13 for sustainability and climate protection are the conservation of resources with
57 percent, the expansion of renewable energies with 55 percent and waste
management/recycling (50 percent).
Energy efficiency, despite its de facto great potential for climate protection, is assessed
as very significant "only" by 43 percent.
4. Mixed evaluation of the chances for their own city in developing into the "Green
Capital of Tomorrow"
Only 13 percent see very good, 43 percent see good changes and prospects for the own
city to develop sustainability. From the perspective of the students, Hamburg displays
the best prospects: 67 percent see good or very good chances. In total, 72 percent of
respondents want their city to strengthen its efforts in sustainability.
5. Generation of acceptance and sense of responsibility among the citizens
In the question of which tasks mark the path to the "Green Capital of Tomorrow", 79
percent see the most important task being that of individual citizens assuming
responsibility and changing their behaviour. This aspect is most strongly pronounced in
Hamburg with 88 percent.
The European thought is especially emphasised by respondents regarding the task of
exchanging knowledge about solutions throughout Europe (78 percent agreement, in
Hamburg: 86 percent). Clear communication and transparency of goals and strategies of
sustainability are also required to generate acceptance and a willingness to act (71
percent, in Hamburg: 79 percent).
The success of sustainability development depends on the cooperation of all societal
forces
When it comes to the significance that individual societal forces have to success, the national
government (80 percent) receives especially high valuations for the issue of what, with the
media sector (79 percent) ranking higher than the municipal authorities (71 percent) and the
European government (69 percent). Successful development into a sustainable city is viewed as
a local (14 percent), national (15 percent) or Europe-wide task (24 percent), or belonging to all
jointly (47 percent).
Memorandum of European students on the “Green Capital of Tomorrow”
Hamburg, December 14, 2011
1.
Urban development (City of short paths)
a. Urban development has to support smart infrastructure concepts.
i. Traffic reduction through walking and cycling
ii. Construction of smart buildings
2.
Public transportation and mobility
a. A city´s public transportation system has to be convenient and attractive to ensure people
choose it instead of personal transportation.
i. It would have an effect on the sustainable behaviour of the citizens.
3.
Preservation of resources
a. To ensure the preservation of resources, incentives must be established to optimize closed
cycles.
4.
Energy
a. The city of the future needs integrated and linked concepts for energy efficiency and
renewable energies.
i. Create good examples to enhance further initiatives.
ii. To be convincing, renewable energies need to be reliable, efficient and proven to be
a long-term solution.
5.
Education
a. Sustainability has to be an important part of education: from elementary school to
university, and all other educational institutions.
6.
Responsibility for sustainable development
a. The city should demand more responsibility from its citizens and all components of society.
b. Drivers for the success of sustainability are all components of society: responsibility in terms
of individual as well as collective actions.
7.
Social justice
a. The city should reduce poverty and therefore enable everybody to live sustainably.
b. The sustainable development of cities has to include fair and social aspects.
i. Participation by all social classes/stakeholders
8.
Communication and information
a. The city has to communicate clear goals and strategies:
i. Furnish various tools on how to set up local sustainability projects that aid global
sustainability. Think globally - act locally.
ii. The citizens should gain the knowledge for how and the reason for why they should
live sustainably and have the motivation to change behaviour.
Brief biographies of the participants in the press conference
Dr. Dorothee Stapelfeldt
Dr. Dorothee Stapelfeldt (55) grew up in Herzogtum-Lauenburg district. She studied art
history, German literary studies and social and economic history at the University of
Hamburg. Dr. Stapelfeldt has a doctorate in art history. From 1986 to 2011 she was a
member of the Hamburg Parliament. Dr. Dorothee Stapelfeldt has been politically active
for thirty years in matters of science, including as Chair of ASTA, Deputy of the Authority
for Science and Research and numerous times as specialist spokesperson for Science
and Research of the SPD parliamentary party, including from 2008 to 2011. She has
been Deputy Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg since 23 March 2011
and Senator of the Authority for Science and Research.
Michael Westhagemann
Michael Westhagemann, born in 1957, studied information technology after an
apprenticeship to the position of high voltage electrician. After a period with a German
computer manufacturer, he moved to Siemens in 1991. There he assumed various
management functions both in Germany and abroad for Sales and Marketing of the
telecommunications branch of Siemens AG, above all in Asia, in the Middle East and in
Africa. In 2004 he assumed the management of the sales and service business of
Siemens Germany in the North Region. This region comprises the branches in
Braunschweig, Bremen, Bielefeld, Hamburg, Hannover, Kassel, Kiel and Rostock.
Prof. Werner Beba, Hamburg
Dr. Werner Beba is Professor for Marketing at the University for Applied Sciences,
HAW, in Hamburg. He studied commercial and organisational law at the University of
the German Armed Forces in Hamburg. After attaining his doctorate, Dr. Beba joined
the publishing house Verlag Gruner + Jahr in 1992. There he held various management
positions until 2008, including the house management of STERN.
In 2008 Dr. Beba accepted a call as Professor of Marketing at HAW and moved from
the business world to that of academia. In addition to his work as Professor of
Marketing, Prof. Beba is strongly involved in the area of renewable energies. He is head
of the Competence Centre for Renewable Energies and EnergyEfficiency and Chairman
of the Supervisory Board of UMa AG, Umwelt und Management AG, a company in the
area of wind energy. Furthermore, Prof. Beba is an author of various international
comparative studies on the topics of renewable energies and sustainability.
Beda Büchel, Switzerland
ETH Zurich, 3rd semester study course in civil engineering
"The green optimization of a city is a fascinating, unending task. As a civil engineering
student I wish to contribute to the search for sustainable solutions and to their
implementation."
Sebastian Jeulin, France
University of Technology of Compiègne, 9th semester in urban planning and sustainable
development
“The Green Capital of Tomorrow topic means two thing to me: "Firstly, talking about and
discussing this topic now is the best way to prepare for the future and it's really
important to involve the youth in these discussions. Secondly, future urban development
will have to take in account all fields of sustainable development; obviously that means
ecology, but also smarter urban planning and stronger social considerations."
Felix Kalkowsky, Germany
HafenCity University of Hamburg, 11th semester in urban planning
"For me the Green Capital of Tomorrow means implementing the good ideas that we as
the "next generation" already have today and to develop them further. But it's important
to understand that sustainability is not an end goal in itself, but rather a continuous
process."