Freiburg Green City - Solutions for sustainability
The City of Freiburg, located in the southwest of Germany, may justly refer to itself as a birthplace of the green movement. "Freiburg Green City" not only ranks high in Germany when it comes to the utilisation and funding of alternative energy sources in urban planning, but also in promoting local public transport and bicycle infrastructure.
The "Green City" label of Freiburg represents a combination of many ideals which compliment each other, and forms a solid and unified communal environmental and climate protection policy. As a "Green City" Freiburg has become a model for cities and communities across the globe. This recognition motivates us, to develop new ideas and work harder towards achieving our goals.
Dr. Dieter Salomon, Mayor of the City of Freiburg
The city is also a national leader in terms of job creation, economic growth and the number of overnight stays, which exceeded one million in 2008.
An early focus upon environmental sustainability, photovoltaics and various biotechnologies, has given the City decisive advantages amidst a competitive international environment. Today, more than 10,000 people are employed in the environmental and solar industries alone. Freiburg's solar economics and research network includes a number of prestigious research institutes, including the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, which is the largest solar research institute in Europe, and the Freiburg University Center for Renewable Energy. Private enterprise is also represented by companies such as the Solar-Fabrik AG, SolarMarkt AG, Concentrix Solar GmbH, RHENA GmbH and Solarstrom AG, which are served by a wide network of suppliers and service providers. Freiburg is also home to the Solar Info Center Freiburg.
These achievements have been facilitated by the unique "Freiburg mix," a long time alliance of political decision-makers of the city, pro-active strategies of the regional power company Badenova, involvement on numerous business, skilled tademen, institutions, organisations and associations, and above all, commitment of the local citizens.
Dr. Bernd Dallmann, Chief Executive Officer of Freiburg Marketing and Management International
Freiburg is the host city and organiser of numerous international industrial trade shows and symposia, such as INTERSOLAR Europe and North America, as well as the Local Renewables conference, the Solar Summits and the Building-Power-Technology show.
Intersolar Europe, the leading international trade show for solar technology now held in Munich, was hosted for eight successful years at Messe Freiburg. Intersolar has become undisputedly the world´s largest and most significant solar energy trade show.
The city of Freiburg and its trade show company "Freiburg Management und Marketing GmbH (FMMI)" are therefore delighted that, with Intersolar, they are able to present the expertise and development potential of the solar industry in California - the leading American centre of research and development in the field of renewable energies.
Klaus W. Seilnacht, Chief Executive Officer of Freiburg Marketing and Management International
Since the publishing of the UN climate reports and the G8 summit in 2007, climate protection and sustainability have been top of the agenda throughout the world. In this context, Freiburg is also receiving increasing amounts of attention. More and more politicians, journalists and trade visitors from all over the world come to Freiburg to find out more about what is now seen as an example of sustainable and ecological urban development. The label "Freiburg Green City" is an indication of the exemplary implementation of climate protection and sustainability and has become a model for many communities throughout the world.
www.freiburg.de/greencity