Acknowledged on March 28, 2008

 

Geographic scope
The RCE operates in Hamburg and its surrounding area which includes the cities of Lüneburg and Lübeck.

 

Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany, is a city of 1.7 million inhabitants. It is a prominent economic and cultural metropolis of northern Germany and has a high standard of living. The region has both urban and rural areas, and lies close to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

 

Regional challenges

• The best utilisation of space and availability of green areas, as well as spatial coherence and diversity of land use are crucial for urban and regional development. To make the city a pleasant place to live and work in, and to ensure that the surrounding rural areas are connected to the city, Hamburg tries to ensure that not only is land inside the city's borders used for housing and industry, but that there are sufficient green areas for recreation and for nature to thrive.
• Hamburg is a city with a sizeable immigrant population and a polarity between the urban and the rural area. The ability of citizens to identify with their region is essential for harmonious interactions in the community and for people to get involved in the sustainable development of their environment.
• Hamburg is still dependent on nuclear power and imported energy resources. Sustainable use of energy, which implies saving energy and using renewable sources, have to be promoted together with adaptation to climate change. This is a significant challenge for the city.
• Floods are anticipated as a potential effect of climate change caused by rising sea levels and increasing storms. The river Elbe, connected to the nearby North Sea, flows through this RCE's region. Flood prevention, as well as the ability to adapt to the consequences of flooding is therefore seen as a major issue for the area.

These challenges demand a comprehensive approach that should be supported by ESD actions in the region.

 

Goals and objectives of the RCE
The main goal of the RCE is to stimulate people, both education professionals and interested individuals, as part of the lifelong learning process to create a sustainable society.

In particular, the RCE aims to:

• Make people aware about the responsible use of resources, for instance in construction, tourism or at home.
• Alert individuals on how their behaviour contributes to climate change.
  
• Embed sustainability issues in the curriculum, teaching the meaning of sustainable development, and stimulating behaviours that can become the norm outside classrooms.

 

The RCE strives to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. It is planned that the RCE in Hamburg and its neighbouring regions will serve as a central network to support regional ESD efforts.

 

RCE news and activities
RCE Hamburg focuses on networking and cooperation, development and delivery of training, interaction with established education structures and the promotion of ESD as the key to a sustainable future.

 

The RCE offers new learning materials, whose content focuses on issues such as renewable energy and the impact of climate change, for use outside the classroom. These materials aim at helping students make changes in their daily lives. Teachers, lecturers, trainers and all involved in passing on learning are trained according to their new responsibility in teaching ESD.
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The RCE also teaches students about the benefits of energy saving building, and provide them with the practical skills to do so.
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The RCE highlights behaviours that need to be adopted to make sustainable development possible.
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The Hamburg Institute of Applied Sciences, which is the lead organisation of the RCE, has created the International Climate Change Information Programme (ICCIP) to disseminate the latest findings from scientific research on climate change, to undertake education, communication and awareness-raising projects, and for the networking of experts.
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The RCE hosted the 3^rd European Fair on ESD during October 28-30 2009. About 270 participants from 18 countries came together in Hamburg to take part in the event which focused on renewable energy and climate change. Thematic challenges to European schools and universities were highlighted; numerous presentations dealt with strategic issues in reviewing ESD today; and all these together with display material showcased various research and practical perspectives. The event closed with a special session for European RCEs to discuss ESD strategies and thematic approaches.

 

A few members of the RCE network
The RCE is officially represented by the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, which acts as the Chair, and Ausbildungszentrum-Bau, the vocational training centre for the main trades of the construction industry, which assists in coordination.

 

Other members of the RCE network include:

• Arbeitsgemeinschaft für zeitgemäßes Bauen e.V., the working group for modern construction in Schleswig-Holstein
• Bau-Innung Hamburg (Hamburg Guild of Crafts)
• Bauindustrieverband Hamburg e.V. (Hamburg Construction Industry Association)
• Bundesdeutscher Arbeitskreis für Umweltbewusstes Management e.V. (B.A.U.M. e.V.; Federal German labour group for environmental friendly management)
• Institute for Applied Building Technology of the Hamburg University of Technology
  
• Institute for Vocational and Economic Education Sciences (IBW) of the University of Hamburg
  
• Institute for Vocational and Further Educa­tion at Helmut-Schmidt-University
• The Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communica­tion (INFU) of LEUPHANA University in Lüneburg
  
• Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
  
• RCE Initiative Lübeck Bay
  
• Vocational School for Construction (G19), an educational institution that teaches energy saving technology for the building sector
  
• Future Council Hamburg, a network of players in the field of sustainable developmen

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For more information contact

Walter Leal
Head of the Research and Transfer Centre
Applications of Life Sciences
Lohbrügger Kirchstraße 65, 21033 Hamburg
Germany
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Jens Schwarz
Coordinator - RCE Hamburg
Schwarzer Weg 3, 22309 Hamburg
Germany
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