How can energy and water suppliers get involved in climate and water protection? The Badenova Innovation Fund in Freiburg can serve as a point of reference for new topics relating to climate and water protection in a region.
Badenova’s climate and water protection innovation fund has the goal of giving a financial boost to new projects for more environmental protection. Since it was launched in 2001, the innovation fund has invested well over 30 million euros in over 300 environmental projects. The innovative power of the projects was and is always the focus, not primarily the question of the revenue that can be generated with it in the future. The fund is financed by a three percent levy from the profit distributions from badenova to its more than 90 owner municipalities. This makes the fund unique in the German energy industry. Applications for new project ideas are expressly encouraged!” (Source: Badenova News)
In a conversation with Michael Artmann from badenova Innovationsfonds (in the center of the image) we want to find out more about the fund and its goals. For more than 20 years now, badenova has been calling for innovations and new projects relating to climate and water protection to be submitted. A committee of 10 experts evaluates the submitted applications and recommends a selection of them for funding – the final decision is then made by the municipal advisory board and the Badenova supervisory board. The approved projects receive up to 150,000 euros in funding for their implementation, in the future even up to 250,000 euros are possible.
From 2023 the conditions for the innovation fund will be changed. Beginning with 01.03. there will be 2 application deadlines per year to give applicants more frequent opportunities to submit and to shorten the waiting periods. Many of the submitted and funded projects revolve around agricultural solutions or industrial applications and have a regional focus. The field of environmental education also plays an important role for the innovation fund.
According to the statutes, all projects are also obliged to integrate public relations work in order to raise awareness of the solutions presented there (and their underlying problems). The accompanying public relations work is intended to stimulate scaling effects and opportunities for replication – an important principle for Badenova as the initiator of the innovation fund.
Says Michael Artmann: “Of course, scalability is always the best thing – multiplying good solutions quickly promotes climate protection, but unfortunately it’s not always that easy to implement.”
Examples of projects that are or have already been funded are, for example, the greening of an entire facade of an industrial hall (via GreenCityWall – a module that can be planned in a row and which can be planted from all sides as required) – the idea is to to develop green facades as a compensatory measure for the sealing of the area happening by large halls in industrial areas, and as a solution for an environmentally friendly and natural protection against WIND – NOISE – VIEW.
The many advantages of green walls are obvious: more biodiversity, channeling and use of rainwater, compensation for sealed surfaces, etc. The Freiburg-based company Flor Design is a leading specialist for green walls and roofs in Germany.
Another project that the company has already completed is the Green City Tower – Black F Tower in the centrally located freight depot station area of Freiburg. The Black F Tower for temporary living – serviced apartments – was only recently opened. According to the company’s own press release, it is advertised as:
“EXPERIENCE NATURE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY. The new Black F Tower combines temporary living with a sustainable and conscious travel style. With a height of 52 meters, the tower not only stands out because of its size, but also because of its green facade. More than 50,000 evergreen plants such as lavender, rosemary, forest ferns and sage make a positive contribution to the indoor climate and to the entire Freiburg city climate. Extensive green roofing can also be found on the roof terrace of the Green City Tower, the development of which took more than three years. Four bee colonies on the terrace on the 16th floor promote the diversity of plants and insects around the freight depot and produce their own Black F honey.”
Coming back to the badenova innovation fund: Another flagship project among the funded measures is the “Climax Parcours”, which is already serving as an example for other municipalities to imitate: In the Breisgau industrial park, the course planned by the Innovation Academy will present examples of climate adaptation measures.
The Innovation Academy organizes many interesting guided tours on environmental issues in the urban design of Freiburg.
Sustainable and regenerative agriculture, which is both soil- and climate-friendly, is too cost-intensive for many farmers and can hardly be operated cost-effectively with the pure proceeds from the products. However, there is a starting point here that offers a lot of potential, since soils represent the largest carbon reservoir in the world and are therefore an excellent CO2 sink, and healthy soils are an important water reservoir. To preserve and use this good, in connection with the establishment of a certificate trade for humus formation, an effective contribution against climate change should be implemented. Companies and citizens can motivate and support farmers in building up humus by purchasing CO2 certificates and thus jointly promote climate protection. For this purpose, a regionally adapted catalog of measures is to be developed for the humus build-up and a voluntary regional CO2 certificate trade established. You can find out more about storing CO2 in the ground on the CO2-Land website.
The innovation fund is generally not a partner of the projects, but badenova can enter into project partnerships.
The innovation fund model is unique – it relates to regional support and the funding can therefore only be provided in the region. The city of Stuttgart recently launched a similar construct.
Are there enough new ideas that are submitted every year?
“Yes, we receive applications from new actors every year and we are always surprised at how diverse climate and water protection can be thought of.” (Michael Artmann)
Before the pandemic hit, a network was created between the projects via an “innovation workshop” in order to exchange experiences with other applicants. The aim of a series of events was to give ideas space to discuss, think further, network and let them grow and to discuss current and future-oriented issues in the region in joint workshops and to discuss their funding opportunities.
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Freiburg CVB shares content about water-related research, organizations, initiatives in their Green City with the meetings’ industry. The goal is to bring water and SDG 6 related action into the awareness of business events’ planners, as an innovative approach for meeting organizers to think in systems and to learn how to connect important sustainable development goals (like SDG for water) with the planning of meetings and events.
The global meetings industry has a strong voice and can use it to close gaps between awareness and action, impact and purpose can be achieved through events. To directly intervene in the development of an SDG like No 6 through behaviour change, new on-site programs, governance, legacy, and demonstration of change across all sectors, is a practical step into sustainability for any conference. Use “Water” as your anchor to demonstrate engagement.
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If you plan a conference and want to discuss water (or other) legacy concepts, contact:
Christina Fritsch, Project Head Freiburg Convention Bureau / MICE / Netzwerk
Tel.: +49 761 3881-15 25 • Mobil: +49 151 22 507 198 • Christina.Fritsch@fwtm.de
https://meeting.freiburg.de/
See you in Freiburg! https://youtu.be/pO7t6P8AQM8
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More Ideas and Inspiration for ESG / CSR applications for Corporate & Association conferences
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Johanna Fischer, ecomice /FrauBlau SDG 6 practical measures for climate adaptation in the city of Freiburg
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