The winners of the competition "forward-thinking change – act now: adaptation pioneers wanted!" have been chosen. The public award presentation will take place on 12 December 2011 in Bonn, Germany. The competition was launched by the Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Ministry for the Environment in cooperation with Ecologic Institute. The purpose was to identify good practice examples of climate change adaptation at local and regional levels.
A jury of representatives from politics, administration, science, business, and non-governmental organizations chose four winners from among the 59 entries received. The awards are being presented as a part of the "Communal Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change" conference that will be held 12 and 13 December 2011 at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in Bonn. The honorific speech will be given by Dr. Thomas Holzmann, Vice President of the Federal Environment Agency. Furthermore, the program includes short film presentations and an evening reception opened by Dr. Helge Wendenburg, head of the BMU Directorate-General for Water Management, Waste Management and Soil Conservation. The program of the conference and award ceremony as well as the registration information can be found here.
The competition was also closely tied to the KomPass database for climate change adaptation measures developed by Ecologic Institute on behalf of the Competence Centre on Climate Impacts and Adaptation (KomPass) of the German Federal Environment Agency. The online database documents good ideas that either already have been or currently are being implemented to adapt to climate change. Those from communal and regional administrations, businesses, or other organizations who are implementing adaptation measures can enter these into the database and also learn about others' adaptation activities.
In connection with the award ceremony, a brochure produced by Ecologic Institute and KomPass will also be released. Under the title "The climate is changing – what can we do? Examples of adaptation on the ground," the award winners and other selected adaptation measures will be presented along with other useful adaptation-related information.
Further Links:
- Information on the award ceremony, the winners and the jury of the competition [German]
- Ecologic Institute Publication: Das Klima ändert sich – Was können wir tun? Beispiele der Anpassung vor Ort
- "Municipal Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change" conference
- KomPass database for climate change adaptation measures
- Ecologic Institute Project: Analysis of adaptation projects
- Ecologic Institute News: Competition: Adaptation pioneers wanted!