Wolfgang Gebing, Mayor of Kleve, expressed his delight that evening at the diversity of the projects submitted: “They encompass environmental, economic and social ideas. The city of Kleve is pursuing a municipal sustainability strategy and has thus firmly established this issue. Through our activities and objectives, such as civic engagement, we are now setting the course for a decade of sustainability,’ said Gebing, who is also a member of the ‘Klever Birne’ jury.
HSRW Vice-President Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Kisters also praised civic engagement and emphasised: “Despite the seriousness and urgency of sustainability issues – ranging from waste reduction and recycling to electricity from renewable sources and environmental education – getting involved or facilitating social participation should not only be of regional significance, but must also be enjoyable. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel; it’s perfectly fine to take inspiration from others and follow their example. And whilst we are selecting the best ideas today, all the projects are winners because they improve the region and the town of Kleve and have the potential to bring about change,” said Kisters.
In the evening, the jury awarded two first prizes (each worth 1,250 euros) and two second prizes (each worth 500 euros): the Climate Café, set up by residents of the town of Kleve, was recognised as one of the two best ideas. The mobile Kleve Climate Café raises awareness of sustainability by moving to different locations and organising interactive activities for all Kleve residents. It is a place of warmth, sustainable education and community.
The Klapheckenhof community garden also took first place. In 2023, on the grounds of the Klapheckenhof at SOS Children’s Villages Lower Rhine, the SOS Neighbourhood Management team launched a community garden aimed at introducing all interested residents of the Lower Town district in Kleve to the concept of permaculture.
Second place went to the Johanna Sebus Primary School in Rindern for its project ‘Sustainable Education in the Field’: teachers, parents and pupils plant, tend, harvest and sell produce from the school garden. This initiative helps to raise awareness about food whilst fostering social skills and a sense of responsibility.
Another second prize was awarded to the ‘Marktgarine’ project. Isabelle Decker, a student on the HSRW’s Sustainable Agriculture programme, aims to launch a residential and cultural project in the former margarine factory: featuring a sustainable market hall where people can exchange ideas and try out new concepts for the future.
The People’s Choice Award went to the biogas project by Futurelab-Engineering U.G. and other HSRW students. This project focuses on developing a new climate-neutral heating technology for non-urban areas in line with the Building Energy Act 2024. An initial prototype has already been developed as part of a Master’s thesis; the focus is now on determining the specific dimensions of the system in terms of size and performance.
Dr Barbara Hendricks, former Federal Minister for the Environment and also a member of the ‘Klever Birne’ jury, was delighted by the diversity of the teams: “There were some very convincing ideas on display. For some, however, putting these ideas into practice still poses a major challenge. Nevertheless, I am very pleased that the university wishes to stay in touch not only with the winners but with everyone involved, in order to show them opportunities to further develop their ideas,” Hendricks emphasised.
HSRW Vice-President Peter Kisters agreed with her and emphasised that he was pleased “if we have set off a small wave here, which we would like to continue.”
The jury comprised the following members (in alphabetical order):
• Maike Böhm, Climate Protection Manager, City of
Kevelaer• Claudia Dercks, Managing Director, Stadtwerke
Kleve• Wolfgang Gebing, Mayor of
Kleve• Dr Barbara Hendricks, SPD Member
of the Bundestag • Lisa Henke, Fridays for
Future• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Kisters, Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Knowledge
Transfer• Nicole Malerba, Kleve
Business and Tourism • Thomas Ruffmann, Haus Mifgash
Association • Peter Schönrock, Managing Director of SOS Children’s Villages
In addition to the presentations on the participating projects, there were two keynote speeches at the start of the event: one by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Ressel on the university project “CasPar” (innovative technical assistance systems) and one by Philip Weykamp, founder of the Kleve-based start-ups fairnergy and Greentrax.
About the ‘Klever Birne’ and TransRegINT
The project partners, the City of Kleve and Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, are committed to sustainability as a form of ecological, social and economic action and will be awarding a sustainability prize in Kleve for the first time in 2023. The ‘Klever Birne’ Sustainability Award aims to raise awareness of sustainability goals at global and local levels, the ‘TransRegINT – Transformation of the Lower Rhine Region – Innovation, Sustainability, Participation’, run by Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, as well as the City of Kleve’s local sustainability measures, and to work with the people of Kleve to develop new ideas for sustainable initiatives.
