The effects of climate change, such as ocean warming or the lowering of pH values, could lead to a reduction or migration of fishing stocks during the next 15 to 20 years, due to possible changes in the swarming and spawning behavior of the stocks. The bulk of the deep-freeze raw goods for the German fishing industry currently comes from countries which are not members of the EU. In the future, therefore, a more effective management of available resources and a stock-maintaining management of fish species for the supply of the market will be necessary.
The Protestant Hospital Service GmbH (eks) was founded in 1997. The catering service of the KS includes not only the delivery to hospitals, rehabilitation centers and senior citizens facilities, but also catering services for factory canteens, kindergartens and schools. The EKS has a total of 250 staff and prepares approximately 3500 meals per day in the cook-and-chill procedure. This permits it to de-link food preparation and food distribution, both spatially and chronologically. As a result of climate change, the availability and unquestioned quality of raw materials is ever more difficult to ensure. For these reasons, the KS is supplemented the existing concept of out-of-home catering with a new line of organically and regionally produced products.
Based on concepts for innovation processes and co-production of knowledge, approaches are investigated that address the urgent and complex problems related to climate change, because especially the participation of, and close collaboration with, practice partners is needed. The paper presents the agricultural knowledge management approach in the organic agriculture module of the R&D project INKA BB (Innovation Network for Climate Change Adaptation Brandenburg Berlin) in north-eastern Germany (Knierim et al. 2009). The methodology for the science-practice collaboration follows an action research approach that supports the communication and cooperation of researchers and practitioners. The framework is the action research cycle with iterative stages of planning, action, and reflection. The organic agriculture module, which addresses individual research questions on several farms, is presented as a good practice example for close transdisciplinary network cooperation. The workshop contribution will provide reflections on the innovation development process over two project years.
The restaurant trade is increasingly facing delivery bottlenecks as a result of climate change, which may even cause interruptions of the production of food products. Due to reduced yields and at the same time increased resource requirements, cost pressures are rising. In order to face these challenges in a timely manner, the DEHOGA East Friesland & Weser-Ems District Association is developing climate adaptation strategies for the restaurant trade. In the present project, the effects of climate change are analyzed, and specific solution paths for the restaurant trade are developed and communicated within the DEHOGA District Association.
The company Colocation IX GmbH is building a new data center in Bremen, and has decided upon the use of a new innovative cooling technology: Instead of traditional air conditioning to remove the waste heat from the servers, integral wells and geothermal probes are to provide energy-effi cient cooling in summer and heating energy for use in winter. The company is working together with the University of Bremen and the company Geo-En GmbH, which has expertise in integral wells. These alternatives to electrically driven compressor cooling will protect the environment through energy savings, help relieve the power grids, and at the same time ensure a decentralized and fail-safe cooling supply. The project has been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to the tune of €280,000. The co-payment share for ColocationIX GmbH amounts to €315,000.
As a gateway between ground and sea transportation, and as
a business location for service and industry, ports are of great significance for the regional and national economy. At the same time, port structures are located in regions threatened by storms and rising sea levels. Due to highly interdependent value chains,weather related disruptions in port operation can cause serious economic damage. Thus, adaptation to possible climate impacts seems like an obvious task for port authorities. The article analyses the climate vulnerability of German Baltic port locations.
In light of projected climate change impacts in the Baltic Sea region, there is a strong need for enhanced understanding about adaptation needs. In this regard, the role of local level decision makers will be crucial to the success of such adaptation strategies. This primer aims to provide local decision makers with insights and knowledge on the subject. This primer has been prepared as part of the project RADOST (Regional Adaptation Strategies for the
German Baltic Sea Coast), which is funded by the
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
“Adaptation to climate change” as a new field of knowledge challenges agricultural and horticultural (vocational) education and extension. Farmers and horticulturists are confronted with vague scientific findings at best. A broad variety of global climate scenarios is “projected” onto regions and exact predictions are usually not possible. Often, personal observations and experiences seem to contradict scientific assertions. Under this condition farmers and policy makers must decide about future land use.
What does this imply for capacity building? How to transform insecurity into concrete educational measures and programs?
The authors discuss their first experiences within a German R&D network (INKA BB) in which they develop capacity building programs. Two examples from urban agriculture / urban gardening will be used as case studies. Strengths and weaknesses of the development processes and their management will be discussed.
Since the topic is complex and adaptation is a continuous activity, learning in connection with climate change adaptation ideally begins on elementary level, continues in higher and vocational training, and does not end with extension. In other words: “learning chains” must be developed which enable life-long learning in formal, non-formal and informal learning environments.
Competencies are needed beyond classical technological and economic skills. Problem solving - from problem perception, analysis, generation of alternative solutions, to implementation and evaluation - with a key competence in critical analysis and reflection of contemporary research findings - gain in importance.
In INKA BB, participation is seen as axiomatic. As a consequence, an action-oriented, participatory approach has been chosen which enables mutual learning among partners from research, formal and informal, elementary, higher and vocational education.
A crucial point is the question of “Who could be the bridge between science and the educational practitioner?” In INKA BB, a specific working group (the subproject on “Knowledge Management and Transfer”) facilitates the development processes and therefore plays a liaison role between theory and practice. In the long-run, sustainable ownership of this process must be achieved. A combination of network building, mutual learning in permanent work groups, provision of technical trainings, and joint planning, testing, monitoring and evaluation is seen as a precondition.
Rather than focusing on climate-protection measures, the Bremen Cargo Distribution Center (GVZ Bremen) has identified measures for adaptation to climate change. In 2011 and 2012 the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL), together with the Bremen University of Applied Science, carried out a comprehensive empirical investigation of the effects of climate change on the logistics sector of the Metropolitan Region Bremen-Oldenburg in the Northwest. The results clearly show that the expected impacts of climate change could mean a new challenge, both for the GVZ and for individual companies at the Center.