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| Former German chancellor Schröder at the opening of the German-Chinese Promenade in Wuhan |
2009/11/04
Germany and China join forces for sustainable development
Berlin/Wuhan, 30 Oct 2009 - The ‘Germany and China – Moving Ahead Together’ event series has reached the Central Chinese metropolis of Wuhan (Hubei Province).
At its heart is the nine-day German-Chinese Promenade, which former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder opened last weekend in Wuhan. In the first few days alone, some 250,000 people visited the German-Chinese Promenade. Exhibitions, presentations and discussions pertaining to politics, business, culture, education and urban planning, all tying in to the focus topic of ‘sustainable urbanisation’, will take place here until 31 October.
“Together with China, we will develop joint solutions for the major social and ecological challenges of our time,” said former German chancellor Schröder at the opening of the German-Chinese Promenade in Wuhan, where he also took part in a forum on sustainable development hosted by ‘Germany and China – Moving Ahead Together’. “The forecast for the year 2050 is that three-quarters of all people will be living in cities by then,” said Schröder at the forum, underscoring the importance of the event series’ focus topic: “Neither climate change nor the issue of conserving natural resources can be solved without tackling the big cities.”
Politicians and experts aren’t the only ones grappling with issues of urbanisation in Wuhan. “Our main target audience are the citizens who live here,” says Michael Kahn-Ackermann, Project Manager, ‘Germany and China – Moving Ahead Together’. “We want to encourage the population to talk about issues that affect their urban living environment.” The German-Chinese Promenade offers numerous opportunities for doing so, including a ‘Culture Pavilion’ and a ‘Conference Pavilion’. “We should always have this sort of platform for discussions here,” enthused a young Chinese woman following a symposium about monument conservation, cultural heritage and urban rehabilitation.
The pavilions in which German businesses and institutions, ministries, federal states and municipalities present their various ideas on urban issues are also extremely popular. Some pavilions attract as many as 20,000 visitors a day. “Since the event series started in 2007, more than a million Chinese have already availed themselves of our offerings,” beams Ambassador Dr. Wolfgang Röhr, who heads the Germany-China task group at the Foreign Office. “And we have yet to present at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai.”
‘Germany and China – Moving Ahead Together’ is the biggest German event series ever hosted outside the country, with consecutive stops in six Chinese metropolises. Wuhan, a city of 9 million, is the fifth stop after Nanjing, Chongqing, Canton and Shenyang. German chancellor Angela Merkel launched the series in 2007 in Beijing. At the second stop in the series Germany’s Foreign Minister opened the ‘Chongqing Dialog on Urbanisation’. Germany’s Federal President and China’s President are the patrons of the event series, which is funded by the German Foreign Office. Its cooperation partners are the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA), the ‘Germany – Land of Ideas’ nation-branding initiative and the Goethe-Institut, which is lead-managing the project. Allianz, BASF, Daimler, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post DHL and Siemens are Official Partners to the project, which is also sponsored by numerous other businesses and institutions. The ‘Germany and China – Moving Ahead Together’ event series’ partners on the Chinese side are provincial and municipal governments.
www.deutschland-und-china.com
www.diplo.de/deutschland-und-china
“Together with China, we will develop joint solutions for the major social and ecological challenges of our time,” said former German chancellor Schröder at the opening of the German-Chinese Promenade in Wuhan, where he also took part in a forum on sustainable development hosted by ‘Germany and China – Moving Ahead Together’. “The forecast for the year 2050 is that three-quarters of all people will be living in cities by then,” said Schröder at the forum, underscoring the importance of the event series’ focus topic: “Neither climate change nor the issue of conserving natural resources can be solved without tackling the big cities.”
Politicians and experts aren’t the only ones grappling with issues of urbanisation in Wuhan. “Our main target audience are the citizens who live here,” says Michael Kahn-Ackermann, Project Manager, ‘Germany and China – Moving Ahead Together’. “We want to encourage the population to talk about issues that affect their urban living environment.” The German-Chinese Promenade offers numerous opportunities for doing so, including a ‘Culture Pavilion’ and a ‘Conference Pavilion’. “We should always have this sort of platform for discussions here,” enthused a young Chinese woman following a symposium about monument conservation, cultural heritage and urban rehabilitation.
The pavilions in which German businesses and institutions, ministries, federal states and municipalities present their various ideas on urban issues are also extremely popular. Some pavilions attract as many as 20,000 visitors a day. “Since the event series started in 2007, more than a million Chinese have already availed themselves of our offerings,” beams Ambassador Dr. Wolfgang Röhr, who heads the Germany-China task group at the Foreign Office. “And we have yet to present at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai.”
‘Germany and China – Moving Ahead Together’ is the biggest German event series ever hosted outside the country, with consecutive stops in six Chinese metropolises. Wuhan, a city of 9 million, is the fifth stop after Nanjing, Chongqing, Canton and Shenyang. German chancellor Angela Merkel launched the series in 2007 in Beijing. At the second stop in the series Germany’s Foreign Minister opened the ‘Chongqing Dialog on Urbanisation’. Germany’s Federal President and China’s President are the patrons of the event series, which is funded by the German Foreign Office. Its cooperation partners are the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA), the ‘Germany – Land of Ideas’ nation-branding initiative and the Goethe-Institut, which is lead-managing the project. Allianz, BASF, Daimler, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post DHL and Siemens are Official Partners to the project, which is also sponsored by numerous other businesses and institutions. The ‘Germany and China – Moving Ahead Together’ event series’ partners on the Chinese side are provincial and municipal governments.
www.deutschland-und-china.com
www.diplo.de/deutschland-und-china
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