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'Sustainability is booming' - despite or because of Covid-19


At the 2nd coordinators' meeting of the SDG model region Pfälzerwald, it was agreed that sustainability issues are not a luxury task, but gaining in importance due to crisis situations such as the Corona pandemic. The eight model communities in the Pfälzerwald-Nordvogesen biosphere reserve are sticking to their goal of developing a sustainability strategy by December 2021. The core team members of the municipalities received further training in online seminars moderated by the Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS) on topics of global responsibility and sustainable procurement as well as municipal nature and climate protection.

On June 17th, the committed core team of the local community of Kallstadt was the first to implement its Corona-compliant future workshop with around 50 participating citizens. They followed introductory video contributions in six groups on the project and the Agenda 2030 by Corinna Säger (project coordinator of the biosphere reserve) and on the results of the stocktaking for the community of Kallstadt by Dr. Marie Sophie Schmidt (IfLS). What strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats does the local community see with regard to sustainable development? What needs for action and fields of action result from this?

In two work phases the participants - moderated by the Kobra Advisory Centre and the IfLS - had the opportunity to contribute their ideas for goals and measures for each of the two fields of action of the sustainability strategy. The core team had previously coordinated the six fields of action: Mobility, Nature & Environment, Climate & Energy, Sustainability in the Private Sector, Work & Economy, and Global Responsibility and One World.
The communal atmosphere in the small groups was very much appreciated, but the hope remains that the results of the work can be shared and discussed in plenary again at the next Future Workshop in early 2021.

Contact persons at IfLS: Dr. Marie Sophie Schmidt (schmidt[at]ifls.de) and Dr. Ulrich Gehrlein (gehrlein[at]ifls.de)