ENNEREG Good Practice - Relearning Sustainability - Impulses from Micro-Projects, City of Neumarkt i.d. OPf., Upper Palatinate Region, Germany

The funding programme “Relearning Sustainability – Impulses from Micro-Projects” was launched to motivate and involve local organizations, associations and working groups to contribute to sustainable development with the implementation of educational projects. So far 19 educational projects were finalized. The basic idea of this funding programme is to activate and support civil and voluntary engagement with small financial incentives in different educational projects. Projects can be linked to such topics as climate protection, healthy nutrition, fair trade, environmental protection and nature conservation, etc.

Summary

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Image copyright: Stadt Neumarkt i.d.OPf. 2011

In December 2012, the German UNESCO Commission elected the City of Neumarkt i.d.OPf. a fourth time as German City for the World Decade on Education for Sustainable Development. Main priorities for action under this award are climate protection, active citizenship and cooperation for a common world.

The funding programme “Relearning Sustainability – Impulses from Micro-Projects” was launched in this context to motivate and involve local organizations, associations and working groups to contribute to sustainable development with the implementation of educational projects. So far 19 educational projects were finalized. The most effective for supporting the sustainable use of energy are:

Primary Schools of Neumarkt Earning Green Footprints, Supporting a Climate-Conscious Way to School
Energy saving check and energy consultancy for low-income households in cooperation with Christliche Arbeiterhilfe
Solar Energy in Schools – Installation of a display panel for the PV installation in Secondary School Weinbergerstraße
Experiments illustrating climate change in primary schools

Aims and Objectives of this Sustainable Energy Action

The basic idea of this funding programme is to activate and support civil and voluntary engagement with small financial incentives in different educational projects. Projects can be linked to such topics as climate protection, healthy nutrition, fair trade, environmental protection and nature conservation, etc.

Results and Impacts

Project outcomes in terms of ENNEREG’s performance indicators:

Start Date: May 2011
End Date: ongoing

So far 19 educational projects were finalized, with six of them focusing on sustainable use of energy.

Cumulative investment made by stakeholders:

Total funding volume (2011-2013): 100.000 €

Primary energy savings (MWh/year):

Earning Green Footprints project: 32 MWh/a
Energy Saving Check project: 11 MWh/a
Total: 43 MWh/a

Reduction of GHG emissions (in CO₂/year)

Earning Green Footprints project: 11 tCO₂/year
Energy Saving Check project: 6 tCO₂/year
Total: 17 tCO₂/year

Technical and Financial Implementation

The maximum funding volume for each project is 5.000 €. Each project must comply with the following eligibility criteria:

Concrete support of sustainability issues via educational measures
Visible linkage of project objectives to municipal mission of the City of Neumarkt i.d.OPf.
Project is to be implemented in the municipal territory
Project manager is usually operating in the territory of Neumarkt i.d.OPf.

A Monitoring Committee composed of members of the City Council and the municipal administration is deciding about the financial grants to applying organizations.

The Partners and Stakeholders

City of Neumarkt i.d.OPf.
Any local organization, association and working group offering educational services in the area of sustainability

Lessons Learnt

Important success factors for this project were:

Very effective implementation of “small cause/large effect”-principle: since project initiation about 5.000 individuals were involved in educational projects
Availability of a public budget for financing actions under the respective scheme
Existence of a motivating infrastructure supporting learning and cooperation in the field of sustainability, in Neumarkt: Community Center (Bürgerhaus Neumarkt)

How this Action could be Replicated

This action can be replicated in any municipality of Europe. One important requirement is the availability of a minimum public budget for supporting local initiatives via respective limited grants.

Related Information on the Regions 202020 Website:

Sustainable Energy Theme(s): Education and Training
Region(s)/Community(ies): : : : DE: Allgäu : : : : DE: Oberpfalz - Upper Palatinate : : :
Country(ies): Austria : Germany

Last updated: 15/04/2013 5:09pm - Contact: André SUCK -