Freiburg participates

In 1992 the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro endorsed Local Agenda 21. Freiburg is on board and has been implementing the concept sent out from Rio, "thinking global, acting local" - since 1996. The city signed the Aalborg Charter and thus, committed itself to developing its own Local Agenda 21. Seven working groups elaborated the principle ideas and objectives of a sustainable urban development.

Aalborg Commitments

In 2004, the Aalborg Commitments were adopted at the Aalborg Plus 10 follow-up conference. Freiburg signed the Charter in 2006 and committed itself and its citizens to:

• develop models to reduce energy consumption and increase the proportion of renewable energy resources,
• realise climate protection in the fields of energy, mobility, purchasing, waste management, agriculture and forestry;
• give aspects of sustainability more consideration in urban development planning, and
• promote public awareness on the reasons for and consequences of climate change.

Under the umbrella of Freiburg's Local Agenda 21, dozens of projects and initiative groups worked on the application of the global sustainability concept to local practice. For example, the "One World Forum" organised Freiburg's One World Days together with the city, and markets fair-trade coffee from Nicaragua. With projects such as "Deluge 21", "Future Lifestyles", and the "Blue Treasure Chest" Freiburg's Eco-Station draws attention to our global responsibility.

The Saturday Forum of ecotrinova e.V. and the university organises well-attended lectures and excursions on climate protection and sustainable development. To date, 21 of Freiburg's Agenda 21 projects were supported with a total of 200,000 Euro of state funds.