Future Workshop Freiburg

Group of Japanese visitors inspecting solar plants

Image is important to the economic and tourist attractiveness of a city. Freiburg has gained a worldwide reputation in such fields as solar engineering, traffic policy, environmental and climate protection. Increasingly, members of the media and delegations representing environmental politics, science and industry come to Freiburg to learn how the city has managed to achieve its astounding success in uniting the administration of a municipality with environmental concerns and make this a financially viable proposition.

Upon visiting the Intersolar, India’s Minister for Renewable Energy Resources, Shri Vilas Mutternwar, said that India would like to benefit from experiences had in Freiburg. He is not an exception. Freiburg is perceived as a "model green city" by numerous Asian countries, especially China, South Korea, and Japan. Eco-tourists who, equipped with the solar city map and bicycles, set off on a "solar tour" are often pioneers opening doors for "regular" tourism and business that later settle down in the area.

Freiburg maintains nine city partnerships, among which, through its twinning with Isfahan is the only German- Iranian partnership. Freiburg owes much of its attractiveness as a partner city to its experience in the field of environmental policies and renewable energy resources. An initial co-operation with Isfahan has already begun with a focus on solar energy, while together with its partner city Padua, Freiburg is building the biggest photovoltaic power generation plant in Italy by means of a joint subsidiary company.

Visitors at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems

The huge numbers of visitors to Freiburg’s international trade fairs are not lured here because of any one project or giant solar factory, rather by the fact that no other city has brought together so much "green" competence, sensibility and political experience, factors which also make the Freiburg a very attractive venture partner.

The university city has developed into a modern future workshop, where new innovative and undogmatic concepts that reconcile the art of living with sustainability, ecology with economy are in evidence at every turn.