The Federal Environment Ministry has launched a special award to recognise the international commitment of municipalities to establishing sustainable infrastructures. The award has a special focus on public service areas such as water management, waste water disposal and waste management. There is a great need for action in these areas at international level and great potential for German expertise.
The special award "PartnerCity – Sustainable Infrastructures locally and globally" is being supported under the Federal Environment Ministry's new export initiative on environmental technologies. The award will be presented during the National German Sustainability Award ceremony. The objective is to make a concrete contribution to sustainable development in other countries by strengthening environmental awareness and capacity building. At the same time, international cooperation will create favourable conditions which will lead to an increase in demand for German products.
Federal Environment Minister Hendricks commented: "With this special award we want to honour municipalities' exemplary commitment to establishing more sustainable infrastructures. We want to create incentives for other countries to embark on the same path. This will not just benefit the environment, it will also open up economic opportunities. The increasing international demand for German environmental and efficiency technologies shows that German companies are in a strong position here."
Many German municipalities are already promoting the establishment of more sustainable infrastructures in the context of city partnerships. Applications are open to active municipalities until 12 August 2016 on the following website: www.nachhaltigkeitspreis.de . The award ceremony will take place in Düsseldorf on 25 November 2016 on German Sustainability Day. There will be a meeting hub there where the best submissions can present themselves.