Saarland Regional Report - C-Change

After the concept of the climate path was finalised and
introduced to the local stakeholders concerned, as well
as the special purpose association of the large-scale
nature conservation project, its stations were being set
up, including the attendant signage. In August 2011 the
site was toured by the Saarland’s Minister for the
Environment, Energy and Transport, Ms Simone Peter, as
well as representatives of the Neunkirchen district,
the municipalities concerned, and the special purpose
association. The Climate Path was completed in
February 2012 and handed over to the public at the 27th
March 2012 in the context of the Saarland Regional Park
Forum dedicated to the outcomes of the C-Change
project.
2. Key Outputs, Activities and
Achievements
The Climate Path is designed as a “Tour d’énergie” to
be experienced as a bicycle tour, preferable by electric
bicycles. It connects the former mining locations of
Reden and Göttelborn and thus two of the four
landscape labs of the large-scale nature conservation
project within the Northern Landscape of Industrial
a mountain, a forest and a sun section. While the
mountain and sun sections address the subjects of
energy generation and regenerative energy, the forest
section is dedicated to the forest and its function for
mitigation, for example as a CO2-reducer, and for
adaptation.
3. Objectives Addressed
The main questions addressed were:
• How can we communicate the very complex topic
of climate change in an appropriate manner addressing
different target groups
• How can we activate and motivate citizens to
contribute to mitigation and adaptation measures
4. Results and Conclusions
C-Change is about a sea change and thus about raising
awareness using strategies and projects to help climate
change being recognised as a key challenge to all of us.
Therefore, projects should very directly address the
public, in order to raise people‘s awareness of the
consequences of climate change, and to stimulate them
into taking action themselves. The message is: Everyone
can contribute! In this sense, the Climate Path served to
try out new forms of communication designed to make
the topic of „climate change“ accessible to a broader
public in an event-orientated manner without
„moralising“.
Opening of the Saarland Climate Path in March 2012
(source: Dirk Michler)
At various stations visitors can either directly download
information with their cellphones via QR code linked to
the climate path website, or look up the messages in the
printed brochure. The interventions as well as visual and
textual treatment of the subject matter have been
designed in a manner ensuring their suitability also
for children and adolescents from the age of 13.
Lessons learnt mainly refer to the involvement of local
actors and young people into the planning process in
terms of a “laboratory” as well as to the necessity to
communicate climate change related issues in a new
way. Much in keeping with C-Change, visitors of the
Climate Path can experience various aspects of climate
change from a very unusual perspective. This helps to
test new forms of communication for presenting a highly
complex subject to the population in an exciting and
event-filled manner.
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