"ClimateDialog"

Festspielhaus became the location for climate protection dates

Taking the train for the sake of the climate? This was also discussed at the "ClimateDialog" on Thursday evening.

(Bild: ÖBB)

Underwater underground garages for bicycles, speed dating on climate protection and insights into citizens willing to take action - the "ClimateDialog" offered all of this.

Untested event formats always bring with them a certain amount of excitement, and the "Climate Dialogue", which took place on Thursday at the Bregenz Festival Hall, was no exception. The event was organized by the Federal Ministry for the Environment in cooperation with the state of Vorarlberg. The aim of the event: exchange and networking. Two words that are used in an inflationary manner, but which were filled with life at the Festspielhaus.

Provincial Councillor Daniel Zadra (Greens) welcomed the visitors and was delighted at the great diversity in the audience.

(Bild: Inés Bacher)

Around 35 people were available as climate dates for the visitors. Every eight minutes, visitors were able to hear explanations of the climate protection concept from a wide range of players - or get straight into heated discussions. The Energy Institute, large Vorarlberg companies, the transport association, the Verein für Bodenfreiheit and Caritas were among those represented. A glaciologist, Vorarlberg's nature conservation lawyer and representatives from "Extinction Rebellion" also answered questions from the audience.

Genuine enthusiasm instead of a sense of duty
The audience learned how one of the country's largest employers, fittings manufacturer Blum, is encouraging its employees to leave their cars at home and go to work in a more environmentally friendly way. For example, with free job bikes - over 3000 are available - or in car pools. Those who take part are rewarded with Eco-Points, which can then be redeemed for vouchers. Katharina Schön, responsible for sustainability at Blum, reveals the magic formula for motivating employees: "Above all, we convey enthusiasm for the topic."

Every person spends between 70 and 90 minutes a day traveling around the world. This amount of time has hardly changed over time, only the number of kilometers covered has increased.

Johan Diepens, Mobilitätsexperte aus den Niederlanden (Mobycom)

Institutions that are perhaps not primarily associated with climate protection were also represented on Thursday, including the Catholic Church: Jürgen Mathis spoke about the "responsibility for creation" that the church has made its mission. Mathis explained that the treatment of nature, justice, prosperity, poverty and solidarity go hand in hand and cannot be viewed in isolation from one another.

The second part of the evening was dedicated to keynote speeches. The presentation by mobility expert Johan Diepens from the Netherlands was impressive, as he reported on a huge underground parking garage that was recently built right next to Amsterdam Central Station at a cost of 60 million euros. Exclusively for bicycles, 11,000 of them. The highlight: the garage is under water. From the parking spaces, cyclists have direct and uncomplicated access to the trains. According to Diepens, the most important aspects of such infrastructure projects are quality, user-friendliness and cleanliness.

The spectacular underground bicycle parking garage in Amsterdam was opened around a year ago after four years of construction.

(Bild: Imago/Richard Wareham)

He also made it clear that mobility will always be a part of us. The only question is how to shape it. In any case, awareness of climate protection in relation to mobility seems to be high in the Netherlands. The extremely well-developed cycling infrastructure (including long-distance routes) has even opened up a separate tourism segment for the Dutch, namely cycling vacations.

Politics is lagging behind the population
However, it is clear that the political will for such strategies is needed. A research project presented by Stefanie Peer from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration shows that citizens have long been ready for this - at least a large proportion of them. Using an app, study participants were able to decide which climate protection measures they would support. These included supposedly unpopular proposals such as speed reductions on the highway. Peer's clear message to politicians was therefore: "More courage to implement!"