The interest was great and exceeded all expectations - the fully booked kick-off event as part of the Godesberg-Nord climate district took place on 15.01.2025 in the Trinkpavillon in Bad Godesberg. The City of Bonn has been a KliX³ partner municipality since December 17, 2024 and supports households in climate protection. In his welcoming address, Dr. Raphael Karutz, Head of the Citizen Participation Unit of the City of Bonn, emphasized the importance of citizen-based initiatives for the  Climate Plan 2035.

The kick-off event in Bonn marked the start of the two-year nationwide real-world laboratory "KliX³". The special thing about Bonn is the additional cooperation with change clubs. Anyone who wants to move from knowledge to action together can join forces with friends, colleagues or other like-minded people simply and free of charge as a "Change Club".

Co-founder of the Change Club movement Oliver Kuschel came to present the idea of the Change Clubs together with Dr. Daniel Klein. The Change Clubs offer support and fun on the way to a more climate-conscious life, with extensive information on various Change Modules, which provide comprehensive information on nine different topics, from nutrition and mobility to finance.

In the interactive part of the event, the participants engaged in a lively exchange and discussed their ideas and experiences in depth. They wrote down their personal (climate) goals for 2025. By the evening, almost ten people had already signed up to form a new Change Club. This is possible for three or more people. Anyone interested can still join or set up a club themselves.

Further information can be found  here (opens in a new tab).

Dr. Michael Bilharz presented KliX³ together with Ursula Harlfinger. This is a project by 3 fürs Klima that supports people in making their everyday lives more climate-friendly and finding a personal path to climate neutrality. KliX³ offers free tools and workshops to discover individual levers for effective climate protection. The following three fields are highlighted when using KliX³:

• Creating a CO₂ balance sheet: How much CO₂ do you consume per year?
• Reduce CO₂ footprint: Small and large measures help to reduce personal consumption.
• Increase your handprint: Actively support climate-friendly actions and help shape change.

A toolbox provides knowledge and many practical suggestions for implementing more climate protection in everyday life. Knowledge can also be deepened in online workshops. An ideal introduction to a more climate-conscious life.

The KliX³ kick-off event with Change Clubs was an inspiring start for more climate protection in everyday life. Become part of the movement and actively shape the future - online at klix3.de or in a Change Club!

The KliX³ with Change Clubs project is funded by the City of Bonn's Citizen Participation Department.

In October, Constanze Kernbach (Reinventing Society), Jennifer Merten from the Brotfabrik cultural center and employees from the Citizen Participation Unit as well as many committed stakeholders held a workshop for positive visions of the future. The aim was to develop creative ideas for a climate-neutral future with committed local stakeholders. The results were incorporated into a "future graphic" that stands for a future-oriented, climate-neutral Beuel.

The use of methods that created space for community and solidarity was particularly successful. One example: everyone brought along a personal object that symbolizes the climate district - a creative start that led to the collection of individual stories.

By the end of the year, the image of the future will be developed and will then accompany the Klimaviertel Beuel as an important impression.

From October 11 to 13, a festival on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals took place at the Brotfabrik cultural center in Beuel. As part of this festival on the 11th Sustainable Development Goal "Sustainable Cities and Communities", the Citizen Participation Unit and Jennifer Merten from the Brotfabrik organized a participatory breakfast on the planned climate district of Beuel. Under the event name "Croissant, coffee and climate district", the surrounding neighborhood of the Brotfabrik was invited to a breakfast on Sunday morning, October 13. During the joint breakfast, the concept of the Beuel climate district was presented and then the various ways in which the people of Beuel can get involved were described. The presentation was followed by an open question and answer session. The joint breakfast was concluded with visionary group work.

It was particularly pleasing that all participants expressed an interest in possible future participation in the Klimaviertel Beuel. An e-mail distribution list will be set up for all interested parties in order to pass on specific information about the Klimaviertel Beuel in the future.

Once again this year, the  sustainability festival "Bonn - sustainable all round" took place on Münsterplatz in September. For one day during Fair Week, everything revolved around the commitment of initiatives, associations, institutions and organizations from Bonn and the surrounding area to organic, regional and fair trade.

In addition to panel discussions on various issues, there were countless stands where visitors could obtain information. For the first time, the Citizen Participation Office was also represented with a stand. The city of Bonn's climate districts were presented here. Many thanks for the interest, the good discussions and the great organization by the Bonn Office for Local Sustainability in the Office for the Environment and Urban Greenery.

Employees from the Citizen Participation Unit took part in the three-day Democracy Forum entitled Transformation needs Participation organized by Stiftung Mitarbeit. Exciting theses were presented, there were new projects and approaches and an interesting lecture by Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn. They were delighted to see familiar colleagues from civil society, business and administration again and are very excited about the development of the new Climate Democracy network.

On Saturday, they presented the concept of the climate districts of the City of Bonn in two workshops - the Citizen Participation Unit would like to thank you for the many encouraging feedbacks and impulses. This was followed by a market of opportunities where all the workshop topics were exhibited.

A compliment to Marion Stock and Timo Jaster for the great organization.