I have come to the conclusion that every city should aspire to be as cool as Freiburg. One of the courses I am most excited about this semester is an economics course entitled “Environmental Policies and Green Business in Freiburg.” In this course we will be going on a field trip every week. Some of these trips will include visiting green businesses in Freiburg, climbing a windmill, and hiking through the Black Forest while learning about the plant and wildlife. I am so excited.
Since we began the semester with two weeks of intensive German classes, our semester-long courses have only just recently begun. Today my Green Business class met for the second time. The class consisted of a three-hour bike tour past a couple of green businesses (including the biggest solar panel manufacturer in Germany) and through one of Freiburg’s newest neighborhoods, Rieselfeld. Rieselfeld is incredibly environmentally conscious and very socially just. They designed the neighborhood to promote community engagement and sustainable living. Instead of zoning the neighborhood solely for residential living and orienting houses to face the street, the urban planners that created Rieselfeld built multi-use blocks. Each block consists of a mix of apartments, gardens, senior homes, kindergartens, schools, and so on. There is no automobile traffic allowed within these blocks which promote its peaceful atmosphere. Cars remain outside the blocks in close proximity to Rieselfeld’s stores. All streets in Rieselfeld require that vehicles drive 30 kmh, which is about 20 mph. Bicycles often have the right of way. Large, grassy areas are dispersed around the city blocks thereby limiting the amount of asphalt that was used. This greenscape helps keep the neighborhood cooler in the summer months. Each community can do whatever they want within their greenscaped area. Some have built massive playgrounds with climbing walls and other structures for children. One group placed a large outdoor oven in the middle where the community gathers once a week to bake pizza. Rieselfeld has a thermal energy plant which is responsible for its heating systems and electricity. It was very important to Freiburg’s urban planners to accommodate everyone with varying levels of income in the community. To do this they required all landlords to offer a certain percentage of apartments for below market rent. Here is a picture of Rieselfeld from our bike tour.
Compared to the states, I feel like the citizens of Freiburg are more environmentally conscientious. Trash is always sorted, a significant amount of bikes are used, and the Straßenbahn runs off of biofuel and is a very popular way of getting around. An environmental activist group called “Extinction Rebellion” had a stand in the main square near the IES center for the entire month of September. A friend and I went to a meeting and it was empowering to see how many people attended. I left the meeting with the impression that attendees don’t just care about being environmentally friendly, but they are also scared for the future and ready to take action.
On Friday, September 20th, one of the largest “Fridays for Future” strikes took place in Freiburg and around the world. Freiburg’s demonstration was particularly large for a city of its size. Masses of people crowded the streets marching with colorful posters demanding action. They were carrying speakers playing music, shouting, chatting, chanting, dancing, and blocking the Straßenbahn thereby causing delays. Bicycles were everywhere. They were stacked against each other along buildings and attached to every single pole and bike rack near the center of the city. I couldn’t help but wonder what a “Fridays for Future” strike of that size would look like in the U.S. Would there be as many bicycles? The two photos below capture the predominant attitude of the event, which is that consumption and ignorance will kill us all. It would be a shame if that happened since Freiburg is such a lovely city.
