Plön Sustainability Conference: Shaping the future together

With the Plön Sustainability Conference, the district of Plön sent a strong signal for sustainable development, cooperation and shaping the future locally. Representatives from politics, administration, civil society, voluntary work and finance came together to exchange perspectives, provide impetus and initiate concrete next steps. corsus supported the development of the district’s sustainability strategy and Anke Butscher moderated the conference.

After a welcome by Jan Dreckmann, sustainability manager for the district of Plön, and Anke Butscher, District Administrator Björn Demmin officially opened the conference. In his welcoming address, he emphasised the importance of sustainability as a guiding principle for political decisions and as a joint task for administration and society. Katja Günther, State Secretary in the Ministry for Energy Transition, Climate Protection, Environment and Nature of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, then turned her attention to the state and local levels. She emphasised that sustainable transformation can only succeed if political framework conditions, local action and civic engagement are interlinked.

Prof. Dr. Henning Austmann provided inspiring impetus with his keynote speech ‘Tackling the future or the idea of the future village (Zukunftsdorf)’. As Professor of Applied Business Administration and International Management at Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, he combines sustainable social, corporate and regional development in research and practice. His work focuses on the question of how sustainability can be achieved locally. He has gained nationwide attention with his commitment to the concept of the future village, which supports rural communities in developing resilience and sustainability. His central message: the future is created where people take responsibility. In the afternoon, a variety of ideas were presented from different perspectives. Jan Dreckmann, sustainability manager for the district of Plön, presented the district’s sustainability strategy and explained its goals, areas of action and implementation approaches. Jutta Briel, representative of the action alliances for sustainability and climate protection in Heikendorf, Laboe and Preetz, showed how cooperation and alliances can achieve greater reach and impact. Charlotte Reimann, head of the volunteer centre in the district of Plön, highlighted the potential of voluntary work and how synergies between initiatives can be strengthened. Carsten Lorenzen from IB.SH and Kevin Dominique Bröde from Förde Sparkasse provided insights into funding and financing opportunities for sustainable projects.

At the ‘market of opportunities’ and in in-depth workshops, participants were able to network, learn about projects and develop concrete ideas – from sustainability strategies and voluntary work to financing and funding.

The Plön Sustainability Conference made it clear that sustainability is not an abstract goal; it thrives on visibility, participation and the political will to implement it.