The project “Klimaschutzbürger 2.0”, organized by the association energieland 2050 e.V., began with a celebratory event in Burgsteinfurt (Steinfurt district) on Thursday, 31 January 2019. The objective of the project is to accompany 18 households in the region for one year assisting them in their attempts to reduce their ecological footprint through “measures for climate-friendly behavior in the areas of nutrition & consumption, mobility and energy saving & living” (Website energieland 2050 e.V.) [own translation].

At the kick-off event, district administrator Dr. Klaus Effing welcomed the participants of the project after which Ulrich Ahlke, the managing director of the energieland 2050 e.V. association, gave a lecture on various current problems in the area of sustainability and reviewed the successful “first round” of the climate protection project. Afterwards, ZIN junior scholars Tobias Gumbert and Carolin Bohn gave a lecture on the challenges of a sufficient lifestyle, at the start justifying the need for the transition to a self-sufficient way of life. Subsequently, they addressed the question of whether and how the negotiation of common needs worthy of protection across temporal and spatial borders can succeed with reference to current scientific debates. In addition, they discussed the extent to which the social importance of consumption and our often negative understanding of renunciation can prevent the implementation of a sufficient lifestyle. The two political scientists concluded their lecture by encouraging the project participants to discuss the challenges and opportunities of a sufficient lifestyle as citizens and to hold politics accountable for the creation of suitable framework conditions for such a lifestyle.

Further information about the project “Klimaschutzbürger 2.0.” can be found on the Facebook page of the energieland 2050 e.V. association (@energieland2050) as well as in the flyer to the project and on the website of the association Energieland 2050 e.V.