Climate Emergency! What Now? — Local Governments’ Scope for Action in Climate Policy
Project information
submitted by
Paula Rauschenbach
Co-Authors
Noah Bass, Ida Bungert, Otto Damköhler, Mika Djuric, Florentine Falkenberg, Nils Fuchs, Friedrich Gesse, Cora Graßhoff, Nike Kunkat, Luca Lohr, Feline Pfromm, Rose Poll, Paula Rauschenbach, Finley Sacher, Tapio Schmidt-Thomé, Nicolas Schmotz, Luisa Schütz, Loukas Schwechheimer, Karla Seidel, Nick Tschänsch, Carla Tudman, Maria Uber, Luna Zeuner
Mentors
Patrick Bopp Dias, Grischa Bertram
Faculty:
Architecture and Urbanism
Degree programme:
Urban Planning (Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.))
Type of project presentation
Planungsprojekt
Semester
Summer semester 2026
- Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8 - Hauptgebäude / Main Building
(105) - Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8 - Hauptgebäude / Main Building
(105)
Available during summaery's regular opening hours
Project description
On 2 May 2019, the city of Konstanz became the first local authority in Germany to declare a climate emergency in a high-profile move, thereby joining the ranks of international cities such as Basel, Los Angeles, Vancouver and London. Seven years on from this symbolic decision, there is now an opportunity to take stock of the situation and examine the key question of what scope cities actually have to take action on climate policy.
The project focuses on an in-depth examination of the city of Konstanz as a case study in local climate policy. Using this example, political objectives, institutional frameworks and specific climate adaptation and mitigation measures are examined and discussed. Building on this analysis, students develop their own conceptual approaches to spatial and political measures for the further development of local climate policy.
At the same time, the local case is placed within a global context: cities around the world face similar challenges, yet operate under different political, legal and spatial conditions. The project therefore also examines international examples in order to carry out a comparative analysis of different urban climate policy strategies and to identify opportunities for learning across different contexts.