Settling Down, Making a Living, and Staying Sustainable: Lessons from the German Energy Village Wildpoldsried
Text by Yang Chia-ling, Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute of Gender Education, National Kaohsiung Normal University
The only public talk in Taiwan by Günter Mögele, deputy mayor of the famous southern German energy village Wildpoldsried, was organized by the Citizens' Earth Foundation and Qimei Community College. Also present were Taiwan's Citizens' Independent Power Generation Action Team, Sunnyfounder, and Green Collar Social Enterprise, who presented their action plans for the people of Taiwan to join the energy transition.
Today, besides continuing the second phase of its smart grid plan, Wildpoldsried is also carrying out many other projects. For example, they start talking with children about renewable energy from kindergarten onward, and all newly built school buildings are required to be "plus-energy-houses" -- that is, "buildings that generate more electricity than they use." These school buildings are constructed with local timber and fitted with solar panels, and all of them meet this requirement.
In addition, the village has an ecological education center, which receives more than 100 international groups from 30 countries each year. It also continues to receive recognition through numerous European ecological awards.(This article continues; to read on, please click here)
Deputy Mayor Mögele: For developing renewable energy, Taiwan's conditions are even better than Germany's!
The Practice of Energy Democracy in a German Village -- The Legend of Wildpoldsried, European Energy Gold Award Winner
(This article is sponsored by the Chen-Chen Environmental Education Foundation, which funds personnel costs but in no way interferes with news topic selection or interview writing, ensuring journalistic independence.)