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München (Germany)The Bavarian capital city of Munich is located in one of the sunniest regions in Germany. With 1.26 million residents, it is the third-largest city and second-largest industrial city in Germany. Munich is a university town, an art and cultural capital and is second only to New York in the number of publishing firms it houses. Nevertheless, it has a tranquil, leisurely atmosphere with a certain Italian flair and is thus sometimes called "a metropolis with a heart" or a "village of a million inhabitants".
Climate for Change in Munich
From very early on, the City of Munich has dedicated itself to topics relevant to the study: in 1985, the city council resolved to establish a Gender Equality Office for women. Since then, gender equality has been a cross-cutting task. The climate protection policy objectives were formulated in 1991: particularly through energy conservation, efficient utilisation of energy and by increasing the proportion of renewable energies, CO2 emissions shall be reduced by 30% by 2005 and by 50% no later than 2010 (reference year: 1987).
Gender & Climate
An extensive, systematic linking of these two issues has yet to be accomplished. Common-sense knowledge tells us that there are fewer women than men employed in the climate protection field and that the allocation of tasks follows (traditional) patterns. The question remains open as to what further activities / tools need to be deployed in order to establish equal opportunities in regards to topics as well as hierarchies, despite the fact that the number of management tools available to the City of Munich equals that of other large service companies. Many of these management tools aim at achieving equal opportunities for women and men. Munich's participation in the EU project "Climate for Change: Gender Equality & Climate Policy" has validated this common-sense knowledge by way of a sound analysis. The collected data corroborate the tendencies described above, however, they have to be examined from various angles. Thus, climate protection cannot be regarded as its own separate field; the specific characteristics of the individual departments and work areas also have to be taken into account.
Nevertheless, there is also a consensus: in Munich, all interviews clearly expressed the desire for the collaboration and teamwork of women and men as both a means of broadening content and as an enrichment. Gender & Climate — Tomorrow?
The comparison with the other participating German and European local authorities is bound to be very interesting. The results have yet to be seen. We expect that successful measures will crystallise and new suitable ones will emerge — perhaps particularly for the climate protection field. The question as to what impact the achievement of this step will have on the climatic changes still has be examined in more detail. A new, exciting task — a new project in co-operation with other cities? |
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