Excursion to the German Environment Agency (UBA)

Our CIPSEM journey continued from 18^th to 19^th of May 2016 in the city of Dessau. The visit to the German Environment Agency (UBA) began with an introduction and welcome speech by Mr. Ralph Wollmann, who gave background information about the history of the German Environment Agency and explained its participation and contribution to CIPSEM courses. Furthermore Mr. Wollmann talked about the role of UBA in the german society and the international community.

Lecture on transboundary movement of waste by Dr. Wuttke.

The EM-39 course in front of the main entrance.

Following up were interactive sessions on several topics from the manifold portfolio of the agency. Among others there were talks on water resources management and climate change adaptation in Germany, transboundary movement of waste, environmental risk regulation of pesticides, green economy and much more.

The stay in Dessau was furthermore accompanied guided tours through the price winning main building of UBA and the world famous Bauhaus.

Report and photographs by Hisham Abdelgawad (Egypt)

Visit at the Federal Environment Agency

After a guided tour through the main building of the ‘Umweltbundesamt’ (UBA), the group participated in an multidisciplinary session with UBA experts. Lots of questions were asked about land-take, sustainable land-use, soil protection, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Risk Assessment of contaminants.

Besides a visit at the Bauhaus Museum, a former art school and the Dessauer Kartoffelhaus were also on the schedule.

(Photos: T. Karp)

Visit at the Federal Environment Agency and the Bauhaus College in Dessau

Early morning the group entrained and traveled to Dessau, a city in the regional state of Saxony-Anhalt. With numerous parks in its surroundings, Dessau is one of the greenest cities in Germany. Thus, it is no surprise that the Umweltbundesamt (UBA) has its headquarters here. The UBA, which was our host for two days, is Germany’s central environmental authority and is mainly responsible for the scientific support of the Federal Government, the enforcement of environmental laws, and the information of the public about environmental protection. Besides a tour through the office buildings (awarded with the 2009 German gold medal for sustainable construction), a number of experts gave insights in different topics, such as green economy, strategic and environmental impact assessment, adaptation to climate change, environmental risk management, and water resources management.

At the end of the visit, the group went to see the famous Bauhaus. Designed by Walter Gropius, one of the pioneers of modern architecture, the Bauhaus was build in 1926 as a school for architecture and design, and is since 1996 included in the UNESCO World Culture and Nature Heritage List.

(Photos: A. Lindner)