Strengthening the resilience and capacity to rebuild cities and critical municipal infrastructure in times of war
Review of the successful kick-off for peer exchange between German and Ukrainian municipalities
On 31 January 2023, the digital kick-off event of the working group “Resilience in times of war” took place. Under the theme “Strengthening resilience and capacity to rebuild cities and critical municipal infrastructure in times of war”, the event enabled an exchange between a total of 62 municipal representatives from Ukraine and Germany on good practices, common challenges and possible solutions.
With special regard to municipal cooperation in the field of energy efficiency and housing, Mr. Günter Burger, personal department of the Lord Mayor of the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, gave a technical input. Together with its partner city Lviv, the city of Freiburg is planning a model building for housing internally displaced persons and people who have lost their living space in the city. After an initial test phase in Lviv, the housing units should also be able to be used in a modular fashion in other cities. In the future, the materials, mainly wood, will be produced in Ukraine to create not only housing but also jobs. Construction of the up to three-storey wooden buildings is scheduled to begin in March of this year – with subsequent testing of implementation in other areas. So-called power blocks, which have already been delivered from Freiburg to Lviv in recent months, could be used for the power supply to improve energy security in general.
