Environmental Tourism and Expert Visits in the Green City

Freiburg has gained an international reputation in fields such as solar technology, transport policy, environmental and climate protection – sustainability has become a key factor in the city‘s image and now plays a major role in the appeal of the city to tourists.

Today there is a never-ending stream of over 25,000 "trade" visitors to the city from around 45 nations every year, but not because the city has spectacular large-scale projects or huge solar factories. It is something else that makes Freiburg such an attractive city and one sought after as a partner: nowhere else are there more pilot projects, more extensive "green" expertise, sensitivity and political experience to be found. The traditional university town has evolved into a modern workshop of the future where people are happy to think innovatively and undogmatically about new ideas for reconciling the art of living and sustainability, ecology and economics.

Freiburg is regarded as a green flagship city, especially in countries like China, South Korea and Japan – local authorities, company representatives, architects and urban planners all want to learn and benefit from Freiburg‘s experiences. And the business tourists, who take time out to head off, "green map" in their hand, to cycle through Freiburg on the "Green City" tour, are often pioneers blazing the trail and opening doors to "normal" tourists and to businesses that subsequently relocate to the area.

Freiburg is twinned with nine other cities and constitutes a very attractive candidate for twinning arrangements, not least because of its experience with environmental policy and renewable energies. The city is already cooperating with Isfahan in the solar sector, has built Italy‘s largest photovoltaic installation with its partner city of Padua, and Madison in the U.S. is currently planning the construction of a Sustainability Centre based on the Solar Info Center in Freiburg. Freiburg has reached an agreement with Besançon in France to maintain regular exchanges on sustainable urban development within the framework of a convention, and with Lviv in Ukraine there are contacts in the Network of Energy-efficient Ukrainian Towns to modernize the design of houses and renewable energy sources there as well.