Climate protection concept Salzlandkreis

At the sixth Energy and Climate Round Table in the Salzlandkreis district on 5 November 2025 in Aschersleben, climate adaptation manager Luisa Böning presented the heavy rain hazard map from the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG). This map, which is available on the geodata portal of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, can be used to support disaster control and municipal planning, for example.

By the end of 2025, the data should also be available as a download for integration into a proprietary geographic information system (GIS).

Jakob Napiontek from the Future Lab of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) e. V. reported on the research project Information System Energy Transition "INFO-EW: Assessment of social and economic impacts of energy transition and structural change". In particular, he presented the conditions in the Salzland district and scenarios for the future as well as the potential derived from them. The Salzland district is also involved in this project.

Climate Protection Manager Wilfried Stammwitz reported on the current status in Saxony-Anhalt and in particular provided information on the climate roundtables organised by the State Environment Agency and the Regional Climate Information System for Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia (ReKIS). Of course, there was also plenty of opportunity for dialogue among the participants.

How far has the town of Bernburg (Saale) progressed with its municipal heating plan? Representatives from the town and Bernburg municipal utilities provided participants with information at the fifth energy and climate round table of the Salzlandkreis district, held on 10 September 2025 at the district office.

The district administration had once again invited local stakeholders from the towns, municipalities and companies, who deal extensively with the topics of climate protection, energy and sustainability, to a larger round table and used the new meeting for a lively exchange of current information and experiences. The focus was initially on Bernburg and municipal heat planning, but also on the status achieved in the district and the state.

In August, Luisa Böning started work as a climate adaptation manager in the Salzland district. The district administration also provided information about this. This is because the local authority family has set itself important goals with the climate protection concept and the measures for the necessary climate protection and adaptation to climate change. Ultimately, implementation can only succeed if all relevant stakeholders in the Salzland district are aware of each other and their respective approaches. As a result of the discussion, climate protection manager Wilfried Stammwitz was able to make the recommendation that master chimney sweeps should be more closely involved in the implementation of the energy and heat transition - as an important interface to citizens. Luisa Böning showed the map with the heat load index live in the GIS system of the Salzland district using the example of the area of the town of Bernburg (Saale) based on data from the state environmental agency and explained the potential benefits.

The next energy and climate round table is to bring together all interested parties at one table this year, for the first time in Aschersleben.

At the beginning of April, employees of the Salzland district administration and representatives of local authorities met at the invitation of Stadtwerke Bernburg GmbH to visit the central combined heat and power plant in Friedenshall.

Heiko Zimmermann, Head of District Heating at Stadtwerke, guided the group through the complex systems with great expertise. Stadtwerke operates 4 combined heat and power plants and 3 peak load boilers as well as several heat storage units at the site. A large ground-mounted solar thermal plant with a gross collector area of 8,603 m2 and a nominal output of 5.55 megawatts supports the largest district heating network in Bernburg (Saale) with a route length of around 23 kilometres and currently 313 house connections. In summer, the solar thermal system often provides the total output of the network during the day. On the largely unsealed surface of the solar thermal plant, sheep keep the plants growing there low in order to avoid shading. The sheep are cared for and looked after by ImHaus GmbH. During the tour, the participants also saw some lambs among the sheep, which clearly felt at home here.

The complex control centre was then presented. Here, dispatchers control and monitor the operation of the generation plants and the grid on a screen wall, thus ensuring optimum, trouble-free operation.

Finally, there was an exchange of ideas in which Mr Denny Gerstenberger, Technical Managing Director of Stadtwerke, took part and was available to answer further questions from the participants.

All in all, it was a very interesting insight into the responsible work of Stadtwerke Bernburg GmbH as a local supplier and operator of critical infrastructure components.

At the fourth energy and climate round table of the Salzlandkreis district in Haus 3 in Bernburg (Saale) on 19 March 2025, Prof. Dr. Matthias Pietsch from Anhalt University of Applied Sciences presented the study "Agroforestry potential and natural sinks for CO2 sequestration and storage in the Salzlandkreis district" (AgroPot). The idea of a woody plant "inventory" to determine and evaluate both agroforestry and ecosystem service potentials met with great interest among the participants from local authorities, the district council factions, representatives of municipal utilities, associations and the State Energy Agency (LENA).

Ms Paetow from LENA then explained the offer of collegial exchange on heat planning and referred to LENA's free data tool to support municipal heat planning.

General information was then provided by climate protection manager Wilfried Stammwitz.

The different perspectives of the participants made the discussion and the mutual exchange of ideas interesting.

The next regulars' table is scheduled to take place again in Bernburg (Saale) after the 2025 summer holidays. The topic will probably be the status of municipal heating planning using the specific example of the town of Bernburg (Saale) and the chimney sweeps' view of the heating transition.

The third energy and climate round table of the Salzlandkreis district took participants to the State Energy Agency (LENA) in Magdeburg on 27 November 2024. Once again, representatives from the towns and municipalities of the Salzlandkreis district, political groups from the district council, municipal energy suppliers and associations accepted the invitation.

After the opening, Dirk Trappe, authorised signatory of LENA and member of the district council, gave an insight into LENA and its subject areas as well as the support options on offer. He also touched on interesting current developments in Saxony-Anhalt and beyond. Katja Peters from LENA's "Public Sector" department then explained the basics and current status of municipal heat planning in Saxony-Anhalt, the main topic of the round table. General information was provided by climate protection manager Wilfried Stammwitz.

The mix of participants with different expertise made for an interesting and lively exchange, which was given sufficient space in the two-hour event.

So far, 6 participants from the field of municipal heat planning from local authorities and energy suppliers have already been identified and now want to enter into a direct dialogue.

The second climate round table took place in the summer at the Strenzfeld campus of Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Bernburg (Saale). The topics were the utilisation of the results of the Salzland district's climate protection concept for local authorities through digital access and the implementation of the cycling concept in the Salzland district. Representatives of cyclists' interests from the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club e. V. and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fahrradfreundliche Kommunen Sachsen-Anhalt e. V. provided important input, particularly on the cycling concept.

The next regulars' table is scheduled to take place in Bernburg (Saale) in March 2025.

The first energy and climate round table in the Salzlandkreis district took place on 14 March 2024 in Bernburg. Representatives of the towns and municipalities in the Salzlandkreis district, political groups from the district council, municipal energy suppliers and scientists from Anhalt University of Applied Sciences accepted the invitation. District council member Dirk Trappe, who as authorised signatory of the Landesenergieagentur Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH (Saxony-Anhalt State Energy Agency) has been advising public administrations and companies in the state on climate protection, energy and sustainability for many years, provided a great deal of input. Prof. Dr Matthias Pietsch from Anhalt University of Applied Sciences offered to support all participants with scientific expertise for their projects or plans, because climate protection must also take nature conservation and environmental protection into account. All relevant stakeholders in the Salzlandkreis district should be aware of each other and their respective approaches and exchange information on a regular basis. To this end, key topics for future meetings were jointly agreed upon.

The next regulars' table will take place in June.

Public transport and cycling take centre stage - Salzlandkreis informs about the results of its citizen survey on climate-friendly mobility. The great interest is to be incorporated into future decisions for the region. District Administrator Markus Bauer: "Climate protection can only succeed through networking.

The Salzland district is launching an online survey on the topics of "Mobility" and "Information for citizens on climate protection and climate adaptation". The survey will be available from 1 February 2024 to 29 February 2024. The results of the online survey, the impetus derived from it and other climate protection measures planned by the Salzland district will be presented to the public at an information event on the Salzland district's climate protection concept on 5 March 2024 at 3 p.m. in the office building House 1, Room 411 (meeting room, 3rd floor), Karlsplatz 37 in 06406 Bernburg (Saale).

Together with Ms Ehrlicher from seecon Ingenieure in Leipzig, the climate protection manager had the opportunity to present the Salzland district's climate protection concept to representatives from various administrations, planners and engineers, scientists and students at the 15th geospatial conference organised by netzwerk | GIS Sachsen-Anhalt e. V. on 14 February 2024 at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences on the Dessau campus. It was important to share experiences from practice for practice.

On 20 June 2023, a participation workshop was held in Bernburg (Saale) with representatives from the district administration, cities and municipalities, municipal utilities, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, credit institutions, the farmers' association, transport companies and associations, the job centre and the state energy agency LENA. The results of the energy and greenhouse gas balance, scenarios and potentials were presented. Three working groups then developed ideas for climate protection measures in the Salzland district.