DEM 5 – Citizen engagement in Glückstadt

On the occasion of the Glückstädter KulturMärz 2024, DEM5 was invited by Soroptimist International – Club Glückstadt to give a talk about The HuT’s role in the city of Glückstadt.

Our partners from HEREON staged “A safe harbour? Glückstadt in climate change” in the former cinema and today’s youth centre. To make the lecture accessible to everyone, the scientific content was scaled down as much as possible. There were over 100 visitors from the city, a colourful mix of young and old.

In the interactive session that followed the talk, the audience shared their personal experiences of extreme weather in their city and how they dealt with it. After this warm-up, people could write on post-its their recommendations and wishes for a Glückstadt that would be better prepared for its weather extremes. We received 94 suggestions.

The audience also signed up on a contact form for further activities, such as future interviews with older people. There was so much interest that we ran out of contact forms.

The commitment of the inhabitants of Glückstadt to their city and its preparedness in case of extreme events is extremely impressive. This speaks loudly on the importance of working in close contact with citizens and local communities to raise awareness on the disaster risk reduction activities and solutions we need to develop and implement.

Photo credits to Soroptimist International Glückstadt.

Cover image from Unsplash.