LAUSITZ AS A NET ZERO VALLEY?

The cleantech market is booming worldwide - with annual investments in the trillions. Lusatia can and wants to establish itself as Europe's first hotspot of industrial awakening, creating new production capacities for clean technologies as part of the EU-funded growth package "Net Zero Industry Act". With its application for the first Net Zero Valley, in which green industry is to be established and expanded more quickly, better financed and supplied with labour, it is relying on atransparent participation process. Municipalities, districts, business, science and social partners were involved in the development of the specific strategy paper, which aims to pave the way to Net Zero Valley from within the region. With 37 billion euros of public and private investment, it is already a role model for structural change and an energy transition pioneer.

Christine Herntier, Mayor of Spremberg and spokesperson for the Lusatia Round Table, Dr Markus Niggemann, Head of Financial Management, Economic Development & Social Affairs, City of Cottbus/Chóśebuz and Lars Katzmarek, Member of the Brandenburg State Parliament,will discuss arguments, ideas, objectives, initiatives and prospects for successas part of the Cottbus European Talks on 16 May 2025. Interested citizens are invited to take part in the constructive dialogue. Participation is free of charge.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Hübner, Vice President for Research and Transfer at BTU, Robert Crumbach, Minister of Finance and Europe of the State of Brandenburg (video message) and Tobias Schick, Mayor of the City of Cottbus/Chóśebuz. Sebastian Schiller (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg) will moderate the event.

With the new growth package "Net Zero Industry Act", the EU is pursuing the goal of meeting at least 40 per cent of domestic demand for strategic green technologies from its own production by 2030. The regulation, which came into force in June 2024, defines 19 key technologies for this, such as the production of renewable energies, hydrogen technologies, Alternative Propulsion, storage & grid technologies, decarbonisation of industry and_{CO2 storage}.

The "Cottbus European Talks" are a cooperation between the Centre for Law and Administrative Sciences at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, the city of Cottbus/Chóśebuz and the Euroregion Spree-Neiße-Bober e.V. with Europe Direct Guben. The dialogue series takes place under the patronage of the Ministry of Finance and Europe of the State of Brandenburg. It was launched in 2023 and officially opened by former President of the German Bundestag Dr Wolfgang Schäuble†. Since then, the format has been an integral part of the Europe Weeks in Cottbus.