Hit the nerve of the times: Otterfinger Climate Day attracts hundreds of visitors to Archehof

Created: 05/17/2022, 08:09

By: Andreas Höger

Power from the air: young inventors from the Technical University of Munich presented their spectacular kite power kite.

© Stefan Schweihofer

A successful premiere: The Otterfingen Climate Day on May 15th attracted a surprising number of visitors to the Archehof.

The range of topics ranged from nutrition and agriculture to wind power and mini solar systems.

Otterfing

– This experiment was a success: on Sunday, the first Otterfingen Climate Day attracted several hundred visitors to the Archehof Schlickenrieder site with seven presentations and a number of information stands.

"It went really really well," sums up Manfried Doll, one of the co-organizers of the Citizens' Forum alongside Cornelia Seitz.

For the first time, the three Citizens' Forum working groups Environment/Energy, Social Issues and Art/Culture jointly managed a major event.

The day was embedded in the Oberland climate spring event series.

Even though the climate crisis with its causes and consequences has already been well elucidated, the Otterfingen Climate Day apparently hit the nerve of the times with its concentrated information on various topics.

"The format was right," believes Doll, who acted as moderator of the lecture marathon, "there were significantly more people than we thought." He estimates the average number of listeners at 60 to 70.

In a speech, member of the Bundestag Karl Bär (Greens) justified his position that, in the interest of climate change, the use of pesticides in agriculture should be largely avoided.

Doll reports on "controversial discussions".

There was the biggest rush when Otterfing's mayor Michael Falkenhahn explained the community's Winkraft project in the Hofoldinger Forst for the first time to a "real" audience;

he took the opportunity to clear up some "myths and legends".

Doll was surprised at the great interest in Eva Mathilde Fuchs' nutrition lecture “Climate protection tastes good”.

"Maybe we should add another lecture to that."

One focus of the lectures and outside at the information stands was the climate-friendly conversion to self-made solar power and modern heating technologies.

The stands were constantly besieged.

The mini solar systems from the Bavarian manufacturer Sunset met with particular interest.

"The company was overwhelmed by the demand," reports Michael Seewald from the AK Environment/Energy.

A number of visitors signed for the current collective order organized by the AK.

The Munich start-up Kitekraft brought along a spectacular new development: the propellers of their special kite convert wind into electricity during flight and send it to a ground station.

It is conceivable to set up a test area in Otterfing.

"People came to get specific information and take something with them," Doll believes.

With coffee and cake, in the middle of a farm, in a shady spot, what had been heard and seen could be processed.

"The cake was earlier than expected," says Doll.

Otterfinger artists had enriched the site with large-format posters on the subject of climate change.

The younger generation also showed the flag: Otterfingen elementary school students organized a game of skill and presented homemade natural cosmetics.

"A good concept, current topics, a suitable location and a wonderful summer's day - the combination made the difference," summarizes Doll.

All the work was worth it.

"I can well imagine reviving the format next year."