After just over a year as an observer, the city council in Kiel voted in November 2022 to apply for full membership in the Baltic Sea network STRING. The application was unanimously approved by the political forum at a meeting in the Kiel Science Center on 9 February.
Technology and green transition
– I am really pleased to welcome the German city of Kiel as a full member of the STRING collaboration. With the city’s extensive knowledge of technology and green transition, Kiel is a very valuable addition to STRING. We are all looking forward to the collaboration with Kiel, which will enable us to further promote the very important agenda of connecting the northern green mega-region and contributing to the growth of our region, says Katrine Kildgaard, a member of Copenhagen’s Citizens’ Representation and chairman of the STRING collaboration.
Strong on hydrogen
Kiel has several strengths when it comes to the technological input for the green transition. One of them is the development and implementation of hydrogen technology. The inclusion of the city will add to the collective strength of the mega-region, where regions and cities form an alliance to develop a competitive, sustainable growth corridor and a green hub between Oslo and the metropolis of Hamburg.
Will increase Kiel’s influence
The city government of Kiel joins STRING with the aim of increasing Kiel’s influence in Germany and becoming a European and internationally oriented partner in sustainable mobility, green growth and hydrogen. Kiel’s Lord Mayor Ulf Kämpfer is convinced:
– With membership of the international STRING megaregion, we have the opportunity to position ourselves even more strongly as a company and innovative location in the region. In the mega-region STRING, we work together on solutions to the great challenges of our time. We want to show how we can organize our societies in a cosmopolitan climate-friendly and economically successful way and adapt them to the future. We see many points of contact for Kiel, especially in green growth, says Ulf Kämpfer.
The STRING collaboration works for an integrated mega-region in Northern Europe from Oslo/Stockholm in the north to Hamburg in the south.
Facts – STRING Members:
- Oslo Municipality
- Viken Municipality
- The state of Schleswig-Holstein
- The city-state of Hamburg
- Kiel Municipality
- Region Västra Götaland
- Region Halland
- Region Skåne
- Helsingborg Municipality
- Göteborg Municipality
- Malmö Municipality
- Copenhagen Municipality
- Region Hovedstaden
- Region Sjælland
- Region Syddanmark
