Uli Paetzel
Professor, Chairman of the Executive Board
EGLV, Emschergenossenschaft
Biography
Dr. Uli Paetzel has been Chairman of the Board of Emschergenossenschaft and Lippeverband since 2016. Born in Gelsenkirchen in 1971 and raised in Herten, he studied social sciences and French at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and at the Université François Rabelais in Tours, France. In 2001, Dr. Paetzel completed his doctorate at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Ruhr-Uni Bochum, where he has been an honorary lecturer in sociology since 1999. For three years he was head of the public relations and marketing department of a software company before Paetzel was full-time mayor of the city of Herten from 2004 to 2016. Since the end of 2018, he has been an honorary professor at the Ruhr University in Bochum. On 1 January 2019, he was appointed President of the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA).
Rutgers Climate Bridge Panel 4: Rain’s Impact on Stormwater Management
Abstract
The Ruhr region faced a number of infrastructural challenges in the course of its industrial development, which led to the establishment of strong water associations. Among other things, they ensured that the health hazards of the wastewater produced were averted and flood protection was guaranteed. Today, more than 120 years later, it is apparent that the question of governance is also a crucial bottleneck in solving other infrastructural challenges. Against this background, the lecture will show how water associations can help solve current problems such as climate protection, climate change adaptation and the improvement of biodiversity in urban areas, and what other added values can be developed with these forms of organization.
Rutgers Climate Bridge Public Panel Discussion: Political Visions
This panel focuses on lessons learned from the German American comparison concerning environmental planning approaches to climate change and to highlight that leadership on both sides of the Atlantic is required to set a new political agenda for a resilient future.