Projects All Over the World : Germany

For the first time in the history of World Expositions, EXPO 2000 will link the central venue of the World Exposition in Hanover with projects in the Hanover region, in Germany and all over the world. It will thus showcase practical initiatives which are being undertaken in all parts of the world to master the global challenges facing humankind and which can point out the way to a new relationship between humankind, nature and technology. The limelight will be on innovative projects and integrated solutions which take into account ecological and economic imperatives as well as the cultural and social interests of the respective society. The projects should continue to benefit the regions in which they are located beyond the duration of EXPO 2000 itself: They should be innovative, solution-oriented and transferable to other parts of the world.

Some 76 projects in Lower Saxony will be grouped together under the rubric “City and Region as an Exhibit”. In April 1997 Birgit Breuel introduced the first international projects in Erfurt; 178 from Germany’s federal states (except Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt) were selected by the jury. A second selection procedure is to take place by the spring of 1998. A large number of project proposals is likewise expected at the international level. There the selection will be made by members of the International Advisory Board.

In 1999 all of the projects that have been submitted will be assessed to determine whether they have lived up to the goals they set themselves at the time of their registration. If so, they will receive the official title “EXPO 2000 International Project”. The best projects will be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals. As Birgit Breuel put it, “In keeping with the Olympic spirit, we are staging an international competition of ideas.”