{"id":46457,"date":"2024-05-29T11:54:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T09:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.steinmuehle.de\/blog\/2024\/05\/29\/sustainability-forum-11th-edition-a-polarizing-debate-with-local-politicians-on-move-35\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T17:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:38:15","slug":"sustainability-forum-11th-edition-a-polarizing-debate-with-local-politicians-on-move-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/blog\/2024\/05\/29\/sustainability-forum-11th-edition-a-polarizing-debate-with-local-politicians-on-move-35\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability Forum, 11th Edition: A Polarizing Debate with Local Politicians on MOVE 35"},"content":{"rendered":"

It wasn’t the most relaxed event the Steinm\u00fchle had ever seen, clearly due to the topic:<\/p>\n

Mayor Dr. Thomas Spies and Sara M\u00fcller of the citizens\u2019 initiative \u201cVerkehrswende\u201d discussed the MOVE 35 transportation plan with Oskar Edelmann, deputy executive director of the Kassel-Marburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Lisa Dei\u00dfler of the CDU\/FDP\/BfM parliamentary group.<\/p>\n

Everyone was suddenly faced with questions from the 11th-grade class at Steinm\u00fchle.<\/p>\n

Ecology vs. Economy. \u2014 Or Can They Go Hand in Hand After All? <\/p>\n

Against the backdrop of climate change and the international and national agreements ratified in this context, transportation and mobility are central issues that are the subject of heated debate. Are ecology and the economy an irreconcilable contradiction? <\/p>\n

A variety of topics will be incorporated into the 250-page MOVE 35 concept if it is implemented. This quickly became apparent from the statements made by the panelists. <\/p>\n

“They want to rush this through here, and accessibility to Marburg\u2019s outlying neighborhoods is being neglected,” stated Lisa Dei\u00dfler, reaffirming her faction\u2019s \u201cno\u201d vote due to various shortcomings: \u201cThere are no concrete plans.\u201d Sara M\u00fcller\u2019s approach was quite different. \u201cWe have declared a climate emergency for Marburg,\u201d she reminded the audience, \u201cVoting \u2018yes\u2019 on MOVE 35 is a climate necessity.\u201d Mayor Dr. Thomas Spies began his statement by noting, \u201cMobility isn\u2019t just about moving machines.\u201d Unfortunately, he said, every transportation debate is framed as a debate about car traffic\u2014when it\u2019s really just about how people get from one place to another. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Many business owners are concerned”<\/strong><\/p>\n

This argument didn’t really take hold\u2014at least not with Chamber of Industry and Commerce representative Oskar Edelmann. For him, it was clear: “First, we need to expand public transportation; only then can we consider mandatory measures against car use.” The representative of the local business community spoke of the deep concerns local business owners have about the reduction of parking spaces and one-way street regulations: \u201cMore business owners than ever before are worried.\u201d <\/p>\n

The mayor acknowledged that mobility is essential and dismissed the claim that the city wants to ban cars as \u201cnonsense.\u201d Of course, a certain level of accessibility is needed, but it must be balanced fairly. According to the Chamber of Industry and Commerce representative, removing parking spaces creates an environmental contradiction: \u201cMore traffic searching for parking generates more CO2.\u201d Furthermore, there is no need to impose restrictions on drivers in order to expand public transportation and bike lanes. Furthermore, people often don\u2019t come into the city for personal enjoyment: \u201cYou have to keep in mind that Marburg has 29,000 commuters every day.\u201d <\/p>\n

“How do the municipal utilities plan to handle putting even more buses into service? We’re already short on bus drivers,” one student asked. Sara M\u00fcller sees the solution in using smaller vehicles, at least for the outlying neighborhoods. These could be operated without a bus driver’s license\u2014a passenger transport permit would suffice. <\/p>\n

Lisa Dei\u00dfler cast serious doubt on the intention expressed by MOVE supporters to create \u201cneighborhood parking garages\u201d and asked where these were supposed to be located. Incorporating some questions from students, those present also discussed the topics of impervious surfaces, possible changes to the bus route system, carsharing, and community buses. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Opponents spread bad vibes”<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the end, what remained of the event were mutual accusations among the panelists that the other side had failed to take entrepreneurs and the district into account (quote from Edelmann), had distorted the facts, and had spread bad vibes (quote from Spies).<\/p>\n

Whether department store owner Ahrens or the company Pharmaserv was for or against MOVE 35 could not be definitively determined during the event, as each panelist claimed the position that suited them best.<\/p>\n

The majority of the 11th-graders seemed to oppose the proposal\u2014which is hardly surprising for students at a private school whose parents tend to be more economically minded. Whether they will be in the majority or minority in Marburg will become clear after the vote on June 9. <\/p>\n

The Sustainability Forum at the school\u2014as the event is officially titled\u2014has a long tradition at Steinm\u00fchle. The panel discussion was organized by the Political Science Department, primarily by Carmen Bastian. She also serves as Steinm\u00fchle\u2019s Ecology Coordinator and Environmental Officer. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It wasn’t the most relaxed event the Steinm\u00fchle had ever seen, clearly due to the topic: Mayor Dr. Thomas Spies and Sara M\u00fcller of the citizens\u2019 initiative \u201cVerkehrswende\u201d discussed the MOVE 35 transportation plan with Oskar Edelmann, deputy executive director of the Kassel-Marburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Lisa Dei\u00dfler of the CDU\/FDP\/BfM parliamentary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":46464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,85,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecology-and-sustainability","category-news","category-politics-business-responsibility"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46457"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49522,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46457\/revisions\/49522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}