Clean Economy Bridge
A comparative look at green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in both Germany and North Carolina.
Under the patronage of the German Consulate in Atlanta, NC State Global has designed a project and programming under the initiative of the “Clean Economy Bridge” (TCB). The TCB is an initiative of the German Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection. Projects under the TCB have fostered strengthened cooperation on energy policy issues between Germany (and Europe as a whole) on one side of the Atlantic and the US and Canada on the other.
This project, “NC and the Ostsee” (Ostsee is Baltic Sea in German) utilizes the framework of the Sister City relationship between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to examine sustainability, and biodiversity in these two river-basin and watershed geographies.
The Blue Economy Innovation Program’s 5th Annual “Creating Solutions for the Global Blue Economy” Workshop will be held October 24-25, 2025 at NC State’s coastal campus in Morehead City, NC. This workshop is FREE for NC State undergraduate and graduate students.
The workshop offers a rare chance for students to develop real solutions for the coast – solutions that blend science, creativity and innovation. Networking opportunities with innovators, subject matter experts and other stakeholders are a key feature of the workshop. This year, with generous support from the German Consulate’s Clean Economy Bridge program, a delegation from University of Rostock and the Ocean Technology Campus in Rostock Germany will participate.
Topics to be discussed include:
- Aqua-/mariculture
- Coastal Erosion & Water Quality
- Marine Renewable Energy
- Coastal Flooding & Saltwater Intrusion
- Sensor development and AI
Register before 5 p.m. Eastern on September 25, 2025!
2025
This year’s Clean Economy Bridge project will build on our successful 2024 “NC and the Ostsee” collaboration, and provide a deeper dive into how coastal economies innovate in both North Carolina and Germany.
In Fall 2025, NC State’s Blue Economy Innovation Program will host students, staff, and faculty in Morehead City for a workshop on “Creating Solutions for the Global Blue Economy.” The program will offer a comparative look at how North Carolina, U.S., and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, approach innovation and sustainability on their respective coasts. Key partners include Raleigh Sister Cities, The University of Rostock, The City of Rostock, and the Ocean Technology Campus in Rostock.
Additional details will be available soon.
2024
This project is a collaboration between NC State Global and the NC State Climate Solutions Collaborative, specifically with the NC State Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative, NC State KIETS Climate Leaders Program, and Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (SE CASC) at NC State, as well as with Raleigh Sister Cities.
- Opening Seminar
- September 13, 2024. 11:00AM – 12:00PM. Virtual
- This event introduced the Raleigh and Rostock areas and provided a Transatlantic comparison of the environmental issues and sustainability solutions for each area.
- Speakers:
- Opening remarks from Consul General Melanie Moltmann, German Consulate in Atlanta
- Tal Ben-Horin, PhD, NC State College of Veterinary Medicine
- Inna Sokolova, PhD, Universität Rostock, Chair of Marine Biology
- Moderated by Seth Murray, PhD, NC State College of Humanities and Social Sciences
- Comparing Flooding in Global Watersheds
- September 20, 2024. 9:00AM – 10:30AM. Hunt Library.
- This panel was a part of the KIETS Climate Fellows, Think and Do: Climate Challenges and Solutions symposium.
- View recording of event here
- Speakers:
- Jack Kurki-Fox, NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Shrikar Nunna, NC Department of Environmental Quality, Director of Legislative Affairs
- Miaorun Wang, Universität Rostock Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
- Dieter Vollert, City of Rostock, Department for Environment and Climate
- Creating Solutions for the Blue Economy Workshop
- October 14-15, 2024. Morehead City, NC.
- The Clean Economy Bridge was a partner in the 4th annual Blue Economy Workshop, hosted in Morehead City with the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST).
- As a part of the project, speakers from Universität Rostock and the Digitales Innovationszentrum Rostock joined us in North Carolina to talk about blue economy innovation at the Baltic.
- Speakers:
- Luisa-Maria Wendt, Digitales Innovationszentrum Rostock
- Sabine Brüser, Digitales Innovationszentrum Rostock, Universität Rostock
- Global Change Seminar – Bridging Borders: Collaborative Approaches to Watershed Resilience
- November 8, 2024. 10:30AM – 12:00PM. Virtual
- For this event, the Clean Economy Bridge project partnered with the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center for an event on applied research successes in upland watershed resilience in the Southeast United States and the trans-coastal sustainability management around the Baltic Sea in Rostock, Germany.
- View recording here
- Speakers:
- Ansgar Leefken, Universität Rostock, Chair of Marine Engineering
- Bill Hunt, NC State William Neal Reynolds Distinguished University Professor and Extension Specialist
- Andrew Fox, NC State Coastal Dynamics Design Lab, Professor and University Faculty Scholar
- Closing Seminar
- November 21, 2024. 6:00PM – 8:00PM. Duke Energy Hall.