The City of Bonn's Economic Development Department is once again presenting its focus topics and annual plan for 2025. Victoria Appelbe's team has identified seven topics that have an overarching strategic character and in each of which several projects or measures will be implemented by the Economic Development Department. Many of the focus topics have already been pursued intensively for some time. Only in the area of real estate a completely new topic was selected with “Development of land potential for heat transition”. There is also a special focus on the project “Climate protection offers for the economy” - a measure that is embedded in the economy field of action of the Bonn Climate Plan. The City of Bonn recently invited more than 150 representatives from business, culture and administration to the kick-off event.
Climate protection offers for the economy
“Bonn's business community is very willing to do its bit for climate protection. We want to support this with tailored offers,” says business promoter and Head of the Department Victoria Appelbe. This is why climate protection is increasingly becoming the focus of our work, and the Economic Development Department is implementing key projects from Bonn's climate plan for the business community:
- Climate partnerships: networking, communication and support for committed Bonn companies with 50 or more employees who are working together to promote climate protection.
- Climate protection consultations: Support for Bonn companies in planning and implementing measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.
- Business park management: Promotion of sustainable structures in business parks in order to effectively implement climate protection measures. The Sustainability Hub Region will play an important role in this context as a network and platform.
Securing commercial space
Creation of new urban commercial areas: In order to secure commercial space for trade and production, new areas such as the Pützchen office and business park and areas in the Buschdorf industrial estate are to be developed in accordance with the Bonn commercial space report. A marketing concept will be drawn up and implemented for the last commercial space available at short notice, Justus-von-Liebig-Straße.
Modernization and optimization of existing industrial estates: Existing commercial areas are being re-examined for their potential in order to secure and make more effective use of commercial space through modernization and optimization.
Inter-municipal cooperation to create commercial areas: In cooperation with the municipalities of Alfter and Bornheim, the planning, realization and marketing of the “Areal” commercial area in Alfter-Nord is being driven forward.
International branding as a cybersecurity and IT location
Der im Jahr 2024 gestartete Prozess, die nationale und internationale Markenbildung von Bonn als Cybersicherheits- und IT-The process launched in 2024 to focus on the national and international branding of Bonn as a cybersecurity and IT location will be continued in 2025. The aim is to encourage more companies to relocate and invest as well as to attract specialists and managers in this field.
Securing skilled workers and the workforce
Securing skilled workers is the central task in various sectors. The regional labor market projects “ Alliance for Skilled Workers”, “Competence Center Women & Work” and the Bonn/Rhine-Sieg Regional Agency will be continued in close coordination. There will also be a new focus on the transformation of the world of work. Activities and initiatives will be launched in the area of “Initial and further training in climate-relevant professions”. In the area of securing skilled academic staff, a special focus will be placed on international skilled workers.
Further development of the city center and district centers
Strengthening the retail location is becoming increasingly important as a very significant field of action for municipal economic development. To ensure that all four city centers remain attractive and can be further developed, the economic development agency will continue to support this process in 2025 with ongoing activities and new initiatives, including
- a campaign for Bonn's city center
- the implementation of the Bad Godesberg tourism, culture, sport and leisure concept and
- the creation of an image and marketing concept for Bad Godesberg.
Implementation of the tourism mission statement
The tourism mission statement describes the desired state of tourism in Bonn in 2030. The aim is to further develop Bonn as a sustainable and competitive destination. The key topics in 2025 include the further development of the Lower German Limes World Heritage Site and UN location, cycling and hiking offers in the Bonn city area and the expansion of sustainable offers.
Tapping land potential for heat transition
Internal development is playing an increasingly important role due to the scarcity of land. One focus is now on identifying smaller urban plots that are not suitable for conventional development due to their size and layout. As a first step, these are to be examined as required areas in connection with the municipal heating plan and the associated district heating and local heating networks.