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<br />Request for Action <br /> <br /> <br />To Item Number <br /> <br />Mayor and City Council 6.1 <br />Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by <br /> <br />Presentations, Awards, August 1, 2016Kristin Mroz, Environmental Technician <br /> <br />and Recognitions <br />Item Description Reviewed by <br /> <br />Climate Smart Municipalities – Germany Tour 2016 Cal Portner, City Administrator <br />Reviewed by <br /> <br /> <br />Action Requested <br /> <br />Presentation on the Climate Smart Municipalities Germany Tour 2016. <br /> <br />Background/Discussion <br /> <br />Cal Portner and Kristin Mroz toured the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany from July 3-10, <br />2016, as a part of the Climate Smart Municipalities (CSM) partnership. The CSM is a 3-year grant from <br />the Germany Transatlantic Program, also known as the Marshall Plan. Five Minnesota Cities (Elk River, <br />Morris, Warren, Duluth, and Rochester) were selected to partner with five North Rhine-Westphalia <br />communities (Iserlohn, Saerbeck, Arnsberg, Siegen, and Münster) to collaborate on climate and energy <br />smart projects and programs. The goal of the partnership is to help Minnesota cities achieve the state’s <br />“Next Generation Energy Act” goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions at least 30% below 2005 levels <br />by 2025, while boosting the local economy. <br /> <br />A delegation of 27 members representing the five communities, the MN Environmental Quality Board, <br />the MN Pollution Control Agency, the MN Department of Commerce, the Great Plains Institute, Ever- <br />Green Energy, Affinity Plus Credit Union, and University of Minnesota traveled to Germany. The <br />delegation met with German agencies including the Germany Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for <br />Economic Affairs and Energy, the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry for Climate Protection, <br />Environment, Agriculture, Nature Protection and Consumer Protection, Energieagentur NRW, and the <br />Federal Environment Agency. <br /> <br />The delegation traveled throughout the state, visiting our partner communities and touring a number of <br />their sites while also learning from their community leaders. Communities visited included: <br /> <br />Dusseldorf <br /> <br /> <br />High Efficiency Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant tour <br /> <br /> <br />NRW Ministry overview <br /> <br /> <br />Roundtable Discussion <br /> <br />Saerbeck (Morris) <br /> <br /> <br />Heating Plant tour <br /> <br /> <br />Energy Experience Path tour <br /> <br /> <br />Energy Management <br /> <br />