For the period December 7-11, 2024, a five-member team elected officials and staff from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) traveled to Stuttgart, Germany.
The purpose of the study tour was to assess the further transfer and application of urban sustainability policy and technical innovations to Northern Virginia from the Stuttgart region. NVRC and the Verband Region Stuttgart have been working together for the past 25 years.
The topics of study included:
- Re-purposing of large-scale urban infrastructure
- Design, planning and development of energy-efficient urban neighborhoods
- Design, planning and integration of green infrastructure into local-level climate mitigation and resiliency programs
- Expand cross-national applied research through local/regional science/research institutions (i.e. George Mason University and the University of Stuttgart) to support local governmental climate mitigation and resiliency planning in Northern Virginia and the Stuttgart region
- Assess the application of local-level energy planning and management plans for data centers from the Stuttgart region to Northern Virginia
- Apply suitable elements of the German “Dual System” workforce training policies in the sustainable energy and technology sectors to career technical education (CTE) and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs across Northern Virginia
- Renew and implement a five-year collaborative agreement and workplan between NVRC and its regional governmental counterpart, the Verband Region Stuttgart (VRS) – with additional focus on applied science/research that aids climate resiliency and mitigation, workforce training, sustainable housing, public health and emergency response across both regions
The participants of the study tour were:
- Hon. John Chapman (City of Alexandria)
- Hon. Kathy Smith (Fairfax County)
- Hon. Letty Hardi (City of Falls Church)
- Mr. Robert Lazaro, Executive Director, NVRC
- Dr. Dale Medearis, Senior Regional Planner, NVRC
NVRC’s model for global engagement is unique for its data-driven, problem-focused and outcome-oriented approach. For over 25 years, NVRC has collaborated with the Stuttgart region’s local governments, businesses, NGOs and science/research institutes. The collaboration has benefitted Northern Virginia’s communities, economy and ecology through the transfer and adoption of policy and technology innovations. Germany is the second largest investor in the Northern Virginia region. German firms invest over $844 million in Northern Virginia and directly employ approximately 6,000 high-wage, high-tech jobs at 101 business establishments. Many of these enterprises are in the clean- and sustainable technology sectors and invest directly in Northern Virginia.
The following summary of the study tour is framed chronologically and profiles key observations and the most relevant environmental, economic and social lessons for Northern Virginia. This report ends with a summary of follow-up activities for the next 12 to 24 months.
Trip Protocol / Summary of Potential Applicable Lessons to Northern Virginia
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Stuttgart 21 / Regional Green Infrastructure Planning
The delegation toured the “Stuttgart 21” project. Stuttgart 21 is a vast 25-year project intended to redevelop approximately 250 hectares of brownfields through the re-alignment of the region’s rail infrastructure. The outcomes in 2027, when the project is scheduled to be finished, include the systemic integration of new parks and open-spaces that link to the existing regional landscape and green infrastructure plan – and the simultaneous re-purposing of the current railyard into a new downtown for the City center extending to the Neckar River.
The relevant lessons for Northern Virginia include the potential to model and improve understanding about the permanent integration of “clean air corridors” and related green infrastructure into Northern Virginia’s local climate resiliency plans. Stuttgart 21 also can inform Northern Virginia’s aspirations for re-purposing large scale transportation projects. . Stuttgart 21’s public engagement efforts, such as the modeling and computer simulation can inform public information dissemination efforts across Northern Virginia.
Esslingen Weststadt
Weststadt” is a 10-hectare former railyard that has been transformed into a model of integrated energy management project. The planning, design and development of Weststadt combined district energy, production of “green” hydrogen, solar PV, and energy efficient building insulation (residential and commercial) with “smart grid” technologies. Multiple low-impact development applications such as bioswales to convey stormwater, also were integrated into the designs and plans of the project.
Weststadt has the potential to inform multiple “scale” and large mixed-use urban development projects across multiple jurisdictions of Northern Virginia. These include designs and plans that balance residual heat supplies and demands for energy/heat near the region’s data centers. Moreover, the consistent focus on sustainable urban in-fill across the Stuttgart region can inform equivalent large-scale, sustainable and mixed-use developments across Northern Virginia.
Monday, December 9, 2024
Applied Science and Research Supporting Local Sustainable Development in the Northern Virginia and Stuttgart regions
Since 2013, NVRC has pursued multiple practical applied research collaborations with George Mason faculty and staff, such as the NVRC “Solar Map”. This bilateral work is expanding into a quadrilateral relationship that involves research and governmental counterparts from the Stuttgart region (the University of Stuttgart and Verband Region Stuttgart). In 2023, George Mason University and the University of Stuttgart formally convened to develop joint research that leads to supporting local-level climate mitigation and resiliency programs in both regions. Initial research foci include urban heat island mitigation via green infrastructure, flood mitigation and mapping, regional-scale applications of solar photovoltaic and wind flows.
The NVRC delegation took part a joint lecture and presentation at the University of Stuttgart’s Institute of Spatial and Regional Planning. The lecture and presentation addressed future joint applied research supporting local climate resiliency and mitigation planning between the Northern Virginia and Stuttgart regions and the University of Stuttgart and George Mason University.
ARENA2036
Walking tour and discussion about the work of “Active Research Environment for the Next generation of Automobiles” – a University of Stuttgart-based research campus used to test innovative applied research initiatives in the automobile sector.
ARENA is a public-private applied science research initiative to test multiple technical innovations for the automobile sector. Financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, ARENA 2036 has involved a range of research initiatives with relevance to work in Norther Virginia – such as energy efficiency, electric vehicle infrastructure among others.
University of Stuttgart HLRS High Performance Data Center
A visit to a high-performance super-computing data center at the University, which performs climate modeling for the region. The HLRS will also be tied to the University’s district energy systems.
The University of Stuttgart’s high-performance super-computing center develops and executes models of the region’s clean air corridors (among other modeling exercises). The HLRS is connected to the University’s district energy system and convey residual heat via district energy. The relationship between the University of Stuttgart data center(s) and district energy has the potential to inform equivalent work across Northern Virginia – especially at the Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University campuses.
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Discussion on Lessons for Northern Virginia About Germany’s Workforce Training Programs
A two-hour discussion on leaders from the region’s workforce training sector about lessons for Northern Virginia’s career technical education (CTE) and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education programs. Experts attending included officials from the Bosch corporation, vocational schools, guilds, utilities and regional governments.
The German model of apprenticeships is recognized as the gold-standard of workforce training around the world. The Dual System’s harmonized accreditation and fusion of on-the-job, salaried and experiential learning with theoretical schooling is especially applicable to workforce training programs in Northern Virginia.
Northern Virginia CTE and STEM programs can adopt multiple pieces of the German apprenticeship system – especially in the sustainable energy and technology sectors. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “Select Talent USA” and NVRC’s current mapping of foreign investment from German firms offers the ideal portal through which suitable elements of the Dual System can be applied to Northern Virginia’s high schools and community colleges. The German apprenticeship structure systemically connects students with realistic and viable career paths. The systemic partnerships between private businesses, chamber/guilds and schools that include standardized curricula also has the chance to inform future partnerships in Northern Virginia.
The Verband Region Stuttgart and NVRC sign a renewed 5-year MOU
The Verband Region Stuttgart and NVRC agreed to work together for another 5 years. The collaboration will focus on more formal, strategic engagement on multiple social, environmental and economic issues including:
- Promoting ecologically friendly affordable and multi-generational housing
- Promoting sustainable energy management of data centers
- Cultivating more applications of renewable energy
- Accelerating career technical education opportunities and apprenticeships
- Promoting climate resiliency and social inclusion
- Revitalizing stressed watersheds through green infrastructure
- Creating professional and information exchanges among our region’s first responders.
- Institutionalizing circular economy and sustainable waste management programs
- Strengthening our public and mental health programs
Follow-up Activities and Goals (2025 – 2027)
January 2025
- Develop and distribute study-tour report
- Develop article about December study tour
- Develop grant application for CTE educators’ exchange in winter 2025/2026 for region’s CTE and STEM educators on one-week study tour to assess applications of “Dual System” to Northern Virginia CTE and STEM programs
- Carry out webinar on lessons for Northern Virginia’s data centers about EU sustainability metrics for data centers
February 2025
- Prepare a two-page article for publication in professional journals about findings/outcomes of study tour
April 2025
- Carry out webinar on BMW Star auto-technology apprenticeship program for region’s auto-tech CTE programs
- Write and publish article on “Clean Tech FDI” in Northern Virginia
Summer 2025
- Explore potential applications of district energy for region’s data centers and ways that the design, planning and management of thermal district energy systems can be informed by work in Germany
Fall 2025
- Prepare and carry out workshop on climate resiliency planning workshop between GMU/University of Stuttgart
- Develop workshop at German Embassy to share study tour results and explore more formal partnerships with German-based businesses (especially in the sustainable energy and technology sectors) as means by which elements of Dual System can be applied in Northern Virginia
- Develop Blog/Webinar in tandem with George Mason University on lessons from Germany about affordable/ecological social and multi-generational housing for the Northern Virginia region
Fall 2026
- Plan for Stuttgart board visit in the fall of 2026
Fall 2027
- Plan for NVRC board visit in fall of 2027
NVRC wishes to thank the team at the Verband Region Stuttgart for all of their efforts to arrange for a successful study tour. Furthermore, we wish to thank Dominion Energy and the Heinrich Boell Foundation for their support of this project.
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Created with an image by dizain - "Danke (Thank You in German) Word Cloud with marker in many languages of the world"