Planning Concepts for Sponge Cities

Climateways in Osterholz-Scharmbeck north of Bremen is an innovative company that has made it its mission to develop and implement the concepts of a sponge city. The company, founded in June 2022, wants to counteract climate change, and foster environmental conservation with its ideas and products. The concepts for cities and communities as well as for agriculture and forestry are based on the concepts of nature itself. Bennet Rieckhoff, one of the two managers of Climateways, explains the company’s mission.

“We are already looking forward to the fair in Nuremberg,” says Bennet Rieckhoff. “At GaLaBau, we seek contact with decision-makers from communities of all sizes and populations, but also with representatives of urban and rural districts. Of course, we are also interested in conversations with landscape gardeners. Ideally, they are bold people who would like to explore new avenues with us at Climateways.”

These new avenues Bennet Rieckhoff talks about involve a holistic approach: “Our customers can expect an all-round support. From planning and engineering services to product development and the final construction work (usually done by subcontractors but supervised by Climateways) – we are a one-stop shop.” In this company’s case, holistic also means that they consider aspects of infiltration, storage, and usage of rainwater for everything they do. Nowadays, this is especially important, as there are significant changes in precipitation periods and intensity.

You only have to have a look at the 14-person team to understand why the sponge city concepts from Climateways are of such high quality: The employees are construction engineers or scientists from the fields of mineralogy or geology. And they have strong partnerships with landscape gardeners and other planners.

“I originally trained to be a locksmith,” Bennet Rieckhoff recalls. “After I had worked as a sales manager in the aluminium industry for several years and done some further training in business administration on the side, I wished for more sustainability and a sense of purpose in what I was doing.” The logical next step for the today 36-year-old was a professional reorientation – like founding Climateways with his business partner Mike Uhlemann. When asked about their plans for the future, Bennet Rieckhoff says: “Within the next year, we would like to be able to offer interested parties a reference object in every German state.”

Climateways is one of the exhibitors at the joint stand Young Innovators. This area is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and can be found in Hall 3C. NürnbergMesse offers companies in the International StartUp Area special conditions for participating in GaLaBau, the leading International Trade Fair for Urban Green and Open Spaces (www.galabau-messe.com/en). The fair takes place from 11 – 14 September 2024.