Will Holtenau turn blue?

Press-Information, 07.07.2022

Blue bioeconomy companies promote the establishment of sustainable businesses at the MFG5 site in Kiel

A new district is being built in the Holtenau district of Kiel, with a direct view of the Kiel Fjord and the Baltic Sea. After more than a hundred years of military use and the withdrawal of Naval Air Wing 5 (MFG 5), more than 90 hectares of space are now available for urban growth. The Association for Bioeconomy at Naval Sites (BaMS e.V.), an umbrella organization for currently 49 companies and research institutions, is advocating for the establishment of companies that are knowledgeable about bio-based economic practices and the sustainable use of marine resources. This includes, for example, the processing of seaweed and regional plant materials into new, biological materials, or the production of sustainable food and other luxury goods from fish, mussels, or algae.

At a workshop organized by the city of Kiel on July 4, to which Mayor Dr. Ulf Kämpfer had invited selected representatives from business, associations, and research clusters, the BaMS Association was able to present an initial proposal for space requirements and structural characteristics of the sustainably and citizen-oriented commercial and mixed-use area. The invited participants agreed that the special location between the airport, forest, and sea will attract a unique mix of companies. Above all, companies that work with sustainable, organic materials from the region and innovative technologies should be able to settle here.

“We welcome Ulf Kämpfer's initiative to involve companies and interest groups early on in the development process and found the exchange to be very constructive and productive,” emphasizes Dr. Stefan Meyer, coordinator of the Bioeconomy Innovation Space at Marine Sites at Kiel University (CAU) and spokesperson for BaMS e.V. Many of the Schleswig-Holstein companies represented by the BaMS association are currently looking for more space for growth and production. “The companies organized in BaMS stand for innovation and sustainability in the blue and green bioeconomy and represent industries that can be ideally integrated into a planned mixed-use area such as Holtenau Ost,” Meyer continues. “In bioeconomic production, many process steps are closely linked – one's by-product is another's raw material. This means that distances must be short. In Holtenau Ost, we have a unique opportunity to gain contiguous commercial space.”

The association is committed to creating a unique blue-green business park in Holtenau East, nestled between the air, forest, and sea, which will offer bioeconomy companies from Kiel and beyond a clear competitive advantage. Thanks to the close networking of the companies, young and particularly sustainable companies in particular could find a new home in Kiel Holtenau. In conjunction with the already planned development concepts for complete CO2 neutrality in the area and the use of self-generated renewable energies, Holtenau East could become an international flagship for sustainable urban development.