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This paper presents an additive index on climate policy engagement at the municipal level, based on the three dimensions awareness, conception and implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The distortion of the index is based on the self-perception and personal assessment of municipal decision-makers, which were collected and evaluated as part of a primary survey (postal survey). The index shows how strongly a municipality is committed to climate policy. Thus, it represents an extension of previous indices that either only consider climate mitigation or adaptation or are only based exclusively on secondary statistics. The second part of the paper describes the application of the index in three counties or 51 municipalities in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The interpretation takes place in the context of structural characteristics of the municipalities concerned (number of inhabitants, share of votes of different parties, geographical location). The distribution of the index values shows a similar awareness in climate protection and climate change adaptation, but an increasing discrepancy in the implementation of adaptation-specific measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the connection of the foundational economy approach, a contemporary concept in the public services discourse, with the notion of spatial justice. It argues that the economic relevance of the systems of the foundational economy are important for territorial development issues, too and that they are able to provide a substantial contribution to sustainable and just spatial development. First, the concept of spatial justice is introduced as a spatial planning policy interpretation of equal living conditions. Based on four sub-dimensions, it is shown that access to basic services for all people plays an elementary part in this. The concept shares this perspective with the foundational economy approach. The latter opens up a new perspective on public services and, in addition to the service provision, also emphasises the high significance of foundational economic systems for labour markets. Against this background, a descriptive-statistical evaluation of labour market data on the spatial distribution of the foundational economy at the district level in Bavaria is carried out. Overall, the paper addresses the uneven spatial distribution of the foundational economies and advocates better funding for municipalities in order to achieve spatial justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article contains a list of contact persons of the DMV (German Mathematical Society) at various German universities and colleges. It also mentions some dissertation topics and their supervisors. Furthermore, scientific papers and research projects by mathematicians at various universities are listed. Information about the DMV, its board and presidency, as well as contact details and membership fees, are also provided. However, no further information is given about the content of the papers or research projects. [Extracted from the article]

Municipalities as key players in the transport transition, local authorities are increasingly using consultative public participation in planning. So far, however, it is unclear to what extent they use participatory processes in mobility-related planning and how these are organised. This paper closes this knowledge gap based on an analysis of the consultative, discursive participation processes for mobility-related planning in German cities since 2015. 180 cities and 350 procedures were analysed to determine to what extent an what characteristics in German municipalities use consultative, discursive participation procedures inmobility-related planning and what possible in- fluence of the respective context can be derived from this. The study analyses 'participation-oriented' cities with guidelines for citizen participation, which were compared to a random selection of 'typical' municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony as well as the three German city states. It is clear that discursive consultations are carried out regularly, in particular in municipalities with guidelines and larger cities. Yet in most cities such processes are still the exception. Worth criticizing is that the formats used can usually reach only certain groups of the population and that for a significant proportion of the processes examined no information on the results of participation can be found. As a result, the potential of discursive citizen participation in addressing the municipal transport transition have not yet been sufficiently utilised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volunteer firefighters are an established institution in many rural areas across Europe. In spite of this ubiquity, many volunteer brigades have been increasingly facing challenges in discharging their functions. Issues such as undertaking necessary investments, and ensuring daytime availability have become particularly critical against the backdrop of an increase in the number of interventions. Many of the measures intended to futureproof volunteer firefighting are based on transferring responsibility to different actors. To this end developing and expanding the reach of fire safety education functions to enhance the public's prevention and self-protection skills. The aim of this paper is to explore the process of institutional change induced by innovative initiatives, which aim to advance fire safety education. For the study, we draw on empirical research, which follows the development and mainstreaming of two projects in Austria and Germany. These initiatives aim to standardise disparate approaches and are underpinned by new forms of multi-level cooperation. Our inductive analysis identifies five key steps which define the successful long-term implementation of projects in coproduced services of general interest. We conclude with observations on the redistribution of responsibility for fire services and hazard prevention in contemporary societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgent transformation of our energy system towards a sustainable infrastructure of public services regularly fails in regional implementation due to spatial and social requirements of rural areas. Using the example of a transdisciplinary project, this paper identifies dilemmas in the participatory implementation of the regional energy transition and formulates conditions for the success of a spatially sensitive energy transition governance. As shown by the governance approach developed for "co-transformation", context-sensitive forms of participation in co-regulation, co-allocation and co-visioning can contribute to procedural, distributional and future justice and thus to the acceptability of the regional energy transition as a public service infrastructure in rural areas. Central fields of action are open-ended and regionally adapted forms of participation through co-regulation in the planning process, approaches to spatial co-allocation of energy transition-related burdens and local added values, as well as the co-visioning of regional energy futures and regional energy visions to be derived from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Issue 32(1)" in the Communications of the German Mathematical Society (DMV) covers various topics such as the DMV Student Conference 2024 in Ilmenau, the significance of mathematics in museums, job opportunities for mathematics graduates, and the name of the DMV. The president of the DMV emphasizes the need to attract more and younger members and to make greater efforts towards women and diversity. It also reports on the discussion about renaming the DMV, for which suggestions from members are being collected. The 2023 PISA study shows that the average mathematical and reading competencies of adolescents in many OECD countries have declined compared to the previous study in 2018. Scientific competence has also decreased. In Germany, the performance losses in all three areas are above average. The reasons for the deterioration are mainly attributed to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as language difficulties, interest, and motivation. The exhibition "From Newton to Einstein - a journey through space and time" was developed at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam and is now on display in Tübingen. The award winner Carla Cederbaum has also developed other projects, such as a book on mathematical magic tricks and the publication series "Oberwolfach-Snapshots of Modern Mathematics". Mathematicians Carolin Mehlmann and Thomas Richter from the University of Magdeburg participated in an expedition of the Polarstern to the Arctic Ocean to calibrate a new hybrid sea ice model. The hybrid sea ice model combines particle and continuum methods to better resolve the different sea ice regimes on different local scales. The text deals with the deformation theorem in differential geometry. It is shown that a manifold with boundary possesses a metric with certain properties if the double of the manifold carries such a metric. The question of whether the converse of this statement holds is also raised. The text deals with hypothesis testing and the problem of multiple error probability. Various methods for solving this problem are presented, including the Bonferroni correction and the development of better methods taking into account the dependency structure of the tests. It also addresses pseudoline arrangements, which have connections to combinatorics, geometry, and computer science. The text deals with various mathematical topics, including sorting networks, pseudoline arrangements, Rubik's cube, the PISA study, calculating machines, student studies, Felix Klein, and international cooperation in mathematics. Various concepts and applications are explained, such as the creation of sorting networks from pseudoline arrangements, the use of Markov chains to generate random pseudoline arrangements, and the development of calculation aids and calculating machines. The importance of student studies and international cooperation in mathematics is also emphasized. The text provides an insight into various mathematical topics and their applications. The article reports on Renate Tobies, a visiting scientist at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. She studied chemistry and mathematics and obtained her habilitation in the history of mathematics and natural sciences. Tobies has taught in various German cities and in Austria and was the managing editor of NTM History and Ethics of Natural Sciences, Technology, and Medicine. The article deals with a position paper by the professional societies DMV. [Extracted from the article]

Kurzfassung: Sustainable development is of equal concern to Geography as an academic discipline and Geography Education. Given Geography's explicit conceptual and thematic affinity to sustainable development, various professional organizations developed normative documents proclaiming Geography to the main carrier subject of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The aim of this paper is to explore what effects the special proximity of school Geography to the promotion of ESD has on the design of geographical specialist knowledge. Lower secondary Geography curricula (1992–2022) of the federal state of Berlin served as sample for content analysis. Viewed in light of work from the History of Education, Sociology of Education, and Subject Education, the results show a progressive loss of disciplinary identity accompanied by a concurrent shift in focus from factual judgments to value judgments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgency of the energy transition is in conflict with delaying effects and options that are not optimally used in the complex, multi-stage German planning system. This also applies to the law and procedures of spatial planning, as well as the interaction of spatial planning with construction planning and sectoral law. Here, fundamental reform options have not yet been exhausted, despite many current legislative projects. Some procedural steps and options for legislative deviations can be eliminated altogether, the interaction of planning and decision-making levels can be made more effective, and subject-related certain hierarchical levels in the planning system could be omitted on a topic-specific basis. Based on a brief analysis of the initial situation for spatial planning, this paper first provides corresponding general considerations on such far-reaching acceleration options and their consequences. This is followed by the presentation of numerous specific spatial planning-related optimisation options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of this decade, society has been confronted with multiple crises that also act as new drivers of spatial development. Based on a literature review and qualitative interviews with housing market actors, this paper presents an interim balance of the lasting influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on housing preferences and location decisions as well as initial empirical knowledge and theses on the effects of the 2022 energy crisis on these decisions. It emerges that the energy crisis already has a greater impact on spatial development today and will probably have a greater impact in the medium and long term than the pandemic. Housing preferences that arose during the pandemic have already shifted again or can no longer be implemented at present. At the same time, the influences of the pandemic can no longer be considered in isolation from the energy crisis. While the pandemic will further intensify spatial deconcentration processes, the effects of the energy crisis are spatially more differentiated. Moreover, in a time of multiple crises, future spatial development will not be shaped by individual crises, but by their interaction - also with long-standing trends such as the ageing of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "President's Greeting" reports on the position paper on equal opportunities and diversity of the German Mathematical Society (DMV). The DMV presidency emphasizes the importance of a diverse, respectful, and inclusive community. It is mentioned that the discussion about a possible renaming of the DMV has resurfaced, but no name change has taken place so far. The presidency has established a specialist group for gender, diversity, and sustainability in mathematics and proposes a participatory process to shape the discussion about the name of the DMV. Furthermore, reference is made to a paper adopted by various mathematical and scientific societies, condemning antidemocratic and nationalist approaches in Germany. It is emphasized that science requires openness, international cooperation, democracy, and the rule of law. [Extracted from the article]