GreenTech as an opportunity and growth market
The newPark offers a location with a profile for future industries – including the growth industry GreenTech as a core target market. The term GreenTech covers the broad gamut of industries of environmental technology and resource efficiency. This growth-oriented, innovative sector is strongly characterised by small and medium-scaled enterprises: 90 percent of GreenTech companies in Germany generate annual sales of less than 50 million euros, and three quarters of the companies employ fewer than 50 people (source: German Federal Ministry for the Environment: “GreenTech made in Germany 2018”).
The declared goal is to make the newPark North Rhine-Westphalia’s showcase for GreenTech. This applies both to the companies to be accommodated and to the joint technical infrastructure.
Environmentally friendly home and building technology showcase
As a GreenTech location, the newPark will showcase future-oriented infrastructure in public spaces wherever possible: Rainwater treatment, pumping stations, energy generation from renewable sources and digital infrastructure can be used in an image-building and exemplary manner on site. They will thus strengthen the location as a showcase for new green home and building technology. For public development, visible technical structures should therefore be subject to special design requirements.
Green markets on the upswing
The environment created in this way should then appeal to and attract companies in the GreenTech sector in particular. This medium-scaled sector can boast above-average growth rates (8.8 percent expected by 2025) and is already hugely important in Germany. By 2025, the GreenTech share of gross domestic product is expected to rise to 20 percent. This reflects the importance of environmental technology and resource efficiency on a national level. More information
“Ambitious ecological goals can only be achieved with the help of environmental technology and resource efficiency,” states the Environmental Technology Atlas for Germany “GreenTech made in Germany” from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment. And it goes on: “On this basis, demand for ‘green’ products, processes and services remains at a high level. GreenTech markets are continuing to grow – from which German suppliers will benefit thanks to their innovative strength, systems expertise and export orientation.”
“Green jobs” with major employment potential
In the renewable energy sector alone, more than 370,000 jobs have been created since 2004; overall, the “green jobs” sector employs around two million people nationwide, with a strong upward trend. With the focus on GreenTech envisaged in the newPark project, there is an important parallel to the energy turnaround adopted by the German government. (Source: newPark Energy Concept, 2017).
Opportunities for the region
This is particularly true for the Ruhr and the Emscher-Lippe region, which has already successfully positioned itself in the GreenTech market with a range of projects (water management, circular value creation, new energy, energy efficiency) and continues to do so. However, suitable industrial and commercial sites for further growth are already in short supply, so that the newPark with its clear profile will become a sought-after address for this growth industry.
Higher education landscape and potential for skilled workers
The newPark offers innovative companies from the GreenTech sector the space to develop new products and implement production processes together with their network of suppliers. Five universities, 18 other colleges and numerous non-university research institutions in the Ruhr Conurbation are available as additional partners for this purpose. With more than 8,000 graduates per year, this uniquely diverse university landscape offers the economy a large pool of qualified specialists and managers.
CONCLUSION
The newPark opens up the opportunity to offer the growing GreenTech industry an awareness-raising centre with supra-regional appeal and to create highly qualified jobs in a particularly promising area.
