Welcome page
Welcome to Bremerhaven, the largest German City at the North Sea coast with about 119.000 inhabitants. Bremerhaven offers a vivid port and seafaring history, modern fish experience and an inspiring variety of science and knowledge. It is part of the European Metropolitan Region Bremen / Oldenburg, surrounded on the landside by the county of Cuxhaven. Bremerhaven is the centre of the region - an attraction for culture and shopping, a place for education and training as well as an economic powerhouse. In order to better meet this demand, the City develops a culture of welcome for new citizens, students, specialists and executives and companies as well as an inclusive approach as a city for all. 
As a regional major centre, the city of Bremerhaven is closely linked to the surrounding Lower Saxony's immediate suburbs or surrounding countryside. Since 2003 the districts of Cuxhaven, Wesermarsch and the city of Bremerhaven have been part of the
"Regional Forum Unterweser". For CRFS we will use thus already established communication channels and existing, thematically relevant working groups.
Since its founding in 1827, Bremerhaven has been shaped as a maritime business location. Thanks to its favorable location on the Weser River and North Sea and centuries of history as a maritime trading center, Bremerhaven has become one of the most important locations in Germany and around the world for the maritime economy. The port of Bremerhaven is the sixteenth-largest container port in the world and the fourth-largest in Europe, one of the world’s leading automobile transhipment hubs, and an attractive logistics center. The modern fish and food industry, with internationally known brands, together with a complete value-adding chain for the entire fish and foodstuff segment, have been the hallmark of the city for decades. With its green ports, the sustainable food industry, the offshore wind industry and its small and medium-sized enterprises, Bremerhaven’s economic structure offers an ideal framework for the settlement of companies from the green tech sector.
The expansion of an internationally recognized research and development landscape coupled with investments in highly attractive focal points for tourism, have complemented trade and industry and provide a promising outlook. The city council has initiated structural changes and increasingly focused on the expansion of scientific research capacities, the promotion of new technologies, especially in the area of climate protection, and the expansion of tourism offerings. The close dovetailing of industry, science and education is a core issue of our cities’ future development. Closeness and cooperation with local enterprises is a matter of course for the scientific and
educational facilities in Bremerhaven. Bremerhaven is recognized as having an above-average number of scientific institutions.
In Bremerhaven, the food industry has traditionally been very important. In fish processing, Bremerhaven holds a top position nationwide; the large number and diversity of start-ups prove that the food industry is a highly innovative field of the future. However, the topic of food goes far beyond the borders of our city. As a regional centre, Bremerhaven has a large number of commuters from the region who work in Bremerhaven's food industry, shop here and use the city's leisure facilities.
Especially with regard to future-proof and consumer-cantered food supply systems, the Horizon 2020 project CITIES 2030 can contribute to creating short food supply chains between cities and regions in which consumers are also involved and encouraged to become actively engaged. The project also strengthens Bremerhaven as a science location, which is characterized by close cooperation between business, science and culture and whose special competence is the comprehensible communication of research to society via various innovative information formats and events.
Every CRFS activist faces the challenges of networking between actors, handling a multi- disciplinary innovation room, pricing and access to quality food, education and appreciation ... in Summary: Fair access for all citizens to high quality food. Every region has its own challenges. We have to learn from each other. But we will also go our own way. It is important to know who to ask for advice and exchange information.
Main lab’s objectives
The main objective of Bremerhaven lab is based on six dimensions:
- Support socially disadvantaged neighborhoods and districts
- Networking to improve community catering (children (school) and/or hospital, elderly care)
- Increasing the supply of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, for example through the targeted cultivation of plants/herbs in urban gardening
- Improving the nutrition education of people
- Combating the nutritional poverty of children, the elderly and everyone who suffer from nutritional poverty
- Expand regional supply chains (promotion local products)
Bremerhaven focus areas
- socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods / socially deprived districts
- Networking to improve community catering (children and/or hospital, elderly care)
- Increasing the supply of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, for example through the targeted cultivation of plants/herbs in urban gardening
- Combating the nutritional poverty of children
- Regional supply chains
Variables to monitor
The lab is interested in monitoring the promotion and users’ opinion of the local products, but also, they need generic statistical data to decide the most suitable promotion policies to be implemented.
Initially, the variables we have identified Bremerhaven is interested into are:
- General population distribution (age and sex) in Bremen Region
- Incomes distribution in Bremen Region (social development)
- Distribution of economic activities (commerce, construction, etc.)
- Location of urban gardens in the city
- And other relevant information described in the provided fact sheet.