A day at the Bonn Science Night
18th May 2022 — 10 a.m.: "Plastic Pirates" in Bonn-Beuel
Instead of European Union States, DLR-PT staff members Sarah Kraus and Philip Ackermann are coordinating a group of 13-year-old schoolchildren today. They are standing on the Strändchen in Bonn-Beuel, wearing white T-shirts with "Plastic Pirates" printed on them, holding information material under their arms, and are surrounded by nearly 30 enthusiastic teenagers, in front of them a large plastic tarp. The task facing the 7th grade of the Otto-Kühne-Schule Godesberg will collect rubbish on the beach today, carefully categorise everything on the tarp and document the results. The data will then be sent to the Kiel Research Workshop and evaluated there. „"Plastic Pirates"“ is the name of the project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It is offered throughout Germany and carried out by the Kiel Research Workshop and the Ecologic Institute. The project aims to get children excited about environmental protection, but also about transnational scientific work. Sarah Kraus and Philip Ackermann are working at DLR-PT to ensure that the idea is rolled out across the EU. "Normally, we manage the project from our PCs. But today it's great to be able to collect with the children ourselves," says Philip Ackermann happily. "It's just fun when you see meaning in your work," his colleague Sarah Kraus adds to the shared view of the project.
The Plastic Pirates' foray begins, and the children fan out. "I've got fags" – "I've got vodka" resounds enthusiastically from the beach shortly afterwards. Two hours later, the Plastic Pirates have gathered again, and are standing in front of their carefully documented booty. "I'm promoting the project. I'll post it on Instagram," exclaims a schoolgirl. You can't get more praise for a school project than that.
12 p.m.: Red List Centre, Dual Study Course, Planet N.
"You do all that? Impressive!" says the old lady. She spent about ten minutes at the Science Night stand learning about the work of the DLR-PT, asking again and again about topics, funding, staff numbers. "Keep it up," she calls out as she leaves. "The people of Bonn are very interested in DLR- PT," Carolin Reuber, a member of the corporate communications team, says happily. In addition to talking about the work of DLR-PT, the people of Bonn can find out at the stand about the Red List Centre, the dual study programme and the interactive learning game Planet N, for example. Philip Ackermann has also arrived at the stand in the meantime — along with the rubbish collected in the morning.
6 p.m. — The future of mobility in the House of Education
On the podium in the Haus der Bildung, six DLR-PT transport experts outline their propositions on the future of mobility: although a "robo-taxi" is still a long way off, self-driving buses could be running in certain areas of some major cities as early as 2030. Self-driving taxis are also conceivable in suitable urban areas later on in the future. In the countryside, however, this is still a very long way off. For the time being, the DLR-PT experts are focusing on apps that organise neighbourly help. "For example, I could report in such apps that I am going to the supermarket today and neighbours could ask me to bring them something. That would make mobility easier and reduce emissions," explains DLR-PT employee Dr Frank Otten.
10:30 p.m. — a tent city in the Münsterplatz square
Bonn citizens are still standing at the DLR-PT stand, asking questions about sustainable transport technologies and discussing issues. But gradually it is time to dismantle the event equipment. Seven colleagues have agreed to help out at a late hour. At 11:30 p.m., everything is carefully packed and stowed in the truck. "It was fun" — that's the summary of those involved. The people of Bonn obviously enjoyed it too.