Beckum lends a hand - joint "paving" a complete success

Voluntary support from the local community came from the Freckenhorst workshops, schoolchildren, families and politically committed helpers, among others. At the two unused sealed areas, the volunteers joined forces to pick up paving, load material and prepare the ground for natural greening. The volunteers were supported by Städtische Betriebe Beckum, which took over the removal of the material and took care of the subsequent planting.

With its successful implementation, Beckum is sending a visible signal in favour of promoting urban greenery, adapting to climate change and implementing the city's sustainability strategy. The measure helps to increase biodiversity in the urban area, allow rainwater to seep away better and improve the microclimate. The project was part of the nationwide "Paving over" campaign, which draws attention to the consequences of increasing land sealing and calls on cities and municipalities to get involved. Beckum thus joins a growing number of municipalities that are actively unsealing areas and giving them back to nature. The entire project was planned as part of the voluntary training for biodiversity and climate coaches at the NABU nature conservation station in Münsterland and was also supported in its implementation by the "Green instead of grey" initiative and the town of Beckum.

We would like to thank all the volunteers who contributed to the success of the campaign with their efforts. Thanks to this great response, we will of course continue to examine the potential for unsealing in order to implement similar measures in the future. The aim is to further increase the proportion of near-natural, climate-adapted areas in Beckum in the long term. Projects of this kind are also explicitly recommended for imitation!

Further information on sustainable projects by the town of Beckum, the "Green instead of grey" initiative or NABU's biodiversity and climate coach training can be found on the respective homepages.