TAFNE network
Transatlantic Forum for Nature and Environmental Protection visits Chemnitz
On Tuesday, 5 May, the members of the Transatlantic Forum for Nature and Environment (TAFNE) will visit Chemnitz. This international network of stakeholders from Germany and the USA focuses on the topics of resilient infrastructure, nature conservation and renaturation, resource efficiency and community-based environmental policy.
<p<p>Florian Etterer from the City of Chemnitz's Green Space Office will inform participants about renaturalisation, while Sarah Arnold from the City of Chemnitz's Environmental Office will introduce the topic of climate adaptation. The Pleißenbach green corridor serves as a positive example of nature conservation, urban climate improvement, river renaturalisation and the promotion of sustainable mobility.</p
The US delegation visited Germany from 3 to 9 May. In addition to Chemnitz, the programme included visits to Leipzig, Nuremberg and Munich. In Chemnitz, the participants visited the Pleißenbach stream, the city's public utility company and the town hall as part of the programme. Ten people from the US states of Colorado, Pennsylvania and Texas were guests, including the Chairwoman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Chief Climate Officer of the City of Dallas and the Chief Sustainability Officer of Fort Collins.
It is exciting to see how the year as European Capital of Culture was also used as a momentum to realise projects in environmental protection and nature conservation.
Background: Transatlantic Forum for Nature and Environment (TAFNE)
The Transatlantic Forum for Nature and Environment (TAFNE) was launched in Washington, D.C., in June 2025 and will run until July 2027. The TAFNE anchor contacts and other representatives of the participating federal states and cities will actively exchange ideas throughout the duration of the project. Around ten virtual workshops (90 minutes each) and one-week study trips to Germany and the USA (in spring 2027) are planned over the course of the project.
The aim is to build sustainable economies while protecting environmental resources and public health.
TAFNE serves as a forum for open dialogue and practice-oriented learning. It connects policy makers, experts, businesses, civil society organisations and researchers to share insights and find practical solutions to pressing environmental problems and related resource and infrastructure issues - from restoring ecosystems and improving resource efficiency to increasing resilience to floods and droughts.
In addition to six American cities (Denver, Fort Collins, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Austin and Dallas), six cities from the federal states of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony are taking part: Aachen, Chemnitz, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Nuremberg and Würzburg.
TAFNE is an initiative of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).
The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is also involved in the programme.