Gold for a bicycle-friendly campus
Many employees at the Berlin-Buch campus enjoy cycling to work. In the mornings and evenings, cyclists stream through Buch, many heading to and from the Max Delbrück Center. The science and biotech campus promotes cycling in cooperation with sharing services like Jelbi and stakeholders such as the Helios Clinic in Buch, investing in infrastructure and setting incentives for cycling. The German Cyclists' Association (ADFC) has now awarded the campus the EU-wide “Bicycle Friendly Employer” Gold certification.
Sara Tsudome, project manager at the ADFC, says: “The Berlin-Buch campus supports staff who cycle to work through a variety of measures. This brings many advantages: The employer can score points in terms of company health, as well as environmental and mobility management.”
“Together with the Max Delbrück Center, the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, Charité and the biotech companies, we are helping to develop Buch as a Green Health City. This is more than just improving our carbon footprint — it’s about quality as a location that is attractive to skilled professionals,” says Dr. Ulrich Scheller, managing director of Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH.
Presentation of the ‘Bicycle Friendly Employer’ Gold certificate for Campus Berlin-Buch: (from left to right) Christian Panetzky, Sustainability Coordinator at the Max Delbrück Center; Dr. Ulrich Scheller, Managing Director of Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH; Eberhard Brodhage, Chairman of the ADFC, Landesverband Berlin e.V. and Dr Franziska Ringleb, Scientific Officer at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie.
“I am delighted that the Max Delbrück Center and Berlin-Buch Campus are promoting cycling so actively. Good infrastructure is the key to encouraging employees to get on their bikes. And whether it's the whole way to work or we take the S-Bahn for part of the journey, every little bit helps: every kilometer cycled contributes towards a climate-neutral center. I also cycle to campus every day,” says Christian Panetzky, sustainability coordinator at the Max Delbrück Center.
Sustainable mobility – for the environment and for people
Bicycle-friendly employers save money and apply resources wisely: Bicycle parking is ultimately cheaper and requires less space than car parking spaces. Motivating employees onto their bikes has multiple benefits and is a clear win-win. Regular exercise demonstrably improves health and increases motivation.
To encourage more employees to cycle, teams from the Berlin-Buch Campus can take part in the ‘Who cycles the most’ competition organized by the mehrwert Initiative, which starts again in May, or campaigns such as “Stadtradeln” (“City Cycling”). There are regular events like the “Campus Bike Days” with bike checks and ergonomics advice or the “Sustainable Mobility Day”, where e-bikes and cargo bikes can be tested, among other things. Campus employees in Berlin and throughout Germany can use a nextbike bicycle free of charge for the first 30 minutes — this started with the CAMPUSbikes for the last mile between the S-Bahn station and the workplace in Buch. The sharing system is now also available to Buch residents.
Good bicycle parking facilities are part of being bicycle-friendly: “In addition to our covered ground-level parking spaces, some of which are lockable, we have also set up a bicycle cellar. Additional showers have also been added, and another new feature is the option to charge e-bikes,” says campus manager Ulrich Scheller. A map showing Jelbi locations, the bicycle workshop and the e-charging facilities for bikes has recently been published. “We will also be converting a few more car parking spaces into bicycle parking spaces, as we want to promote environmentally friendly mobility explicitly. Of course, we are also keeping in mind those who currently have to travel to work by car due to a lack of suitable connections.”
Text: CBB
Further information
- Sustainable mobility on the Berlin-Buch Campus
- Who cycles the most? (in German)
- “Bicycle-friendly employer” seal from the ADFC
- All roads lead to Buch: the Barnimer Dörferweg
- All roads lead to Buch: The “Pankeweg“
