In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union has launched the REACT-EU program, a recovery aid program designed to mitigate the economic and social consequences of the pandemic in Europe.
REACT-EU (Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe) allocates a total of €400 million for projects in North Rhine-Westphalia over the next two years. Of this, €260 million will be used through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
ERDF is being implemented by the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia is the lead agency.
REACT-EU projects must be completed by the end of 2023 at the latest.
Digital and green transformation have been identified as key priorities for funding projects. EU funds are to be channeled into the digitalization of education, tourism, and clinical health and medical research. Among other things, schools will be equipped with tablets and laptops to further close the digitalization gaps there.
Low-emission mobility and climate resilience, as well as innovative projects in the environmental economy and green infrastructure, are to be promoted as key features of the green transformation.
The German Wind Power Museum’s funding application for “Renewable Energies – Digitally Communicated and Analyzed” received a positive approval from the EU (Brussels) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in February 2022.
A total of €21,000 in funding was approved for the German Wind Power Museum. This enabled the museum to set up its own Wi-Fi network and computer infrastructure in 2022. This is particularly helpful for all future museum visitors, as it makes it easier to convey information about wind energy and environmental education. In addition, visitors can participate in video conferences and broadcast live experiments to schools or universities.
The funding application was initiated by Ulrich Zieske, Chairman of the Educational Advisory Board. The project was carried out and supervised by both Ulrich Zieske and Arne Jaeger, museum manager.