The Sunplugged Stage - turning the Ferropolis festival site into a “walkable "Energiewende"”

The installation of a 3000 m2 solar roof was the first step on the way towards a renewable future for the Ferropolis  Festival site in Germany, which is best known for its impressive scenery of massive excavators and the machines are the remains from the site’s original purpose as open cast coal mine.  Ferropolis is home to the marvellous Melt! festivalFerropolis and the German Green Music Initiative have strived to turn the site into a “walkable Energiewende ("energy transiton" or "turnaround")”. They invited a broad range of experts to two workshops on energy and tourism to share their experience and ideas on how such a vision could be implemented. The participants confirmed the peninsula’s unique potential to become a showcase of futuristic renewable energy systems, a ‘walkable Energiewende’. As a result, a Sunplugged Stage, running on on-site generated solar energy only, will be launched at next year’s Melt! Festival.Further outcomes of the two workshops will be presented in Berlin on 6 September 2012. National and international representatives of politics and the music industry will be introduced to this promising project at a reception in the representation of Saxony-Anhalt withDr. Michael Schneider, Staatssekretär für Bundes- und Europaangelegenheiten des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt• Thies Schröder, Geschäftsführer Ferropolis• Jacob Bilabel, Gründer Green Music Initiative• Matthias Hörstmann, Geschäftsführer HUG (Melt!, Splash!, Berlin Festival, Intro, ...)• Katrin Hall, Live Management Modeselektor• Prof. Dr. Rolf Budde, Vorsitzender Tourismusregion Anhalt-Dessau-Wittenberg / Buddemusic• Jörg Gehler, Q-Cellsmore atwww.greenmusicinitiative.de/projects/zukunftswerkstatt-ferropolis/