Bocholt and other district municipalities honoured for neighbourhood e-car sharing project

Five municipalities in the Borken district, including Bocholt, were delighted to receive the award for their idea of testing e-car sharing in neighbourhoods, i.e. sharing an electric car for residential areas.

The framework is provided by the nationwide competition "Digital Places in the Land of Ideas", which aims to promote digitalisation in rural areas and therefore called for innovative ideas with exemplary character to be submitted. Five pioneering projects have now been honoured at an award ceremony in Berlin.

This pilot project, carried out in the municipalities of Bocholt, Rhede, Borken, Velen/Ramsdorf and Isselburg, has been testing a car-sharing model in nine neighbourhoods since the beginning of the year. An outstanding feature of this project is the placement of e-vehicles and charging points in the neighbourhoods, which are only available to a limited group of users. This approach aims to make car sharing even more convenient for residents.

"The fact that our LEADER project is one of the three best-placed mobility projects is a special recognition for our initiative," emphasised Bocholt's city planning officer Daniel Zöhler, who accepted the award on behalf of the municipalities in the Borken district as Deputy Chairman of the LAG "Bocholter Aa" e.V.

Linn Westermann, project manager of the accompanying office projaegt from Ahaus, added: "Taking part is everything! All 15 projects have developed innovative solutions that show how many good ideas there are in Germany's rural areas."

The intelligent road management system from vialytics GmbH in Stuttgart was also honoured as the winning project in the "Mobility" category. This system enables local authorities to record their road infrastructure using an app.

What does "LEADER Region Bocholter Aa" mean?

The abbreviation LEADER stands for "Liaison entre actions de développement de l' économie rurale" - in German: connections between actions for the economic development of rural areas. With this programme, the European Union promotes the development of rural areas in selected regions. The LEADER region "Bocholter Aa" includes the five towns of Bocholt, Borken, Isselburg, Rhede and Velen. More information can be found at www.region-bocholter-aa.de. The LEADER project, which has now been awarded a prize, is currently being implemented with funding from the EU, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the five municipalities.