Female, male, sustainable - genanet - Leitstelle GENDER ...

10
EXAMPLE: CLIMATE AND ENERGY
Not just initiation, but continuation
Interview with Ulrike Röhr, director of genanet
Ms Röhr, can you recount how you became so heavily involved in sustainable development
and gender justice, especially after studying civil engineering and then sociology at
university?
Well, I thought that there was not enough attention paid to social questions in technology, so I complemented
my studies with a degree in sociology. I have always preferred to look at things holistically, which
corresponds well with the concept of sustainable development. After finishing my studies, my first paid job
was to support a women’s housing squat in Berlin. Besides developing the actual project, my work also involved
negotiating with the owner of the house, the renovating agency and the Berlin senate as our external
financial source. In the planning process, I cooperated closely with the squatters and provided guidance for
self-help. During that period, I came to experience how open and innovative these women were. It was a lot
of fun to work with them and a lot of good came out of it.
Did links between the issues of “gender roles” and “environmentalism” already exist
back then?
The women definitely called for an integration of environmental aspects into the planning process. I still
vividly recall the first visions that we designed for the squat, a very well rounded concept, even from a
contemporary point of view. We could not implement all of it, but we at least installed Berlin’s very first
solar-powered water heater on an apartment building – which is still in operation today.
Did you, by providing guidance to this women’s project, also gain experiences with the
education and training sector?
Yes, I did go on to work at the Technical University of Berlin, where we carried out vocational projects
for women in the area of ecology and eco-technology. From this emerged the association “LIFE – Frauen