Welcome to Bochum!

The city of Bochum aims to be climate neutral by 2035.

Achieving this goal requires a plan. This plan is the Bochum Sustainability Strategy. The sustainability strategy helps to improve the city of Bochum in a climate-friendly way and enhance the quality of life in Bochum. With the sustainability strategy, Bochum is addressing global challenges such as the climate crisis, social injustice, the right to education, and growing poverty.

Bochum and UNIC's Centre for City Futures

Our Bochum team leverage the power of collaboration locally and across the alliance network for best impact in our City. We welcome new city and research collaborations in these areas and invite you to connect with us to explore possibilities for developing partnership initiatives.

Sustainable Urban Development:

The City of Bochum and Ruhr University Bochum intend to collaborate on selected measures to jointly achieve the goal of climate neutrality. Possible topics include:

Information campaign on fossil-free heat supply

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) awareness-raising among schoolchildren on the topic of transport

Focus initiative on sustainable construction in new buildings and modernisation

Debate forum on the heat transition

Securing skilled labour and integration into the labour market:

To actively address the challenges of the labor market in Bochum, the City of Bochum, together with numerous partners, has launched the "Living and Working in Bochum" alliance. The alliance aims to shape the city's labor market for the future and better utilize its potential. Against the backdrop of a growing shortage of skilled workers and labor, demographic changes, and a sadly still high rate of long-term unemployment, the alliance declaration was signed on Friday, June 21. In addition, the Welcome Office Bochum (WOB) opened in April 2025, with the aim of strengthening the city's welcoming culture. The WOB offers a one-stop-shop concept: Anyone who wants to live and work in Bochum no longer has to worry about numerous appointments with different institutions. New skilled workers and employees receive initial support and the opportunity to complete various administrative procedures, such as registering their residence, in a single appointment, while also receiving advice on the recognition of professional qualifications.

The City of Bochum and Ruhr University Bochum intend to collaborate in this area as well. Together, they aim to create improved arrival structures for skilled workers and employees who have moved to the city from Germany and abroad. A wide range of services will be offered to facilitate entry into new jobs and integration into urban society. The focus of the cooperation is on the topic of ‘multilingualism in public spaces’. Selected topics include:

• (Digital) multilingual tour to get to know the city

• Multilingual city centre map, descriptions of shops

• Update/multilingual design of the underground station in the town hall

• Multilingual information boards on town twinning in pocket parks

• (Start of) development of a multilingual bot on city websites/in the Bochum app

• Training opportunities/courses for city employees on dealing with multilingualism/communication with non-German speakers

We would welcome international expertise and cooperation through the UNIC network on both topics and their sub-topics. If you are interested in a possible cooperation, please contact Michael Weckop through the email at the end of this page.  