United States – Page 84 – understand-culture

validity. Validität.

The validity of a plan (validity) cannot be taken for granted and taken for granted. A plan is merely an abstract depiction or model of the reality to be expected in successive steps, which moreover still has to be designed over time. Therefore, as for all models, the planning reflects a simplified image of the expected future reality.

Die Gültigkeit einer Planung (Validität) kann nicht als gegeben und selbstverständlich angenommen werden. Eine Planung ist lediglich eine abstrakte Abbildung oder ein Modell der in aufeinanderfolgenden Schritten zu erwarteten Realität, die zudem im weiteren Zeitablauf noch zu gestalten ist. Daher gilt wie für alle Modelle, dass die Planung ein vereinfachendes Abbild der erwarteten künftigen Realität wiedergibt.

Heroes to zeros: how German perfectionism wrecked its Covid vaccine drive

The same thoroughness that made Angela Merkel’s government a pandemic role model is now holding it back.

In December, two weeks before the European Medicines Agency authorised the first vaccine against Covid-19 for use across the European Union, Berlin unveiled a plan to rocket-fuel its immunisation drive with German precision engineering. Jabs would be mass-administered in purpose-built vaccination centres where patients could be shuttled through queuing lanes like cars through a car wash.

The three stages of Germany’s emergency gas plan

Reuters. June 2022. Germany triggered stage one of its emergency gas plan in March after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked an energy crisis in Europe, but the German gas market regulator said on Tuesday it was not yet time to move to the highest stage.

Germany steps up emergency cash plans to cope in blackout

German authorities are stepping up preparations for emergency cash deliveries in case of a blackout to keep the economy running, four people involved said, as the nation braces for possible power cuts arising from the war in Ukraine.

The plans include the Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, hoarding extra billions to cope with a surge in demand, and possible limits on withdrawals, one of the people said.

Germany’s emergency gas plan explained

The cut in Russian gas supplies has Germany enacting the second phase of their gas emergency plan. What do these plans entail?

On 23 June, Germany triggered the second stage of their emergency gas plan in response to the cut in Russian gas supplies since 14 June and the high price levels. A gas crisis team, which was already set up when the first emergency level was declared in late March, meets daily to monitor and assess the situation.

While the security of supply is currently still guaranteed, “the situation is tense”, according to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. If the Russian gas supply remains low, it will complicate achieving storage level targets by winter. Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck called the current situation “serious”, referring to gas as a “scarce commodity”.

German Master’s thesis

A master’s thesis is a scientific or artistic work that is written for the completion of a master’s degree. The master’s thesis generally serves as proof that the examinee is able to write a scientific or artistic work independently, but with supervision.

The academic master’s degree is usually awarded with a university examination. The state degree Master is usually awarded through a state final examination. In Germany, this final examination of a master’s course usually consists of a course-related part, the examination or final thesis and the oral final examination (at some universities).

For quality assurance, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education stipulates that master’s degree courses must be completed with a final thesis (master’s thesis), “which demonstrates the ability to independently work on a problem from the respective subject using scientific methods within a specified period of time.”

In the absence of a clear regulation, the The author of the master’s thesis continues to be referred to as “Diplomand” in everyday life, even if the term “master’s student” is also found. The Master’s thesis is usually either the last examination or the penultimate examination before the final oral examination.

Germany’s nationwide emergency warning day hitches

September 2020. For the first time in almost 30 years, Germany carried out a nationwide emergency warning day. But not everything went as planned. For those living in or visiting Germany on Thursday, things got loud this morning.

At 11 a.m. sharp (0900 GMT) Germany carried out a nationwide test of its civil alarm systems — with everything from sirens to push notifications on smartphones being tested. The test was slated to run for exactly 20 minutes. It’s the first test of its kind since Germany was reunified in 1991.

German government, customers search for solutions as Russia cuts gas supply

June 2022. Deutsche Welle. Moscow has reduced gas supply to Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, by 40 percent. German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck called on citizens to reduce their energy consumption.

He said: ‘Every kilowatt hour helps.’ His goal: to refill storage tanks before winter comes. Currently, they are about 58 percent full. The government also encourages utility companies to extend the use of coal-fired power plants. Right now, Germany has 70 such plants that run on hard and lignite coal.

Another solution would be to extend the use of nuclear power. The country still has 3 nuclear power plants which are supposed to be shut down at the end of the year. An industry group now says they could remain on the grid to reduce the dependency on Russian gas. Meanwhile, consumers are turning to energy consultants to figure out how to cut heating and electricity costs.

walk away

“We can always walk away.” This direct statement illustrates the American logic that participation in an agreement is voluntary and can be ended if it no longer serves one’s interests.

Planning process in Germany

Perhaps one of the most striking differences between planning in the US and Germany is the structure of the planning systems, and in particular the manner in which the various levels of government interact.

In Germany, planning occurs within a decentralizeddecision-making structure and a strong legal framework, something associated with the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) of 1949.

Involved in the process are the federal government (Bund ), the 16 state governments (Laender), the 114 planning regions and the approximately 14,000 municipalities (BBR, 2000). In recent years, the European Union (EU) has also played an increasing (albeit non-binding) role.

Although planning is a shared task among all levels of government, the federal govern ment does not create or implement plans, but rather sets the overall framework and policy structure to ensure basic consistency for state, regional and local planning, while states, regions and municipalities are the actual planning bodies.

The framework distinguishes between Bauleitplanung, or local land use planning, and Raumordnung, or spatial planning. These are organized by two federal acts:

First, the Baugesetzbuch (Federal Building Code) requires lower levels of government to make plans that are vertically and horizontally consistent and standardizes the level of expertise, rules and symbols utilized in compiling plans (this is additionally supplemented by the Planzeichenverordnung, or Plan Symbols Ordi-nance).

Second, spatial planning is guided by the Bundes-Raumordnungsgesetz (Federal Spatial Planning Act). This act outlines broad guidelines to be met at the Land level, and deﬁnes the relationship between the Länder and the federal government. Much federal activity is spent advising lower tiers of government on the interpretation of the regulatory framework.