The Better-Makers
'People for Munich', the regular interview series of M-Puls, the service magazine of Stadtwerke München, profiles city dwellers whose ideas help to make Munich a special place.
Saving bees in the heart of the city; redesigning bicycle traffic; sensibly storing the power of the sun - the three portraits in the summer edition of M-Puls prove that Munich residents do their bit for their environment! These expressive pictures were created by photographer Sima Dehgani.
Bees in police custody
Above the roofs of Munich, Jürgen Brandl's bees obviously feel at home. The criminal councillor and hobby beekeeper brought beehives to the Munich police headquarters. SWM also plants its areas with a wide variety of species.
"Ever since I can remember, there have been bees in our village - but at some point they just disappeared. I asked around about it, and that's how I got into beekeeping. Inspired by 'urban beekeeping' projects on public buildings, I had the idea in 2015 to set up some beehives on the police headquarters in Ettstraße. Now there are bees at eight police stations in Munich, which are looked after by six police officers in their free time.
Bike to the future
Kilian Schulte, Daniel Kühbacher and Annalena Willibald want cyclists to reach their destination safely. Along with two other fellow students, they founded the startup Bike Solutions, and provide SWM with valuable traffic data.
"We have developed the 'bike|buddy' tracker. Attached to the bike, it records data such as distance, speed, rest phases, braking manoeuvers - anonymously, of course. We use the information to analyse traffic, and pass the results on to the city so that it can address specific problem areas. The tracker is also an anti-theft device: the owner can use the app to track where his bike is at any moment."
In the heat of the moment
Solar heat gives Daniel Schmitt a warm feeling: he stores the energy gained from it on a large scale. His company Memodo specialises in photovoltaic and energy storage systems, and also supplies them to SMW.
"For homeowners, photovoltaic systems offer great options. Electricity storage systems have been around and the green electricity they produce no longer needs to be used immediately or fed into the public grid. With a photovoltaic system on the roof and a high-quality electricity storage unit, you can supply yourself with electricity and be up to 80 percent self-sufficient. More than 42,000 electricity storage units were installed in German private houses last year".
Read the complete interviews in SWM's M-Puls magazine, issue 2/2019.
How do more than 10,000 employees contribute daily to the well-being of a metropolitan city? M-Puls is a regular look behind the scenes at Munich's municipal corporation, Stadtwerke München. The 24-page magazine is a source of information and loyalty touchpoint for SWM Group customers. In the 2/2019 issue, we reveal the city's summer highlights, and what keeps Munich moving.
