Initial discussions about the project were held between Haniel and GREENZERO in June 2021. In addition to the Lord Mayor of the City of Duisburg, other municipal partners and decision-makers were subsequently convinced and integrated. 

In 2022, the project entered the next phase with the founding of the project company Urban Zero Ruhrort mbH. In addition, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and numerous well-known companies, organisations and scientific institutions became partners.

Since then, experts have been analyzing Ruhrort's ecological footprint in order to identify specific areas for action. The analysis is complete, and the world's first Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of an urban neighborhood, Duisburg-Ruhrort, has been drafted. The findings will be utilized to identify potential reductions and corresponding fields of action for a master plan.

Click here for the LCA from Ruhrort
 

In May 2023, the first Ruhrort Urban Zero Festival will begin, marking the start of broader community engagement in Ruhrort. In addition, the first measures are to be initiated. In the following years, over 100 individual projects are to be carried out in order to reduce the negative environmental impact as much as possible. This phase will be permanently monitored by social and economic initiatives, which will also involve the citizens.

Unavoidable negative environmental impacts will be compensated for. Areas for compensation are already being identified. From 2024, the creation of environmental values will then begin in synchronization with the reduction. By 2029 Ruhrort will be environmentally neutral. 

„With the separate phases of analysis, reduction and compensation, our GREENZERO approach ensures that Ruhrort is sustainably transformed and thus becomes the first neighborhood in the world that no longer causes harm to the biosphere." - Dirk C. Gratzel, CEO GREENZERO