Biography
Bibliography
#WFRE17 Face to Face
After attending high school in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner studied Geography in Mannheim and Heidelberg with Geology and Law as subsidiary subjects (first class degree 1987). He received a graduate scholarship of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, and holds a doctorate on “Comparative influence of atmospheric environmental toxins on mortality rates in urban agglomerations”.
In 1988, he began his professional career as an environmental consultant to the administration of the City of Heidelberg. In addition to developing and directing the city’s environmental office, he was a founding member and managing director of the regional energy agency, and involved in setting up the Environmental Working Group of the German Association of Cities.
Prof. Dr. Würzner was involved in developing environmental and energy management strategy in Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba (Brazil) for the Carl-Duisberg Gesellschaft, and implemented environmental seminars in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran (Saudi Arabia) on behalf of the German Foreign Office. He was involved in an OECD working group that published a report on “Urban Energy Management“.
In 1996, he was a resident in the USA as German Marshall Fund Fellow, preparing a study on American cities’ climate protection strategies for the Center for Clean Air Policy in Washington, with periods of residence in Washington, Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver and visits to the Rocky Mountain Institute, DOE and EPA.
After 6 years as deputy mayor of the City of Heidelberg responsible for the environment, he was elected Mayor in 2006 and re-elected in October 2014.
Prof. Dr. Würzner served as chairman of the supervisory boards of Stadtwerke Heidelberg and Heidelberg Marketing GmbH, the Technology Park, chairman of the administrative board of the Sparkasse Heidelberg and regional chairman of the Climate Protection and Energy Advisory Agency.
He is a member of the board and executive committee of the Association of German Cities, board member of the Baden-Württemberg Association of Cities, member of the Regional Advisory Body for Sustainable Development, Baden-Württemberg and board member of Zukunft Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar
He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Dokumentations- und Kulturzentrum Deutscher Sinti und Roma Heidelberg and the board of trustees of the Stiftung Reichspräsident Friedrich-Ebert-Gedenkstätte.
Prof. Dr. Würzner is also the President of the European “Energy Cities” network and President of Heidelberg Club International, a Member of the European Covenant of Mayors Board as well as the President of the Rhein-Neckar/Heidelberg branch of the German Red Cross.
Prof. Dr. Würzner was a lecturer at Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg from 1998 to 2005. Since 2009, he is a lecturer in Energy and Environmental Management at the SRH Hochschule Heidelberg. In May 2016, he was appointed Honorary Professor at the SRH Hochschule Heidelberg.