Honorary Membership for Volker Lindner

h2-netzwerk-ruhr General Assembly Meets in Dorsten

The annual General Assembly of h2-netzwerk-ruhr e.V. was chaired for the first time by the new Chairman Dr. Thomas Kattenstein on June 4, 2024. He skillfully guided the proceedings and secured a unanimous vote on all agenda items requiring a resolution.

Special Recognition for Volker Lindner

The unequivocal highlight of the meeting was agenda item 10: the bestowal of an honorary membership. The honoree, Volker Lindner, former City Planning Officer and First Alderman, and founding chairman of h2-netzwerk-ruhr, was present. He was visibly moved by the many words of praise for his work as network chairman, expressed by both Chairman Dr. Kattenstein and Dorsten’s Mayor Tobias Stockhoff.

Chairman Dr. Th. Kattenstein and Managing Director Dr. D. Schulte present Volker Lindner with the honorary membership certificate. — *Chairman Dr. Th. Kattenstein (left) and Managing Director Dr. D. Schulte present Volker Lindner with the honorary membership certificate.*

At Lindner’s initiative, in 2008, the four cities of Herten, Marl, Bottrop, and Gladbeck, along with the economic development agencies of the Emscher-Lippe region and Business Metropole Ruhr, and Emschergenossenschaft, joined forces to form h2-netzwerk-ruhr e.V. Volker Lindner had held the view that the medium-sized city of Herten alone could not develop the necessary influence to become a recognized and serious interlocutor in the field of hydrogen technology at the state level.

Subsequently, not only more municipalities but also companies and scientific institutions joined the network, which today, with 89 members, is the largest hydrogen network in the Ruhr area. And it is considered Volker Lindner’s achievement that h2-netzwerk-ruhr e.V. is a recognized actor as an interlocutor nationwide and even at the federal level.

A major accomplishment of Lindner’s highlighted was his success in handing over the association into good hands and structuring it organizationally in such a way that it is not only viable but also dynamically developing. With Dr. Désirée Schulte as Managing Director and Dr. Thomas Kattenstein as Chairman, the network’s operational capacity is secured long-term.

As always, the meeting concluded with an intensive get-together over a delicious snack – networking “at its best.”