africa. stories from both people making a difference in shaping their nation. and their continent b.t.w. ball team in a series for africa. dot com africa on the move. can you guess where i am today. i'm in the third greenest city in germany and surprisingly it's.

a city that mined coal and produced steel for more than one hundred fifty years. as seen actually became the european dream capital for two thousand and seventeen how did it do it. as allies at the heart of a former industrial region which means it is difficult for the city as a tourist destination to compete against other places with half temperate houses castles or palaces in a city like essence you have to know what you're looking for before you can discover the real gems on offer and that's what i'm about to do. in addition to industrial sites i'll be going out into nature.

then it's on to this in our viewer video this week comes from paris. and shows us the finnish takes us to the city of shiraz in iran. that so far and was once the world's largest and most modern coal mining complex. twelve thousand tons of coal were mines here every day the coal plant was closed down in one nine hundred eighty six. i want to go up on the roof to get there i have to go through the belly of this rusty giant. from up here you can see how huge this complex is over there was the cocaine plans when it shut down in one thousand nine hundred four it was the biggest facility in europe. that so far and coal mine is the landmark of essen and stands for an era now gone forever from the woodville

the west that will close in two thousand and eighteen that so far i'm is a place which forms a bridge between the present and the past so if you want to get to grips with this is the location to begin your city walking tour. at one point there were plans to tear all these buildings down or dismantle them and sell them abroad. people are glad that didn't happen. that's all fine is now an industrial historical monument and a unesco world heritage site. a setting that poses fascinating questions. how does the colliery work what is the coking plant. and what happens in a coal washer e.

. these questions are answered on daily guided tours. right in the middle is what must be the most refreshing art installation in the rural valley the complex swimming pool and it's very. above it the sun wheel turns with its gun dealers for visitors. here in the decommissioned coking plant coal was converted into coke at temperatures of over a thousand degree celsius. the coking plant only glows red these days when it's lit up for the open air cinema films are screened against this industrial backdrop all summer long. in the rural museum you can find out all about the history of the rural region from the origins of mining to the present day it sees itself not as an ordinary museum but instead

as the region's living memory. it's now been thirty years since the last worker clocked out. and it's hard to imagine that this place was once filled with noise and heat. over the years nature has reclaimed the complex. a dense forest has emerged without human intervention. that so far in coal mine has become much more than an industrial monument. it's a recreation area for the people of s. and. if you arrive from islam by train you get out in the middle of the pedestrian precinct this scene is known for its hundreds of stores. the city center is an open

air shopping mall so from time to time you need a break it's said that in essence you're never more than three hundred meters from a green space i'm going to ask around. question was the worst the nearest park or garden. will see the worst your favorite green area a year gringotts is our park it's not right around the corner but it is in essence . where is your favorite garden or pork i know that i don't buy it's gorgeous they're like all my brain island. and hear. that guy sitting guard behind the main station. can i ask you where your favorite park is it. was not it's a conservation area. so what is that in essence not as in this one yes i live there . thanks ben let me ask you where is your favorite park in the

city garden up there it's got a beautiful lake and. i like it should. i'm by a lake bell ny spitz eventually. and an even better tip for old timers out. here hesper valley railway runs along like the countryside at a comfy pace. and good mood cleek. thanks that's all pretty . well those were some useful hints so you don't miss any parks and gardens we have created a best of most about. google park the locals just call it could all go in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine this was where the first garden exhibition in germany took place the

residents immediately took the seal flowers to their hearts and the love affair has continued to this day. three thousand one hundred hectares of forest seven hundred eighteen green spaces. three hundred seventy six kilometers of cycle path and twenty six renée rocks and rivers essen is the third greenest city in germany. how can a city that was once a mining center be so green. people recognized early on that they needed places to relax and recover from their back breaking work in the mine. in the early twentieth century the city was wasteland in the south of s. and planted trees on it the city forest was created. the city garden is even older in eighteen eighty one wealthy residents got together and

donated a park to the city. it was the first public green space in the region. this park belongs to the village the former residents of the corp industrialist family at some point they fled the noise and dirt of the city and built themselves a house with a garden in the countryside actually more of a shattered it had two hundred nine. sixty nine rooms you can visit it and learn about the history of the corp steel company and family in the mansion's permanent exhibition and. lake by the nice stretches out below the villa who do the work of river is dammed up here for eight kilometers. the excursion boats of the white fleet sail from shore to shore. there are places to lounge about. and plenty of

water sports to enjoy. the white sand on a seaside beach completes the feeling of summer. but what about the city's disused industrial sites. pilot they've been turned into new attractive residential areas green spaces like park one of europe's biggest steel factories once stored here now there's an artificial lake. and bike park. seven hundred trees have been planted there are supports facilities and meadows park is estens newest mom. and the greening of essen is far

from over. the city dreams of a green urban belt right through its center. the transformation continues. there moments calling i'm on my way to the top of shooting bust keep. slack are made up of waste from mining rocks and gravel that were dug up and later piled up it bit like giant mole hills. oh and now many of them are covered in greenery. while i'm trying to get up here you can take a trip to another world totally different and exotic our check in globetrotter us the finish has been to iran and visited the town of here us this is history of a report.

that is covering a story kobolds town will be back here in moscow and the cheer. the vacuum mosque was built between seven hundred fifty one and seven hundred seventy three during the zonda period. under the rule of car in khan shiraz became the capital of persia and seven hundred sixty two. more than twelve thousand workers were employed to construct the royal district. though talking about cutting common was understood and shouldn't question the seventeen hundreds we're now it's the kind of crime citadel and these used to be the living quarters of this guy. to that. car in khan invited the best architects and artists of the time to design the

citadel which took just a single year to build. just one thing and sure ross you should get up really early fall and this is the nicea mascotte of the mosque why i will show you. all monk mosque is also known as the pink mosque because so many pink tiles were. used in its interior. it's best to visit very early in the morning because that's the only time the sun shines through all the stained glass windows. not for your eyes would be complete without paying a visit to the pump there was one of the greatest surgeon i once knew also influenced a lot of european poets such as scooter and he's from here he's from the sheriff's

. dept i'll go one hour drive from here us rewrite that's the country's most important unesco world heritage site as they put this which means the city of the passions that used to be the ceremony capital of the past year compiled hundred fifty to three hundred back until like some of the great destroyed it is believed that he destroyed it by fire and it was ever an act of revenge for the passions destroying the couple this met in one hundred fifty years before but. nothing to sleep slate legalese. mr seeney comes with the small to translate tomatoes played number. to police

a feat is fashion after time playing time each other have some explicit act in the box and comes all the rats was it live. i've made it to the top off to combust it looks like a lunar landscape. from up here you can see the last bit still in operation. this place is fascinating somehow mystical. and right in the middle of it there is an artwork. it's a sculpture by american artist richard serra sixty seven tons of rolled steel. in the war district there are more than thirty you can visit all close to each

other and a lot of them and all sport works of art on top they are perfect destinations for a bike trip you can use a well developed system of cycling routes and soon there will be germany's first bicycle autobahn. need to do quite a bit of paddling here but it's worth it at an elevation of one hundred fifty nine metres daniels like keeping but top is one of the highest observation points in the area. until it is an art installation made of railroad ties. the work is by basque artist. twelve hundred kilometers of bike trails run through the rural regions often along tissues train lines that once linked industrial sites tourists on bicycles are often astonished at what's on offer. by this there are lots of surprising routes

just through greenery scorn reordered community all for the combination of industrial history social history and an amazing amount of green. riding through here you don't notice the cities at all. and to me really it is in the works r s one the new bicycle auto plant and it will eventually stretch one hundred kilometers from. east to west across the region. here it runs right along the lines of the former mining railways. present a railway is to the left of it for commuters the r s one is meant to be a real alternative to car travel. in a metropolitan area where five million people live that's a good idea. melanie who commutes on the r s

one almost every day she's a tour guide. if you cycle just a few kilometers on the new route it's easy to see how much s. and has changed in the past few years the trip is full of contrasts. and also have the. downside is just c s n in the rural regions and maps don't show much for. no one suspects it's here even though s. news germany's third greenest city street isn't but after half an hour of cycling when we've left the city under on the railway line most people say they have never believed it why since the city. and cycling here takes you to some of the most interesting places in as an end the rural valley in almost no time . only sections of the bicycle autobahn have been completed so far

and it will take a few years before you can pedal the entire one hundred kilometers but people are certainly enjoying what's already there. yes ambitious plans in the next few years the city wants to become even greener that's the specially true in northern s.c. with its working class districts and former industrial sites. i'm p.s. keeper is a landscape architect she ping this transformation. as a landscape architect your redesign brownfield sites where now when called park which you designed what ideas did you start out with. i'm going above all

to create space for people. to open what has been inaccessible for years and really make it green. if you create greenery there has to be water we see that here in the background. for everything to work the ground has to work its good the ground is the body for the water is the sole and this lovely green is a stress. clinic. was great for decades but it was made green and it's becoming still greener can you give me a few examples of the ecological or sustainable projects involved before. brazenly people began swimming in the rural again. and that's a challenge to enable people to swim unlike bald in the ruler. and to do that in an industrial city invited to be in on that transformation and make the city flow again from north to south you know if you see out of nowhere here in the north

shaped by industry. then in the south it's hilly really. there's the villa hugo one of the many examples you then like the room linking those with each other linking these contrasts dots and that includes the industrial heritage and innovative landscape architecture you can see how can other cities learn from this principle of going from greater green i'm thinking of cities like detroit or pittsburgh which also have an industrial past. i mean of course yes in america they talk of the city beautiful movement for money if you no longer know what to do and then you beautiful. parks people did that one hundred years ago and they're doing it again and estan is a role model that metaphor from gray to green is now so established that people come from brazil mexico moscow china and of course the u.s.

. to see what we've done in front of. you had to. be what do you see as the strong points of the city. these are these others not everything is close to everything else. the friendly beautiful south the old housing estates all rough north which also shouldn't be pretty fond of me but should live with its wrinkles and blooms mission this mixing of cultures creates a new culture. it's not only old industrial heritage increasingly it's becoming a melting pot a new global culture. a final question what's your personal favorite green place and. enough to leave the city well as always want both we want to civilization the city that gives a security but we also want to feel close to nature we have places dear to us mine is a wonderful old place. in my secret love. you're

going to very good. it's a restaurant called timeless. slightly hidden with a great view and so secret and cozy that you just have to love them on the. income ok thank you very much i keep going i think. and now we head for a city which is for a lot of people the most beautiful city in the world paris our viewer katharina from my orca has spent her whole days there and sent us this video thanks get anymore.

i have really earned one of these. somehow it all goes together cold steel and the fact that people here love to drink beer beer it is definitely the drink in the region it's made out of a lot of it if you're looking good. if you want to meet the locals you're most likely to do that in a pub or beer garden like this one. i have to admit i am surprised by s. and i half expect its industrial heritage but not so many green spaces this city doesn't stand still there's something going on and you can actually see that i'm. glad i made the effort to come forth.

the but. the but. the the. the be. the be.

the but. the be. the be. one thousand nine hundred. robots think younger brother if john f. kennedy was running for president mubarak out of. the nation. then the business needs of. the bobby kennedy. the man he wanted change.

the most colorful. the most traditional. find it all good any time. check him with a web special. take a tour. germany state by state on d. w. dot com. birth lead home to moons of species. a home worth saving and. those are big changes and most start with small steps global interiors tell stories of creative people and innovative projects around the world. by deals that protect the climate boost green energy solutions and reforestation. results of people you

can not predict a force to create interactive content teaching the next generation about environmental protection. and all channels available to inspire people to take action and we're determined to build something here for the next generation the ideas fema barmen series of global three thousand on t.w. and online. audience.

german chancellor angela merkel has called critical tweets by u.s. president donald trump sobering and depressing in a t.v. interview merkel condemned trump's decision to withdraw his endorsement of a joint statement after the g. seven summit she warned the european union will retaliate against u.s. tariffs on steel and a looming.