As part of the EU’s GreenTrans-Edu project, the Technische Universität Ilmenau hosted partner universities for an international science camp from 28 September to 10 October. Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world, this collaborative project aims to strengthen the strategic partnership between universities from the European Union and from ASEAN, the alliance of eleven South-East Asian states.
In a world undergoing rapid and dramatic change, not only politicians but also universities face the challenge of redefining their role and finding new approaches. The TU Ilmenau is therefore strengthening its international partnerships not only at European level but also globally. Jens Wolling, head of the EU cooperation project GreenTrans-Edu and Professor of Empirical Media Research and Political Communication at the TU Ilmenau, explains the motivation behind the international project: “Global challenges such as climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the accelerating digital transformation require global responses. To achieve this, we need interdisciplinary, worldwide collaboration.”
As part of the GreenTrans-Edu project, the TU Ilmenau hosted its partner universities for the second research camp from 28 September to 10 October. In his welcome address to the partner delegations, the President of the TU Ilmenau, Professor Kai-Uwe Sattler, emphasised the importance of international networks and collaboration for the university. In the GreenTrans-Edu project, six universities from Germany, France, Indonesia and the Philippines are working together to contribute to mitigating climate change through their research. The researchers are focusing on the topics of renewable energy, soil quality and sustainability communication. “Unlike many other projects, our research focuses primarily on rural areas, which face very specific challenges in the necessary transformations,” explains Dr Mira-Rochyadi-Reetz, who submitted the successful application for the GreenTrans-Edu project to the EU and now, as project manager, ensures that the project’s objectives are met. Some of the joint research findings will form the basis for an interdisciplinary teaching module on the topic of ‘Education for Sustainable Development’.
The science camp’s activities, which lasted almost two weeks, took place not only at the TU Ilmenau but also at the Technical University of Compiègne, a French partner university of Technische Universität Ilmenau within the European higher education alliance SUNRISE – a consortium of nine partner universities dedicated to innovative and sustainable regional development – and at Erfurt University of Applied Sciences. To discuss the EU’s policy-making process, the group visited the European Commission in Brussels. The GreenTrans-Edu project is part of an EU-funded initiative under the EU-ASEAN Pact for Sustainable Connectivity, a higher education program aimed at strengthening sustainable cooperation and connectivity between the EU and ASEAN, and is implemented by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Dutch Organisation for Internationalisation in Education (Nuffic).
During their meeting, the researchers from the EU and the ASEAN countries not only had the opportunity to work together on their joint research project, but also to familiarise themselves with the research and teaching facilities at their partner universities in the EU. The event concluded with an international symposium on the topic of ‘Sustainability Transformations at Higher Education Institutions’, hosted by Erfurt University of Applied Sciences. During the event, the universities explained how they integrate sustainability into teaching, research, campus management and the academic and personal development of students and staff.
Contact:
Prof. Dr Jens Wolling
Head of the Group for Media Research and Political Communication
+49 3677 69-4654
jens.wolling@tu-ilmenau.de
