The TU Ilmenau has been selected to lead the Green Transition Cluster as part of the European Union's SCOPE-HE program, a flagship initiative of the EU to establish sustainable cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The aim of the cluster is to promote the mobility of students and academics and to strengthen university networks that strive for green transformation towards sustainability. On May 14, Prof. Jens Wolling from TU Ilmenau, head of the Green Transition Cluster, and Dr. Kai Sicks, Secretary General of the German Academic Exchange Service, signed a corresponding declaration of intent.
After a tough selection process, the Technische Universität Ilmenau was chosen from over 120 applications from more than 350 universities from the European Union and ASEAN countries to head the Green Transition Cluster. The cluster, led by TU Ilmenau, aims to achieve excellence in research-based teaching with a focus on renewable energy, biodiversity and land use - this is how the six partner institutions want to achieve more comprehensive climate protection goals. In addition to TU Ilmenau, the consortium includes Erfurt University of Applied Sciences, Mindanao State University from the Philippines, President University and Universitas Pancasila, both from Indonesia, and Université de Technologie de Compiègne from France.
At the signing of the Green Transition Cluster Memorandum of Understanding, Sujiro Seam, EU Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN, emphasized that research and innovation are among the key priorities of the EU-ASEAN strategic partnership. He congratulated the Green Transition Cluster for being the first of only three clusters to be selected and emphasized that strong cross-regional university networks make an effective and sustainable contribution to tackling global challenges together.
The Green Transition Cluster builds on a series of partnerships and networks that TU Ilmenau has established in recent years with the aim of sustainability. For example, nine small and medium-sized partner universities from all over Europe work together in teaching, research and knowledge transfer in the SUNRISE university alliance, which is coordinated by TU Ilmenau. In the Erasmus+ project "Smaller Universities for Sustainability in Engineering Education(SUSEE)", for example, they are exploring the question of how sustainability can be systematically integrated into engineering education. TU Ilmenau is also working with various partner universities in Thuringia in the Thuringian Sustainability Network Climate-N, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Mira Rochyadi-Reetz, project manager of the Green Transition Cluster, explains that these collaborations are intended to promote sustainability in all areas of the universities: "The expansion of our sustainability initiatives to include transcontinental cooperation builds on the existing regional and European cooperation structures. The results show that it is worthwhile to consistently pursue the path of sustainability at all levels."
Contact
Dr. Mira Rochyadi-Reetz
Project ManagerGreen Transition Cluster
+49 3677 69-4010
mira.rochyadi-reetz@tu-ilmenau.de
