TH-Wildau - News
Impetus for sustainable mobility in the region and beyond - review of the ‘Sustainable Mobility Academy’ project at TH Wildau
Terms such as sustainability, internationalisation and mobility transition are on everyone's lips. With the ‘Sustainable Mobility Academy’, TH Wildau 2023 launched a project that combines precisely these areas and, together with partners from Germany and abroad, creates important ideas for measures and projects in the region. It also aims to sensitise individuals to more sustainability in everyday life. The final event took place recently.
In October 2019, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) launched the ‘HAW.International’ funding programme. The programme was designed to support internationalisation measures, particularly at universities of applied sciences (UAS). The Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau (TH Wildau) was already funded by the DAAD with an initial project from 2019 to 2021 and submitted a project application for the follow-up project ‘TH Wildau Sustainable Mobility Academy’ in 2022, which was approved for the period from 2023 to 2024.
The aim of the project was to interlink the topic of ‘sustainable mobility’ with regional and international partners at the university and to provide impetus for concrete measures in practice. The centrepiece of the project was an international and interdisciplinary Sustainable Mobility Summer Academy, which was held in English and took place for a fortnight in late summer at the TH Wildau in 2023 and 2024. The summer academy brought together lecturers and students, researchers and administrative staff from the TH Wildau and its international partner institutions as well as employees of practice partners from the region for lectures, seminars, workshops and excursions. In addition, workshops on the topic of ‘Sustainably fit for the world’ and a cycling day for university members were organised in close cooperation with the sustainability management team at Wildau University of Applied Sciences.
Emotional review of two project years
At the beginning of December, the final event of the Sustainable Mobility Academy of the TH Wildau took place with a review of the activities and successes of the overall project. Project participants, partners from the field, representatives of the municipalities of Eichwalde and Wildau, including Wildau's mayor Frank Nerlich and Eichwalde's mayor Jörg Jenoch, as well as lecturers from Wildau University of Applied Sciences were in attendance. First, the team gave a review of the last two years. The 2024 Summer Academy alone was attended by 30 students from 16 different countries, including ten students from TH Wildau. The team organised excursions to Berlin and Potsdam, meetings and discussions with stakeholders as well as lectures on relevant topics.
Impulses for practice
During the summer academies, the participants were asked to develop creative concepts for implementing sustainable mobility projects in the region as part of simulation games. In 2023, they developed ideas for the construction of bicycle parking facilities at Eichwalde S-Bahn station. According to Mayor Jörg Jenoch, the proposals were taken on board and are already being implemented. This year, the focus was on developing concepts for setting up mobility stations in Wildau. To this end, the participants visited the city administration and exchanged ideas with Mayor Frank Nerlich. A scientific summary of the results and recommendations is currently being compiled under the direction of Prof Christian Rudolph, head of the endowed professorship for cycling in intermodal transport networks at the TH Wildau. The booklet with the status quo as well as ideas and suggestions will then be made available to the university town of Wildau.
‘We look back on two enriching years with pride and joy. We have met so many great people as part of the Sustainable Mobility Academy, who will hopefully carry forward and mature many ideas and suggestions from the project - whether here in the region or in their home country. A big thank you goes to my entire team, who put so much effort and heart and soul into the realisation. I would also like to emphasise the positive cooperation with the municipality of Eichwalde and the city of Wildau in the hope that our participants were able to provide important impetus for the promotion of sustainable mobility,’ says Karin Schmidt, member of the Sustainable Mobility Academy project management team and Head of the International Office at TH Wildau.
The highlight of the closing event was the testimonials from students at TH Wildau who were part of the Summer Academy in 2024. They summarised that the intercultural exchange had not only broadened their horizons and created new friendships, but had also given them a completely different awareness of sustainable mobility. The event was also enriched by the presence of guests from a partner university in Bulgaria, who were on site for short-term stays as part of the project.
Conclusion of a special project
The Sustainable Mobility Academy has made a significant contribution to dovetailing internationalisation and sustainability with a variety of individual activities at the university in cooperation with regional and international partners. It has also increased the visibility of Wildau University of Applied Sciences in the region and internationally. The interdisciplinary exchange of international lecturers and students has contributed to an expansion of academic, intercultural and personal perspectives on all sides and emphasised the relevance of transnational teaching and research formats. The close cooperation with the municipalities of Eichwalde and Wildau within the framework of the simulation games enabled a transfer of knowledge on the topic of ‘sustainable mobility’ from the university to practice and thus potentially also to the population.
Further information
Information on the Sustainable Mobility Academy at TH Wildau: en.th-wildau.de/sma
Information on the Sustainable Mobility Summer Academy at TH Wildau: https://en.th-wildau.de/university/central-facilities/centre-for-international-affairs/international-office/2024-sustainable-mobility-summer-academy
Contact person at TH Wildau:
Karin Schmidt
Head of International Office
TH Wildau
Hochschulring 1, 15745 Wildau
Phone: +49 3375 508 851
E-mail: karin.schmidt(at)th-wildau.de
Contact persons External Communication TH Wildau:
Mike Lange / Mareike Rammelt
TH Wildau
Hochschulring 1, 15745 Wildau
Phone +49 (0)3375 508 211 / -669
E-mail: presse(at)th-wildau.de
