TH-Wildau - News
Sustainable mobility in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region - conclusion of the Sustainable Mobility Summer Academy 2024 at TH Wildau
What is sustainable mobility? How will we get around in the future? What paths are there for the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region? These and other questions were the focus of the two-week Sustainable Mobility Summer Academy 2024 at TH Wildau. International participants were invited to exchange ideas on the topic as part of a varied programme of workshops, lectures and excursions.
From early to mid-September 2024, the Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau (TH Wildau) organised the Sustainable Mobility Summer Academy (SMSA), funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). This year, the focus was on perspectives on the mobility of tomorrow and ways to achieve sustainable mobility in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region. 30 students, including 19 international DAAD scholarship holders and ten from the TH Wildau, discussed the topic with professors and academics from Germany and abroad as well as practical partners from the region. The SMSA 2024 programme also included workshops and discussions with international mobility experts as well as excursions, for example to the Bundestag for a discussion with a member of parliament and to the Jelbi mobility station, as well as cycle tours through Berlin and Potsdam on the topic of sustainability.
Project ideas for mobility station in Wildau
The main task of the summer academy was for the students to work in groups to develop creative project ideas for an intermodal mobility centre for the university town of Wildau. In order to familiarise themselves with the city and its mobility-specific needs, they visited the city administration with Mayor Frank Nerlich at the beginning of the first week. Here, the students were given a guided tour of the building as well as information about Wildau's past, present and future.
On the last day of SMSA 2024, the students gave a final presentation of their project ideas to a jury, which included Prof Christian Rudolph, Head of the BMDV Endowed Chair of Cycling in Intermodal Transport Networks, and Wildau's Mayor Frank Nerlich.
‘It was very interesting to see the creative project ideas that emerged in such a short two-week period. The designs - especially from such different perspectives due to the students' backgrounds - have provided many exciting ideas. We will take up the suggestions and see to what extent we can incorporate aspects as a city into planning and future considerations,’ says Frank Nerlich.
After the presentation, all students received a certificate of completion for their participation in the Sustainable Mobility Summer Academy. The joy of the time spent together and the knowledge gained was written all over the faces of the participants:
‘We still look back on the two weeks with pride and joy. The intercultural dialogue between all the participants and the associated different perspectives on the topic of sustainable mobility enriched the Summer Academy immensely. Of course, it's also always great when we can exchange ideas with representatives from the municipalities in this context and thus establish a direct line into practice,’ summarises Constanze Eichler, project coordinator of SMA 2024.
Background to the Sustainable Mobility Academy
The HAW.International funding programme of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which was launched in October 2019, supports university-wide internationalisation measures, particularly for universities of applied sciences. Wildau University of Applied Sciences has been selected for the ‘TH Wildau Sustainable Mobility Academy’ project in the DAAD HAW.International programme for the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024. In addition to the summer academy, various measures for the internationalisation of the university and the implementation of more sustainable strategies on campus are planned and have already been implemented.
Further information
Information on the Sustainable Mobility Academy of TH Wildau at: en.th-wildau.de/sma
Information about the International Office of TH Wildau: en.th-wildau.de/international-office
Contact person at the TH Wildau:
Constanze Eichler
Project Coordination SMSA 2024
TH Wildau
Hochschulring 1, 15745 Wildau
E-Mail: constanze.eichler@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@th-wildau.de