For the first time the Aschaffenburg University of Applied (TH Aschaffenburg) sciences has launched a new EU project initiative on building a green, sustainable campus of the future and has welcomed this week to that end more than 30 students for the ERASMUS Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) Your campus of the future on the campus of TH AB.
In the BIP Your campus of the future students from Aschaffenburg UAS and their partner universities learn about sustainability and how to co-create together greener initiatives on campus following the Sustainable Development Goals.
Your campus of the future is a compact blended intensive programme of the ERASMUS programme and has been designed and implemented by Prof. Dr. Alexandra Angress together with her colleague Prof. Dr. Sabrina Weithmann, university sustainability representative, and Madeleine Recknagel, circular economist expert. This new programme initiative is jointly run with the support of the International Office of Aschaffenburg University of Applied sciences and the ERASMUS partner universities of Howest, Brüges, Belgium, ISCAP Porto, Portugal, University of Zilina, Slovakia and University of CEU Cardinal Herrera, Valencia Spain. The Campus of the Future lecturer team is delighted to have welcomed and worked with more than 30 students and encouraged them to work in cross-cultural teams on strategies to make the university campus here and in the partner countries greener and more sustainable.
Prof. Dr. Holger Paschedag, Vice President for international Affairs opened this interactive, innovative and interdisciplinary international programme and highlighted the importance of personal cross-cultural encounters in these challenging times to build trust and a peaceful, sustainable future together.
Students from ERASMUS partner universities in Zilina, Howest/Bruges, CEU Valencia and ISCAP Porto joined TH AB students to learn more about sustainability and what it means for citizens in Europe on a daily basis. They also met with local companies and projects here in the region such as the “Schlaraffenburger” to hear from them first hand what they do to promote sustainability here in the region of Aschaffenburg.
University campuses are a place of innovation, open experimentation and intellectual power. “The programme seeks to combine circular economic principles, design thinking and system thinking in order to foster new ideas and solutions re-imagining an university campus as ecologically sustainable liveable and resilient ecosystem”, says Prof. Dr. Sabrina Weithmann.
In cross-cultural teams students presented in a final hybrid poster session including representatives of the participating BIP universities their first prototype ideas to build a green campus. Upon return to their home countries they will seek to interview and engage stakeholders on their respective campuses and reflect and report back to continue their project ideas.
„I love the idea to know more about sustainability and I love Aschaffenburg.“
„I am loving this very interactive programme and I am learning a lot new methods such as design thinking.“
„During my studies of Informatics and Management back home I have not had the option to go abroad for one semester so this BIP now is perfect for me.“
„I love the idea to learn more about sustainability and it is a great experience to get to know lot of people here from TH AB and abroad.“
Prof. Dr. Alexandra Angress says, “We are delighted about the excellent feedback from students and our partners joining us for this BIP and look forward to continuing Your Campus of the Future relating to selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with our ERASMUS partners in the future.”
Meanwhile, more ERASMUS partner universities have meanwhile expressed their interest to join in the future.
More information on this ERASMUS BIP Your campus of the Future can be found here:
