Europe in Saxony: A European higher education landscape for the sustainable development of industry is taking shape

They conduct joint research and teaching on responsible and sustainable production and consumption – and in doing so, are shaping a European university. Around 150 European researchers and students from nine higher education institutions across eight European countries were drawn to Mittweida last week by this aim. From 23 to 27 September, Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, together with TU Bergakademie, hosted the ‘EURECA-PRO Review Week’. The European University on Responsible Consumption and Production (EURECA-PRO) brings together the expertise of European universities whose research and teaching focus on sustainability and, in particular, Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12).

The European meeting in Saxony was held under the theme ‘Rethinking Communication’. It soon became clear that the participants weren’t just thinking about communication – they were putting it into practice. After arriving in Freiberg on Monday evening, the opening event on Tuesday morning in Mittweida set the tone for the rest of the conference: the ‘Opening Ceremony’ in the TV studio, staged as a television programme featuring talks, news and a quiz, had everyone hooked.

Professor Volker Tolkmitt, Rector of Mittweida University of Applied Sciences: “Review Week is a highlight of campus life within our alliance. We are therefore particularly delighted to have been able to welcome our partners here in Central Saxony for the first time. Our expectations for the meeting were fully met. We have achieved significant breakthroughs, even on challenging aspects of our collaboration. We have taken further important steps on our journey towards becoming an international centre of excellence for sustainable consumption and production. Engaging in face-to-face dialogue is a key feature of our collaboration.”

In addition to organisational matters, exchange and networking also characterised the numerous working groups on research topics, joint degree programmes, lifelong learning, internationalisation and communication, which brought together students, lecturers and researchers from Mittweida and Freiberg.

Susanne Feiel from the Montanuniversität Leoben and Strategic Director of International Relations at EURECA-PRO emphasised the value of regular face-to-face meetings and the coming together of different European cultures: “The past few days have impressively shown us that we are part of something bigger, something that is enduring and forward-looking. Our face-to-face meetings continually motivate us anew and highlight what we are truly working towards. For example, during the week we were able to make significant progress in developing joint study programmes and drive forward the further development of the Virtual Campus. The motivation and commitment of our alliance to consistently pursue these goals are clearly evident.”

During a visit to the Telewerk and AMSEL real-world laboratories in Mittweida, participants were able to experience first-hand examples of the responsible use of resources and new ways of working. Work is still ongoing there too, but the obvious potential of these experimental platforms provided inspiration for identifying numerous points of collaboration for (early-career) researchers within the EURECA-PRO Alliance.

EURECA-PRO was established in 2020. The idea for the initiative was put forward three years earlier by the French President, Emmanuel Macron. With its core focus on ‘Sustainable Consumption and Production’, EURECA-PRO is dedicated to the twelfth of the United Nations’ seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, the alliance brings people across Europe closer together. For example, joint study programmes have already been developed, enabling students to transfer seamlessly between two or even more EURECA-PRO universities through integrated semesters abroad.

In addition to Mittweida University of Applied Sciences and TU Bergakademie Freiberg, the alliance includes Hasselt University (Belgium), the Montanuniversität Leoben (Austria), the Technical University of Crete (Greece), the University of León (Spain), the Silesian University of Technology (Poland), the University of Petroșani (Romania) and the University of Lorraine (France). Representatives from these universities meet at regular intervals for their Review Week to further develop their joint alliance.

The next meeting of the EURECA-PRO universities will take place in 2025 at the Université de Lorraine in France.