Friday, 3rd December 2015, Marta Jacuniak-Suda defended her dissertation successfully and therefore graduated. She was a member of the Research Group for Applied Geography and Environmental Planning as research associate for several years before she started her work at the HafenCityUniversity Hamburg. She focused on the regional gouvernance of rural peripheries on examples from Scotland and Poland. Her supervisors were Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose and Prof. Dr. Rainer Danielzyk (University Hannover). Prof. Dr. Rainer Buchwald contributed as examiner. 

Research Group coordinates a new research project concerning climate-optimized drainage management

How will a region with 30% of its surface being under mean sea level be influenced by climate change? How can, and more importantly must, it's drainage management be adjusted? These are the questions the University Oldenburg wants to answer in coorparation with the Jade Hochschule. The three-year project will be funded by the BUMB and the drainage organisation in Emden, where the project will tage place. Big parts of the lower saxony lowlands could not be used for settlement or farming if it wasn't for the thousands of ditches and pumping stations. Climate change will not only alter the amount of rainfall but will also raise the tide levels storm tides. The Oldenburger scientists will use model-based studys to identify possible actions and create a concept for a safe way into the future. The project will be coordinated by the Working Group For Applied Geography And Environmental Planning. The responsibles for the project are Dr.-Ing. Peter Schaal, Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose and Dr. Helge Bormann. 

From June 1st to 26th Dr. Peter Schall and Dipl. environmental scientist Christian Aden spent two weaks each in Maputo, Mozambique and taught african master students and lecturers at the Escola Superior Ténica. The main topics were development, function and contents of environmental information systems in theory and practice such as modelling the environment using GIS. The teaching was part of the EMIS (Environmental Management Information Systems) programm. It was coordinated by the university Oldenburg and funded by DAAD. There were also participating lecturers from the universities in Accra, Ghana, and Marusha, Tanzania. 

The teaching secondment was an exciting experience for Peter Schaal and Christian Aden.

Silke Neumeyer acchieved her doctorate. Her dissertation is entitled "Nature protection as threshold for regional development. A study about two major-scale nature protection projects and their contribution to upgrading nature protection in the regions". Her supervisors were Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose and Bern Siebenhühner (University Oldenburg, Ecological Economy). 

The semester ended with coffee, tea and cake for the members of the Working Group Applied Geography And Environmental Planning. As always the semester was summarized with the entire staff and the student assistants. This year the afternoon was also a celebration of Peter Schaal's birthday!

Students of the Master's programms Landscape ecology and Waster and Coastal management participated in a three-day field trip supervisioned by Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose to the topic "Bremen and the river Weser". The focus was set on city development, water management asn environmental and nature ptotection. The participating lecturers were Rainer Suckau, Hermann Hoppe, Christine Glenewinkel and Stefan Villena-Kirschner. 

Selected destinations in the nature park WIldeshausener Geest were the aim of a bike field trip under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose. Participating students of the seminar "Protected areas and regional development" visited different touristic hotspots, took a guided tour in Dötlingen and met the manager of the administration union Nature Park Wildeshausener Geest, Rolf Eilers, for the exchange of thoughts. 

Recently Ingo Mose, head of the Working Group Applied Geography and Environmental Planning was convened as new member for the Journal "Archive for Scientific Geography". The Journal was founded by Carl Troll in 1947 and is one of the most acknowledged journals in this field. 

Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose was invited by the Franconian Geographic Society to give a lecture at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universitiy Erlangen-Nürnberg. On April 21nd 2015 he spke about the topic "The scottish Hebrides - a classic periphery in upheaval".

The former research associate of the Working Group Applied Geography And EnvironmentalPlannung Georg Fiedler achieved the doctorate in April 2015. He reported about the power analysis of regional governance in Extremadura, Spain. The cumulativ dissertation was supervisioned by Pro. Dr. Ingo Mose (Oldenburg) and Prof. Dr. Paul Reuber (Münster). The examiner in charge at the disputation was Prof. Dr. Rainer Buchwald (Oldenburg).

The Working Group Applied Geography and Environmental Planning ended the year with eating delicious cake from the “Mooriemer Landcafe”. The Working Group thanks the ladies from the Wesermarsch and wishes all partners near and far Merry Christmas and a great start for 2013!

From the 2nd to 18th April the head of the working group Applied Geography and Environmental Planning, Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose, was giving lectures in the United States. He visited the Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, the University of Vermont in Burlington and the University of Connecticut in Storrs, where he talked about spatial protection in Germany and Europe as well as sustainable tourism, learning regions and climate protection. Within his travels Mose also included discussing possible cooperation in teaching and research and presented the ZENARIO (Centre for Sustainable Spatial Development) of the University of Oldenburg.

On the 12th March 2013 Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose gave a lecture on the subject of "The learning region" at the Institute of Landscape and Open Space at the University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil in Switzerland. Recently the University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil became an ERASMUS partner university of the University of Oldenburg and offers two study places each academic year for foreign students from the environmental sciences bachelor's and master's degree programs.

From the 18th to 21st February 2013 students of the Bachelor Environmental Science and the Master Water and Coastal Management went on an excursion to visit the Kingston University London under the direction of Ingo Mose and Peter Schaal. Together with colleagues from the local geography and environmental sciences they worked on issues regarding water management, coastal protection and leisure and recreation planning in the area of the River Thames, the Waterfront Development in the City of London and current aspects of nature conservation in West London as well as in the basin area of the Green Belt. It was the fifth excursion of students from Oldenburg going to Kingston. The exchange will be continued next year.

On the one hand on the 13th February 2013 there is a HEC Workshop on wind energy, on the other hand on the 08th March 2013 the workshop "Towards the Hansa Energy Transition Campus" is organized. For more information you can download the flyer here. The homepage of COAST can be reached here.

On the 31st January students of the Master's programs of Landscape Ecology and Sustainability Economics and Management visited several tourist operators in the “Wesermarsch” within the seminar "Sustainable tourism". Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose participants visited the “Tourist Association Weser Marsch”, the “Tourist Info Brake”, “Center Parcs North Sea coast” and the “National Park Centre and Museum Fedderwardersiel” to find out about opportunities for sustainable design of touristic offers in the region.

In the Working Group Applied Geography and Environmental Planning supervised and successfully completed dissertation of Mrs. Agnes Kriszan with the title "Between foreign regulation and self-development. Civil society actors as endogenous resource for the development of rural and peripheral towns in Poland" is awarded with the Scientific Award of the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in the Federal Republic of Germany! The Working Group congratulates Agnes Kriszan on receiving this special award!

On a bike trip led by Ingo Mose participants of the seminar "Multifunctionality and rural development" dealed with selected phenomena of rural structural change on the southern outskirts of Bremen on the 21st November. Agricultural, residential, commercial, transport, recreation and nature conservation offered the students a variety of starting points for a lively discussion "on the spot".

At the Vienna University the well-known human geographer Prof. Dr. Peter Weichhart has celebrated his retirement. On this occasion in honor of Peter Weichhart the local Institute of Geography and Regional Studies published an "Anthology on Social Geography" with contributions of several authors from Austria and abroad. The publication also includes a joint contribution of Ingo Mose (Oldenburg) and Norbert Weixlbaumer (Vienna) on the paradigm shift in the area of protection with an emphasis on experiences in the "Hohe Tauern National Park". The book can be purchased at discount via the author.

As part of the program "Lifelong Learning" of the European Union Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose with the working group of Applied Geography and Environmental Planning has been awarded with a Jean Monnet Chair for "Europeanization and Sustainable Spatial Development". The title became effective in the beginning of September and was awarded for a period of three years. Connected with the award is also a financial aid used to support projects in teaching and research, which raise questions about European dimensions of spatial development.

In the context of the ERASMUS program, the working group of Applied Geography and Environmental Planning initiated a partnership with the University of Technology Rapperswil, Switzerland. A semester stay is now available for interested students of B.Sc. Environmental sciences and the M.Sc. Landscape Ecology. Also students of other degree programs with an interest of spatial development sciences may apply. Advice to the concrete conditions of the ERASMUS program offers Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose.

On 1st August, Mrs. Agnes Kriszan from Neustrelitz successfully defended her doctoral thesis at the Faculty V: Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. The title of her dissertation is: "Between foreign regulation and self-development: civil society actors as a resource for the endogenous development of rural and peripheral towns in Poland." Agenes Kriszan was supervised by Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose from the working group "Applied Geography and Environmental Planning". Second supervisor and assessor of her work was Prof. Dr. Joachim Burdack from the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography in Leipzig. Further Prof. Dr. Rainer Buchenwald also contributed to the disputation.

On the 13th July 19 students of the Master programs of Landscape Ecology and Sustainability Economics and Management explored by bike the Hamme-Wümme lowlands in the context of the seminar "Protected areas and regional development" under the direction of Ingo Mose. On their route the group met with Dr. Gerhard Kulp of the Biological Station Osterholz, who spoke about the current challenges of nature conservation in the region. As a special guest the group was accompanied by Dr. Stuart Downward of the Kingston University London, with who the working group by Ingo Mose is in close professional contact. He was interested in the possibility to provide the field trip in the future also for students from London.

At the invitation of the Centre for Rural Economy on 25th June 2012 Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose held a lecture at Newcastle University, England. He gave a lecture on "Large protected areas in Germany: "dynamic parks" for sustainable development?" At the Centre for Rural Economy research is focused on issues of regional rural development and several colleagues also study the role of large protected areas for sustainable regional development. In the afterwards discussion of the presentation there were different perspectives of an international case study research noticeable, of which the English and the German side were equally interested.

For the second time from 1st to 3rd June 2012 about 20 students of geography, spatial planning, environmental science and landscape ecology of the Universities of Oldenburg, Bremen and Groningen, met for a trilateral seminar. This time it took place at the University of Bremen and was organized by the Institute of Geography. There were also several lecturer of the three partner universities participating, including Peter Schaal and Ingo Mose of the working group "Applied Geography and Environmental Planning" in Oldenburg. The students used the workshop to present outstanding Bachelor and Master Theses and projects, all being on the issues of environmental and spatial development in the German-Dutch coastal zone. The spectrum of topics ranged from tourism on the West Frisian Islands and in the Rheiderland, over current problems of the crab fishery to the accumulation of micro-plastic debris on the coasts of the North Sea. A guided tour through the historic center of Bremen and in the area of "Überseestadt", which is the newly created district in the territory of the former city harbor, complemented the program. The next trilateral workshop will be held in 2013 at the University of Oldenburg.

On the so-called "Future-day" of the schools, on 26th April 2012, the working group "Applied Geography and Environmental Planning" was visited by two students from Bremen: Nora Ruthke and Luke Moses (both 14 years old) spent a whole day in Oldenburg and got an impression of the operation of the university and the various tasks of the working group in research and teaching. Their visit included also a detour in the working group "Plant Sociology and Nature Conservation", where they could also inspect various issues and methods of the research. In the evening the guests went back to Bremen being very impressed after this 8-hour day.

For students of environmental science studies there is now a new study place offer for studying abroad in Europe: In the context of the ERASMUS program was a partnership agreed with the Lews Castle College - University of the Highlands and Islands in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland. The partnership, which includes the possibility of exchange of lecturers, came about at the initiative of the working group "Applied Geography and Environmental Planning". Lews Castle College is one of thirteen college locations of the newly established Scottish University Network, in which each is characterized by a very specific profile of their degree programs. For students of Oldenburg the programs of interest are in Stornoway, where the focus is on sustainable development, sustainable management and sustainable rural development. For this purpose, several Bachelor and Master degrees are offered. In addition to students of the B.Sc. Environmental Sciences and the M.Sc. Landscape Ecology the services of the Scottish partner also addresses students of M.Sc. Water and Coastal Management and the M.A. Sustainability Economics and Management. For further information interested students can contact the ERASMUS Representative of the IBU, Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose.

On 6^th and 7^th March 2012 students of the "M.Sc. Water and Coastal Management" and the members of the "Research Project on consequences of climate change (KLIFF-IMPLAN)" went together on a field trip to Schouwen-Duiveland (Netherlands) under the direction of Dr. Frank Ahlhorn and Dipl.-Ing. Jan Spiekermann. The island, which is part of the province Zeeland in the Netherlands, is seen as a "laboratory" for the development of adaptation strategies on the consequences of climate change. In addition to the visit of different projects the group met regional experts at a workshop. Part of the meeting were subjects relating coastal protection, water management, nature conservation, agriculture and also the development of settlement, infrastructure and tourism.

With the title "Stormy times: The movement of nature and environmental conservation around Oldenburg in the 1960s and 1980s" the 2^nd regional convention about the history of nature conservation around Oldenburg took place on 19^th and 20^th April 2012.
The venue was the old parliament of Oldenburg.

Together with the academy for nature conservation in Lower Saxony the team of the project "Artenerfassung digital in Niedersachsen (ARDINI)" (engl.: digital species determination in Lower Saxony) arranged the seminar on the status of ARDINI on 23^rd/24^th April 2012 in Camp Reinsehlen close to Schneverdingen. The main subject of the symposium was the introduction of the new software for the determination of birds and dragonflies with a mobile device in the field. In addition to the presentation there also was a live-show to present the progression from the collection to the standardized export of the data. Also high-ranked representatives from the field of nature conservation could be won for the event. The leaders of the project and the guest speakers of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and different regional authorities discussed and gave lectures on the use of digital media like apps and WebGIS for the collection of data. The IBU of the University of Oldenburg, the IAPG of the Jade University of Applied Science, the NABU Oldenburger Land e.V. and the company IP SYSCON GmbH from Hannover were part of the event.
Further information on the project can be found here: www.ardini.de (only in German).

At the international congress "Managing Alpine Future II" in Innsbruck (Austria) on 22th November 2011, Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose gave a lecture on the development and realization of sustainable development strategies in the Scottish high lands and islands. These strategies are part of the results for a subproject of his research project on rural periphery in Europe, which is funded by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, engl: German research association). Using the example of Western Isles, Mose highlights the important role of the local bottom-up initiatives for the current economic and social revitalization process in one of the typical peripheries of the continent. After three year of funding the DFG project was completed in this year's summer. In the case of further interest the lecture can be downloaded here

At the annual meeting of the research group "Rural Region" in the German association for geography (DGfG), Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose was unanimous reelected as the spokesman of the research group for two more years. The meeting was from 17th to 18th November 2011 at the university of applied science in Soest (Midwest of Germany). Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose will share his function as the spokesman with Prof.in. Dr. Ulrike Grabski-Kieron of the "Westphalian Wilhelms-University Münster". Nationwide the research group includes round about 130 scientists, who are involved in questions about the rural region development. In the DGfG the research group is one of the groups with the highest membership.

At the international workshop "Protected areas as tools for regional development" in Saint Pierre de Chartreuse, France, Prof. Dr. Ingo Moose gave the opining speech. He gave a lecture on the subject of "Protected areas: model landscapes for sustainable development". There were 30 academics participating at the workshop as well as park managers from France, Swiss, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden and Germany. The presentation was held with the corporate responsibility of Alparc, the network of alpine nature reserves, the international scientist committee for alpine research (ISCAR) and the research network NeReGro, where Ingo Mose is a member of. In addition Parc Naturel Régional de Chartreuse served as the regional co-operation partner for the presentation. Prof. Dr. Dirk Strijker moderated the presentation where all participants unanimous spoke out on the active role of larger nature reserves for regional development. Especially for the biosphere reserve, but also for nature parks and national parks there are big chances to be a good example for whole Europe for sustainable ways of spatial development.

From 1st to 8th October 2011 students of the M.Sc. Landscape Ecology, Sustainability Economics and Management and Water and Coastal Management went together on a field trip to the region of Vinschgaus in South Tyrol (Italy) under the direction of Prof. Dr. Rainer Buchwald and Prof. Dr. Ingo Moose. As a part of the module "Nature conservation in practice" the field trip had the goal to visit some bigger nature preserves. In the region of upper Vinschgaus the Italian national park "Stilfser Joch" and the two Swiss national parks "Biosfera Val Müstair" and "Swiss National Park" are joining. Together they are one of the largest connected nature preserve complex in the Alps. In particular the student did research on the geomorphology and vegetation of the high mountains, the concerns of change in the cultural landscape, agriculture and tourism as well as environmental education in the area of influence of the mentioned nature preserves.

Recently Mister Norbert Klostermann received a doctor's degree in Regional Studies at the faculty V of the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. He is the head of the Transport Planning Office at the department for building, environment and transport for the city of Oldenburg. The title of his dissertation is "Mit dem Rad in die Stadt - jetzt erst recht? Klima, Energie, Demografie, Lebensstil: Radverkehr heute und zukünftig unter dem Einfluss aktueller Megatrends. ErgebnissevierinternationalerFallstudien" (engl: Taking the bike to the city - now more than ever? Climate, energy, demography, lifestyle: Cycling traffic today and in the future with the influence of a mega trend. Results of four international case studies.) The project of dissertation was supervised by Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose and the second supervisor was Prof. Dr. Helmut Holzapfel from the University of Kassel. Mister Klostermann is the first to receive a doctor's degree at the working group for Regional Studies.

Students of the Master programs of Landscape Ecology, Sustainability Economics and Management and Water and Coastal Management participated in a field trip to the National Park "Hohe Tauern" in Austria. Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose, the students visited selected destinations in the largest protected area of the Alps and met with representatives from the National Park Authority, local projects and local government. The focuses of the field trip were the planning and realization of security rights, the connection between nature conservation and regional development strategies of sustainable tourism and the consequences of climate change in the region.

Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose students of the M.Sc. Landscape Ecology went on a field trip to the Hamme-Wümme lowland in the north-east of Bremen on 20 July 2011 by bike. The field trip was part of the module called "Nature conservation in practice". Large parts of the Hamme-Wümme-lowland are designated for nature and landscape reserve and have the status of european NATURA-2000 areas. At the nature reserve "BreitesWasser", which is part of the "Teufelsmoor" (engl: Devil's moor), Dr. Gerhard Kulp of the biological station in Osterholz welcomed the students and explained the intention of the nature reserve. Another point of interest was the background of a sustainable regional development, e.g. in agriculture and tourism that can be combined with the interest of nature conservation. Also a potential designation of a biosphere reserve was one the discussed subjects, but until today there is not enough political intention in the region.

Sustainability, transformation and regional development

From the 16^th until the 19^th of June 2011 there was a trilateral workshop on "Vulnerability and the Waddensea - Sustainability, transformation and regional development" at the faculty for Regional Studies at the University of Groningen (Netherlands) with the cooperation of ZENARiO and the department of geography of the University of Bremen. At the workshop students from different programs of study at the three partner universities presented their own results of regional studies (bachelor's and master's thesis, project of dissertation). All the contributions on this subject were based on the geographical focus on the international waddensea area. The workshop, where not only students but also professors of the three universities participated, dates from an initiative of ZENARiO to open up the potential for a cooperation of the regional studies in research and teaching of the universities in Oldenburg, Groningen and Bremen. The project was sponsored by the NOWETAS-foundation. This presentation acted as the beginning of a series of workshops, which will be continued in the next few years at similar meetings in Bremen and Oldenburg.

Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose, the head of the working group on Regional Studies, staid at the Kingston University London from the 3^rd until the 26^th of May 2011 as a part of the ERASMUS' mobility of professors. He was a guest at the Sustainability Hub where he took over parts of the research and teaching.

In the end of 2010 the center for sustainable regional development in Oldenburg (german: ZentrumfürNachhaltigeRaumentwicklung in Oldenburg - ZENARiO) became the fifth member of COAST, which is the superior center for environmental and sustainable research at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg.

The scientific advisory council of ZENARiO, which was instructed by the chair of the university, was constituted in Oldenburg on Monday the 20^th December 2010. The advisory council's function is to critically accompany ZENARiO and to give suggestions for a further progression in research and teaching. The members of the advisory council are Ms. Prof. Dr. BeateJessel (president of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn), Mr. Prof. Dr. Rainer Danielzyk (University Hanover, chair in regional planning and development), Mr. Prof. Dr. Dirk Strijker (University Groningen, ProfessurfürländlicheEntwicklung), Mr. Prof. Dr. UweSchneidewind (president of the Wuppertal-Institute) and Mr. Georg Litmathe (director of the cooperative union Weser-Ems e.V., Oldenburg). Prof. Strijker (picture) was elected unanimously to become the spokesman.

At the first joint meeting with the managing board of ZENARiO the members of the advisory council certified a remarkable number of initiatives in research and teaching, in which the multidisciplinarity of the involved working groups and fields of activity are represented. This meeting is a good basis for further necessary ways to enhance the profile of the center. There has to be an extra focus on the important functions of the region within the current sustainability debate to confirm the unique characteristics of the center.

In the name of the managing board the director Prof. Dr. Ingo Mose of ZENARiO thanked the members of the advisory council for their support and expressed his hope to continue the development of the center over the next years with the help of the advisory council.