The dozen is full - but the ideas for further joint topics, projects and synergies are almost endless: On Monday, Lord Mayor Jürgen Krogmann and University President Professor Dr Ralph Bruder met with the heads of the city administration and the members of the University's Executive Board for the twelfth annual meeting of the City of Oldenburg and the University of Oldenburg. The meeting venue this time was the Oldenburg Technology and Start-up Centre (TGO).
The focus of this meeting was once again on the joint work programme for the coming years, which was divided into five core areas: climate neutrality, further development of the university, campus Oldenburg, start-up culture and internationalisation.
Lord Mayor Jürgen Krogmann praised the goal-oriented, intensive further work on the programme: "Since our last meeting in mid-November, a number of good ideas have been developed and concretised that will jointly advance both the university and the city - and from which not only both sides, but above all the people of Oldenburg will benefit in various areas. The close cooperation makes sense on so many levels. I look forward to us now actively tackling these issues together."
University President Professor Dr Ralph Bruder added: "For us as a university, it is noticeable every day how closely, trustingly and easily we work together with colleagues from the city administration. Be it in the major development steps of the university, for example in the area of excellence strategy or medicine, or in the many other topics that we can simply work on better and more purposefully together."
Concrete project ideas from the five core areas
In the area of "climate neutrality", for example, the already agreed, ongoing and new project ideas were presented and prioritised. Topics such as cycle path infrastructure, urban greenery and climate adaptation are therefore now at the top of the agenda for 2025.
In the area of "Further development of the university", new projects will be initiated this year, particularly in the areas of social affairs / health and medicine / innovation / start-ups, which should also have a positive impact on the city and university in the longer term. Examples of this include the "age-friendly cities" co-operation, which began in 2024 and will be strengthened with a follow-up project, and the collaboration on "student housing". In addition, the exchange on culture and sport is to be intensified in order to identify potential joint projects.
Two joint projects are in the starting blocks this year in the two areas of "Campus Oldenburg" and "Start-up culture": the city centre start-up project "Gründung findet Stadt" and the application for the "hoi startup-factory" of the Universities of Oldenburg and Bremen with the support of the City of Oldenburg.
According to Bruder, there is still a lot to be done together in the area of internationalisation: "The need for supervision and support for international students and visiting academics will continue to increase as we intensify our internationally oriented research as well as our English-language Master's degree programmes. I see our challenges here primarily in terms of adequate accommodation."
Krogmann sees further positive effects for the city, especially in the further expansion of the existing co-operation between the University of Oldenburg and the RUG Groningen as part of the "Northwest Alliance" of universities: "The long-standing partnership between Oldenburg and Groningen could also benefit from this."
Other topics on the agenda
Other items on the agenda included a report on the status of the Excellence Strategy as well as compact presentations on the WEALTH innovation cluster and the "Suicide prevention in schools" co-operation project. The Powerhouse North and the upcoming "USA Encounters" this autumn were also the subject of the annual meeting.
The next meeting in this round is planned for autumn 2025.
