European Research You Can Touch

Under the motto “Local pulse, global waves”, the European University Alliance E³UDRES², which is coordinated by the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, hosted a Science Festival in St. Pölten for the first time. Numerous guests took part in the workshops, interactive stations, and lab tours and seized this opportunity to get to know innovative research projects of European higher education institutions. Moreover, the winners of the Photovoice Challenge among school pupils from Lower Austria and Vienna were selected within the framework of the festival, while European researchers received awards for their outstanding performances.

“Research Is No Ivory Tower”

“With the Science Festival, we deliberately give centre stage to European research – tangible, explorable, and in direct exchange with the people. The European University Alliance E³UDRES² brings together higher education institutions from nine countries, which results in innovative ideas and concrete solutions – not only for science and teaching, but also for companies, administration, and society in our regions”, explains Hannes Raffaseder, Executive Director of the UAS and President of E³UDRES². “This festival shows that research is not an ivory tower – it thrives on dialogue, and its impact is felt far beyond the scope of the involved universities.”

_{Hannes Raffaseder on the podium. Credit: Eva Nikolopoulou}

Creative Voices to Fight Climate Change: Photovoice Challenge

Prior to the festival, school classes from all over Austria were invited to participate in the Photovoice Challenge by submitting creative takes on the question “Was soll die ältere Generation über die Klimakrise wissen?“ (what the older generation ought to know about the climate crisis).

In texts with a maximum of 150 words – accompanied by striking pictures – the adolescents addressed responsibility, urgency, and the dialogue between generations.

The Winning Teams:

1^st place: HTL Wiener Neustadt

2^nd place: Vienna Business School Hamerlingplatz

3^rd place: BHAK/BHAS St. Pölten

Approximately 60 school pupils personally attended the award ceremony, with more pupils participating online. The award-winning teams presented their contributions together with their teachers before taking this opportunity to explore the labs of the St. Pölten UAS during a tour of the campus. All participants were honoured as “E³UDRES² sustainability ambassadors”.

Award-Winning Research and Teaching: E³UDRES² Awards of Excellence

At the end of the festival, the E³UDRES² Awards of Excellence were given away for the first time – a recognition for outstanding contributions in three categories:

1) Innovative Knowledge Transfer

1^st place: Sjors Groeneveld (Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands): “Die digitale Datenkluft: Sensibilisierung für persönliche Daten durch ein interaktives Festivalerlebnis”

2^nd place: Michaela Moser & Alexandra Winkler (St. Pölten UAS): “Nachbarschaften stärken – Gemeinschaft leben”

3^rd place: Michaela Moser & Emma Dowling (St. Pölten UAS): “Pflegeräte | Care Councils”

 2) Innovative Teaching Methods

1^st place: Ben van Veen (Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands): “Von Schüler*innen zu Stars: Aufbau eines Gefühls der Zugehörigkeit durch Mentor*innenschaft und Teamkultur“

2^nd place: Tanja Ploner, Felix Blasinger, Rosa von Suess (St. Pölten UAS): “Reimagining Media Education: Die c-tv Konferenz als innovative Lehrmethode”

3^rd place: Dawn Kremslehner-Haas (St. Pölten UAS): “SHOC: Teile deine eigene Kultur”

 3) Innovations by Students

The focus here was on student-led projects that started out on a local level but have a potential for global impact.

1^st place: Najia Jalal (Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Germany): “Geschenk für Mädchen”

2^nd place: Julie van der Wal, Lisanne Freriks, Isa Oortgiesen, Florance Colijn, Raisa Borgelink, Lisa Huitink (Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands): “How Clean is the Swab?”

3^rd place: Iosif Ramec & Ana Moldovan-Stoica (Politehnica University Timișoara, Romania): “unihack: Ein Hackathon für den Wandel”

About E³UDRES²

The European University Alliance E³UDRES², which is coordinated by the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, is an alliance of nine higher education institutions and many further associated organisations from all over Europe. As E³UDRES², the involved bodies jointly promote the development of small and medium-sized towns and their rural surroundings to become smart and sustainable European regions. They develop new teaching and learning methods and improve capacities for research and innovation.