Festive start to the 2023 winter semester:
HNEE welcomes the new students

The 2023/24 winter semester has begun: New students were welcomed to the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) on 28 September 2023 at Haus Schwärzetal, followed by the traditional reception hosted by the city of Eberswalde on Eberswalde's market square. The new Bachelor's degree programme in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems (ErnA) also starts at the beginning of the semester.

Prof Dr Matthias Barth, President of HNEE, student senator Şaziye Aksungur, Eberswalde Mayor Götz Herrmann, Prof Dr Götz Eduard Rehn, Managing Director of Alnatura Produktions- und Handels GmbH, and Jörg-Andreas Krüger, President of Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. (NABU), welcomed the new students.

In the current winter semester, around 540 first-semester students are starting their studies at HNEE, including 74 international students. This brings the total number of students enrolled at HNEE to around 2,300.

In his speech, Prof. Dr. Matthias Barth thanked everyone involved for their excellent cooperation in establishing the new ErnA Bachelor's programme and expressed his delight at the high demand: "In addition to established study programmes that are in high demand at the university, new study programmes are needed to train the shapers of change in the important key areas." HNEE is an ideal place to learn where students can try out practical skills and develop their own profile. In addition to specialist and methodological skills, students acquire important key competences to help shape sustainable development in practice.

NABU President Jörg-Andreas Krüger addressed the students at the matriculation ceremony. He emphasised the key role of students as important ambassadors and trailblazers in the transformation process: "Sustainability transformation can only succeed if we win majorities. In order to reach people from different population groups, we need to focus much more on solutions and successes that work well. In times of multiple crises, people long for positive news. By choosing to study at HNEE, you are taking an important first step towards taking on this responsible task."

Alnatura Managing Director Prof. Dr Rehn also addressed a brief greeting to the first-semester students and motivated them to network, gain lots of practical experience and, above all, to remain optimistic when finding solutions.

In his welcoming speech to the students, Götz Herrmann, Mayor of the City of Eberswalde, emphasised the city's diverse cultural offerings, the enrichment of the urban environment by HNEE students and the good cooperation between the city and the university.

Honouring the best with the DAAD Prize and the Sustainability Award of the City of Eberswalde

The DAAD prize of 1,000 euros for the best foreign student(s) went to Saleem Haddad from the Biosphere Reserves Management Master's programme. The Master's student has his roots in Palestine and grew up in Jordan, a region that suffers from wars and major environmental problems such as extreme water scarcity. Academically, he is among the best in his year and is also involved in voluntary work. During his two years of study at HNEE, he has been active as a volunteer and researcher in a total of seven countries and set up a "Biosphere Reserves Youth Group". He greatly appreciates the cultural encounters and experiences this has brought. Saleem Haddad describes himself as a political person, at least since the time of the "Arab Spring", which he experienced in his youth in Jordan. He sees social justice, freedom of expression and equal rights as fundamental to the further sustainable development of global society, alongside the protection of nature and the environment. He sees his future in the international context of development cooperation, although he has already developed a sense of home for the city of Eberswalde and enjoys studying and living here.

The City of Eberswalde's sustainability prize, also worth 1,000 euros, was awarded for the fourth time in a row. This year, the prize was awarded to Valentin Luckas, a graduate of the Landscape Use and Nature Conservation degree programme, for his thesis entitled "Protected landscape features as an instrument of climate adaptation in urban areas. Analysis based on the legal situation and the example of the landscape water balance of Eberswalde". The prize is aimed at students who demonstrate possibilities for sustainable urban development in exemplary theses.

About the DAAD Prize
Every year, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) honours an international student or doctoral candidate at a university who has distinguished themselves through special academic achievements and remarkable social or intercultural commitment. This award emphasises the positive contribution made by foreign students at universities and in German society.en.

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