The TUHH, under the leadership of the Vice President Academic Affairs, Prof. Kerstin Kuchta, has developed and promoted the ECIU Strategic Challenge of a Climate Neutral Campus. She emphasised the importance of students as role models for the university who deal with societal challenges, with the big idea that we have to prevent climate change and counteract the consequences that we face. The six-month format of the Strategic Challenge involves writing a master’s thesis and thus, combines collaborative work on a collectively developed challenge with individual research and writing. The students have already been working together since February to develop ideas to reduce CO₂ emissions, increase the behavioral awareness of students and staff at the university and develop proposals to avoid „greenwashing“. Now, everyone is getting to know each other personally: Students from Trento (Italy), Aveiro (Portugal), Linköping (Sweden), Kaunas (Lithuania), Stavanger (Norway), Dublin (Ireland) and Hamburg (Germany) will meet for two days at TUHH. There will be presentations, team-building workshops and joint work phases.

„We are excited about the students‘ commitment and the contribution they are making to this visionary project. The exchange of ideas and experiences on a European level is inspiring for everyone involved,“ says Dr. Nadine Stahlberg, coordinator of the Strategic Challenge at TUHH. „We are delighted to host the Strategic Challenge at TUHH. It offers students a novel opportunity for writing a master’s thesis and a unique learning experience.“