Alumni Academy: Further education and international exchanges
The Alumni Academy's "Die internationale
Zukunftswerkstatt / The International Future
Laboratory" is aimed toward international alumni
of the University of Siegen, and is designed to support
them in their personal and professional further education.
In "The Future Laboratory" participants
work together in an interdisciplinary composition on
projects for sustainable development. The focus here is on
education, digitalisation, social and development-related
topics.
The Alumni Academy is co-hosted by Professor Dr.-Ing.
Mathias Wirths, Department of Architecture, Faculty II -
Education-Architecture-Arts, University of Siegen.
Alumni Academy / Shaping transfer processes for a sustainable future / 2025 and 2026
International alumni will
gather in August at the University of Siegen. In
2025/26, the Alumni Academy will focus on how transfer
processes can be designed sustainably and innovative
initiatives developed through international discourse, in the
spirit of an international future workshop. Following an
initial digital collaboration organised in 2025, more than 20
international alumni will gather at the University of Siegen in
August 2026 to exchange ideas on new formats for transfer
processes and successful transfer projects and their effects,
and to jointly develop ideas for innovative initiatives related
to their own areas of expertise in an international discourse.
Alumni Academy / Transformation for sustainability / 2023 and 2024
In the international future
laboratory "Urbanisation and Rural
Development", the participants, international alumni
and research alumni of the University of Siegen, were invited
to enter into a discourse with international perspectives on
this field of tension in an interdisciplinary composition over
two years. Here, a link was established between international
projects, which are identified and accompanied by the
participants from their respective regional and professional
contexts, and regional and university (University of Siegen)
projects, and an added value for a transformation in the sense
of sustainability was created through the exchange of
experiences. Click
here to read more. Furthermore, click
here for a retrospective by our student
reporter.
Alumni Academy / Digitalisation 20+ and Sustainability / 2021 and 2022
„Blended Education“ – The international Future Laboratory. As a further education format for alumni the Alumni Academy took up the "blended" format in 2021 and 2022. Enabled by DAAD funding from BMZ funds, international alumni worked here in interdisciplinary composition on topics related to digital teaching and blended learning and developed and implemented various joint teaching/learning projects. Click here to read more
Sustainability Conference 2015
The Alumni Academy 2014/2015 ‘Paths to Sustainability - The International Future Laboratory’ closed in Module 2 ‘Managing and Evaluating Projects’ with a sustainability conference and was concluded in the spirit of the theme with an award ceremony with the patron, Johannes Remmel, Minister for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The jury was made up of the participants themselves as well as the heads of the Alumni Academy and external advisors, including from GIZ. Lesen Click here to read more.
Alumni Academy / Sustainability / 2014 and 2015
As early as 2013, the Alumni Summer School with a group of international alumni of the University of Siegen in interdisciplinary composition and from different cultures laid the foundation for a joint commitment to sustainable development. While extensive input from academia on issues of sustainability for society, the environment and the economy had initially sharpened the participants' view of sustainable action, this gave rise to the common desire to work concretely on projects for sustainable development. ‘Paths to Sustainability - The International Future Laboratory’ This initiative was the basis of the Alumni Academy, which in 2014 and 2015, also with funding from the DAAD, was intended to support alumni in the sense of successful project management for the implementation of their own projects for sustainable development as an "international future workshop". Through a cooperation with the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, the alumni participant group was able to broaden its base even more from 2014 onwards. Both through the exchange of their own competences within the group and with the support of other experts in the field of project management and international cooperation, concepts for sustainable development projects were jointly developed from ideas in two modules at the Alumni Academy (2014), which had already entered an initial implementation phase by the time the second module met again in September 2015. Questions on project evaluation and successful project management were now on the agenda. Click here to read more.
Alumni Summer School
Under the motto "Shaping the Future Humanly - Paths
to Sustainability", the 2013 interdisciplinary Alumni
Summer School focused on the topics "Shaping the Environment",
"Social Responsibility" and "Economic Thinking". With
contributions from lecturers from the University of Siegen as
well as many guest lecturers, the focus was on the aspect of
continuing education for the participants. Another and
essential part of the programme, however, were the
contributions of the participants themselves. With a view to
sustainability from the respective cultural and professional
contexts, the global dimension of the discussion on
sustainability also became clear here. Click here to read more.
With our offers for further education, we would like
to support international understanding and intercultural
exchange in a special way. The project is funded by the DAAD
with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation
and Development (BMZ).