Many ideas for the design of a regional office at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences

Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences is planning to create a meeting place for sustainability that is open to all citizens. Firstly, in a pilot project together with the city of Kleve in June 2024 in Kleve, and in future also at other locations in the Lower Rhine region. Our aim is to provide citizens with barrier-free access to regional activities relating to sustainability, science and innovation.

What should this space look like in the future? Is it a mobile space, at several fixed locations at recurring times or changing depending on the topic and needs?  These were just some of the topics considered by the approximately 20 participants who participated in a workshop on Friday, May 3, 2024.

The aim of the event, led by Florian Gaisrucker, Innovation Manager Society in our TransRegINT project, was to get citizens on board. Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences has presented and developed a concept for a first regional office in Kleve. But now, according to his introduction, it is time to listen to and involve those to whom the idea is actually directed: society. After a brief introduction to the TransRegINT project, Florian Gaisrucker got started.

Start dreaming

As a first step, he asked the participants to share positive experiences of similar formats in pairs and present them to the group. Then it was time to start dreaming: in four groups, participants were allowed to think visionarily and sketch out an ideal scenario for regional offices. A positive side effect of dreaming: participants were allowed to ignore potentially restrictive aspects such as funding, requirements and guidelines.

After a short break with refreshments, Florian Gaisrucker presented the regional office called “DialogPunkt”, which Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and the city of Kleve will open in Kleve’s city center from June 6 to June 28.

In a further group phase, the four teams evaluated and prioritized the collected visions of the future. The participants engaged in a lively discussion about the realisability and weighting of the various ideas. There was a clear tendency in the groups towards an agile and dynamic regional office. The regional office should come to its target groups and not the other way around. Consideration was given to how existing infrastructures could be used, for example, to get out of the towns and into the villages and reach people there too and offer them the opportunity to participate.

“No fixed formats” was another recommendation. A variety of different offer formats is what is wanted: from consultation hours to talks, creative work and actual hands-on experience to cultural activities, participation in sporting events and the like.

We will now further develop the concept for future regional offices based on the ideas collected and the insights gained from the Kleve DialogPunkt.

Further information on the planned events at the Kleve DialogPunkt will be published soon under Events.