Agriculture

Extracurricular education partner for schools and kindergartens in global learning in Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg Vorpommern and Lower Saxony

The State Government of Schleswig-Holstein supports development policy initiatives through, among other things, an annual financial contribution to the One-World Network (Landesnetzwerk Bündnis Eine Welt – BEI) as well as to the Promoter Program (Promotorenprogramm), whereas four positions have been created in 2012 in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Furthermore, Schleswig-Holstein works hand in hand on the basis of mutual trust with BEI within the framework of nationwide committees for development cooperation.

The Ministry for Energy, Agriculture, Environment, Nature and Digitalization (Ministerium für Energiewende, Landwirtschaft, Umwelt, Natur und Digitalisierung - MELUR) also cooperates with the Service Agency Communities in One World (Servicestelle Kommunen in der Einen Welt) and the Lutheran-Protestant Church of Northern Germany. A high-level agreement was signed with the Church of Northern Germany. Development projects by non-governmental organizations are subsidised by BINGO, the state-owned lottery.

Beside the support of municipal and school-related North-South partnerships, MELUR prioritizes awareness-raising measures, for example in the areas of sustainable and fair procurement and Fair Trade as well as educational work within the UNESCO Global Action Prorgramme on Education for Sustainable Development. These projects are run by the Ministry, mostly in cooperation with the “Educational Centre for Nature, Environment and Rural Areas” (Bildungszentrum für Natur, Umwelt und ländliche Räume – BNUR). Global Learning
and development policy subjects are also part of educational work in schools within the framework of Schleswig-Holstein’s initiative “School of the Future.SH” (Zukunftsschule.SH). Several schools have already contributed to projects in this area.

With the aim of supporting climate protection, Schleswig-Holstein has joined the Initiative “Global Climate Leadership” in 2015. MELUR supports the cooperation between participants from the economic and academic sectors in Schleswig-Holstein, who, together with their Mexican partners, work in the field of renewable energies and climate protection within the framework of the German-Mexican Climate Alliance.

Every year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the WTSH GmbH jointly fund a training program for specialized personnel from the Chinese province of Zhejiang.

Multi-facetted cooperation with developing countries exists in the area of university research and educational work.

- Networked Thinking Needs Bright Minds -

The Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences is characterized not only by its explicit organic profile, but also by its uniqueness in the German and international higher education landscape. The Department's research and teaching activities revolve around organically-oriented objectives. These activities are pursued by outstanding scholars from many different special areas and through the implementation of modern experimental methods. The declared goal of this networked approach is the concrete implementation of the scientific findings in policy and practice, which is why the Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences sees itself as a cosmopolitan and practice-oriented university department.

The preservation of the natural basis of life is of central importance. Therefore, the organic agricultural sciences are dedicated to a type of agriculture that produces healthy and tasty foods largely in accordance with nature, and that furthermore takes into account economic restrictions and, not least of all, the social and cultural conditions of the respective country and its agriculture.

Fulfilling the research objectivity of organically-oriented agricultural sciences does not only require professional competence. It also promotes a scientific culture that concentrates on complete processes instead of isolated segments. Hence, all concerned parties, from the students and staff to the professors, contribute to the formation of the overall image of organic agricultural sciences.

Furthermore, there is a strong international orientation; Witzenhausen is extensively networked in European and international organizations and also offers its own course of studies.

Specialist shop for fair trade