In the European Commission’s last round of funding, Hochschule Geisenheim University became a member of a European University, a transnational alliance of higher education institutions. The university is now a German partner in the ‘EU-GIFT’ alliance, a cooperation between seven higher education institutions in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, and Germany, as well as 30 other partner organizations.
EU-GIFT, short for European University for Geographical Identity as a Driver for Food Systems Transition to Sustainability, is an alliance dedicated to excellence in cooperative teaching and research within the EU, particularly in relation to viticulture and the development of sustainable supply chains for food and beverages. The associated funding from the European Commission for Hochschule Geisenheim University amounts to over 1.2 million euro.
Focus on Education and Innovation
The special focus of EU-GIFT is on educational opportunities, innovation, as well as economic and rural development through the production of quality foods with a geographical identity. The aim is to improve the food supply while maintaining affordable prices.
“We have been working in close cooperation with almost all of the universities in this alliance for years now. For that reason, we are all the more pleased to now be deepening this collaboration and pooling our strengths to realize pioneering projects in the field of food, wine, and beverages,” explains Professor Hans Reiner Schultz, President of Hochschule Geisenheim University. “We are also going to dedicate ourselves to the task of preparing a sustainability plan and knowledge transfer program for the alliance, to ensure that the expertise of the universities can be conveyed into practice and into society at large.”
Geisenheim Becomes Seventh University in Hesse to Join a European University Alliance
“Hochschule Geisenheim University is now the seventh higher education institution in Hesse to become a European University partner. Congratulations to the university on this achievement! The development clearly demonstrates the important role that European collaboration plays at our universities,” says Timon Gremmels, State Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts. “We are facing global problems, which we can only solve by combining first class research worldwide. Through this new alliance, Hochschule Geisenheim University will be addressing pressing issues in agriculture, including climate change, water scarcity, rural-to-urban migration, and the creation of environmentally friendly food systems. These are areas in which the university can really make excellent use of its expertise. The newly funded university alliance – with Hesse’s participation – therefore also contributes to the sustainability goals of the United Nations.”
The European Universities Initiative is a measure to support international cooperation in higher education by the EU Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. Other Hessian universities that are partners of European University associations include Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Technical University of Darmstadt, University of Marburg, and Justus Liebig University Giessen. Compared to the other German states, Hesse is fourth in terms of institutions participating in the European Universities Initiative.
