Rising visitor numbers show that the university’s various event formats once again attracted a great deal of interest from the general public last year.
The Studium Generale is aimed at members of the public, school pupils, students and those interested in academia in the region, as well as lecturers and staff at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, and is committed to general, universal education. The event format also provides a platform for lively exchange and discussion on current issues – an opportunity which attracted around 850 visitors last year.
The recently concluded lecture series focused on the theme of ‘water’. In the nine individual events, lecturers from the university, together with external speakers, examined water and its significance from a wide variety of perspectives. The talk that attracted the most interest was “Flood Protection in the District of Kleve and Cross-Border Aspects of Flood Protection in General”, which drew 179 attendees. Due to the large turnout, the event had to be moved at short notice to the main lecture theatre. The talk “Where Does Our Wastewater Go? Various Options for Wastewater Treatment” was attended by 123 people. A total of 108 guests took part in the discussion on the topic “After the flush is before the flush – water saving, energy efficiency and hygiene in household appliances”. All the other lectures were also well attended.
Another well-established lecture series for the interested public is the Wednesday Academy, organised by the Faculty of Society and Economics. In 2018, the Wednesday Academy ran under the theme ‘From regional to global – economy and society in current affairs’ and attracted more than 400 visitors to the Kleve campus. Among the top three lectures were ‘The Fourth Grand Coalition’, ‘Public Opinion Polls, Their Fallacies and What Can Be Done About Them’ and ‘What Lies Between Everything and Nothing? The Structure of Rational Proofs of God’s Existence in the Light of Modern Logic’.
The tropical greenhouse at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences has now also become a well-established venue for teaching and learning that is open to the public. As part of campus tours or the ‘Open Gardens in the Kleve Region’ event series, anyone interested has the opportunity to discover the biodiversity – from pineapples to onions – in the tropical greenhouse or in the orchard meadow. Here, too, visitor numbers reflect the growing interest amongst the local population: whilst the university’s greenhouse attracted just under 1,200 visitors in 2014, for example, that figure has since more than doubled, and 2018 set a new record with almost 3,100 visitors.
“We are delighted that our programme for the public has been so well received in the region. In this way, we not only share a little science with participants but also offer them the opportunity to engage in dialogue with the university. This is very important to us,” said Professor Dr Eberhard Menzel, Acting President.
