President’s Dinner: HSRW thanks the sponsors of the endowed professors

The university president, Prof. Dr Oliver Locker-Grütjen, had invited the supporters of the second endowed professorship at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW) to thank them and look back on the establishment of the professorship. This has brought Prof. Dr Natalie Laibach to the university as Professor of ‘Sustainable Land Use Systems’, where she will conduct research into key future issues of our time.

Summers that are too wet, summers that are too dry. Extreme weather conditions are steadily increasing, and the consequences of climate change are particularly evident in regions with a strong agricultural character, such as the Lower Rhine. What will happen if the soil becomes too dry for native plants in future and current strategies no longer work? This is where research must come in, and it is doing so at the HSRW thanks to the endowed professorship in ‘Sustainable Land Use Systems’, which has been held by Prof. Dr Natalie Laibach for the past two years. 

 “This was only possible because so many people pulled together,” recalls Prof. Dr Oliver Locker-Grütjen, President of the HSRW. “The search for funding brought many people together. Without this team, the professorship would not exist today.” He expressed particular thanks to Willi Röth of Sparkasse Rhein-Maas, Minister Silke Gorißen, who was then District Administrator of the Kleve district, and Hans-Josef Kuypers, the then District Economic Development Officer and a member of the Friends of the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences – Cleve Campus e.V.

Robert Beinio, Chair of the Friends of the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences – Cleve Campus e.V., emphasised the exceptional commitment of the sponsors and contributors: “The Lower Rhine region has strong stakeholders. For us as a Friends’ Association, they are important partners because they recognise the added value of education and wish to promote it.” He also thanked the current Managing Director of the Friends’ Association, Ms Brigitte Jansen, for her dedicated support and implementation of the project. The sponsors have donated 750,000 euros – three-quarters of the one million euros required – to make the professorship possible. This will fund the professorship for five years, after which it will be incorporated into the university’s budget.

Silke Gorißen, Minister for Agriculture and Consumer Protection for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, also emphasised the topicality of the subject area. She had already discussed the idea of a professorship on agriculture and sustainability with Locker-Grütjen during her time as district administrator. “Sustainable land use has become even more important than we realised at the time,” explained Gorißen. Extreme weather events are increasingly forcing farms to adapt their production and secure their harvests in the long term.

Prof. Dr Natalie Laibach conducts research into sustainable agricultural systems and new ways of making agriculture climate-resilient. Among other things, she is involved in the HSRW projects TransRegINT and TRANSPLANT and collaborates with regional and national partners. One focus of her research is grain amaranth, a drought-resistant pseudo-cereal that can be used as a foodstuff and as a raw material for the chemical industry. Laibach emphasised that, alongside research, teaching is also crucial: “We must embed these topics structurally and train people who can put them into practice.” Laibach is also driving forward international collaborations, such as those with scholarship holders from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Laibach’s research topics are forward-looking and more scientifically relevant than ever. 

In conclusion, Minister Gorißen called for food security to be considered against the backdrop of climate change: “We must ensure food security whilst working in a climate-adapted manner – with crops from regional fields. That means: conserving fields, water and the climate.” Laibach and the staff at HSRW are making a contribution to this. So that in future we can harvest what others have sown before us, as Christoph Gerwers, District Administrator of the Kleve district, aptly put it in his welcoming address.

Donors in alphabetical order

• Architect Wilmsen

• Friends of the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences – Cleve Campus e.V.

• Karl and Maria Kisters Foundation

• Katjes Fassin GmbH + Co. KG

• Landgard Foundation

• MERA Pet Food GmbH

• PROBAT-Werke von Gimborn Maschinenfabrik GmbH

• Rhein-Maas Savings Bank

• Kleve District Economic Development Agency GmbH, in partnership with savings banks and cooperative banks

• ZEVENS Foundation

_{From left to right: Jochen Koenen (ZEVENS Foundation), Christoph Gerwers (District Administrator of Kleve), Brigitte Jansen (Friends of Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences – Cleve Campus e.V.), Judith Munzert (ZEVENS Foundation), Bastian Fassin and Julia Fassin (Katjes Fassin GmbH + Co. KG), Willi Röth (Sparkasse Rhein-Maas), Nicole Braun-Beinio and Robert Beinio (Friends of Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences – Cleve Campus e.V.), Silke Gorißen (Minister for Agriculture and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia), University President Prof. Dr Oliver Locker-Grütjen (HSRW), Prof. Dr Natalie Laibach (HSRW), Peter Wack (former member of the Friends of Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences – Cleve Campus e.V.), Hans-Josef Kuypers (formerly of the Kleve District Economic Development Agency), Michael Wilmsen (Architect Wilmsen), Bernd Vos (MERA Tiernahrung GmbH)}