Minister Praises International Activities

Today, Friday, Dr Angelica Schwall-Düren, Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and the Media of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, visited our university - accompanied by Dr Lale Akgün, who collaborates with the Minister in the areas of international affairs and one-world policy.

Development cooperation with Ghana was the starting point of the talks with the President’s Office: as is well known, North Rhine-Westphalia and the African country are linked through a partnership. The Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Sciences cooperates with the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. The two universities offer a Master’s degree programme in NGO Management, which is to serve as a basis for expanding cooperation.

University President Professor Dr Hartmut Ihne explained, among other things, the concept of our University’s International Centre for Sustainable Development (Internationales Zentrum für Nachhaltige Entwicklung - IZNE): “The IZNE is based on the idea of developing new impulses for close cooperation with emerging and developing countries.” He emphasised the importance of ensuring resources and offered the Minister the opportunity to become a member of the IZNE Board of Trustees (Kuratorium) - with the aim of giving direct impulses to this research centre.

The Minister replied, “The internationality of university partnerships always enriches both sides. It promotes mutual cultural understanding and at the same time supports the science and business locations of both countries.” Furthermore, she said she was convinced that our University - thanks to its international profile and its expertise - was able to make a valuable contribution to drawing up the new development policy guidelines of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Dr Lale Akgün, who was guest on the sofa of the Sankt Augustin University and District Library last year, stressed the following, “The Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Sciences is an institution that gives us important impulses for developing the one-world strategy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.”