Climate change, biodiversity loss, plastic waste, and global economic cooperation: how do these topics interact?

Students from HTW Dresden discuss these aspects with two of our international partners at the Summer School "Environmental Pollution, Climate Change and Biodiversity" in Vietnam. About 100 students from HTWD as well as from the partner universities Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) and the Vietnamese-German University (VGU) in Ho Chi Minh City participate in this international exchange program. It comprises expert discussions with international stakeholders such as the United Nations in Hanoi (UN) and the German “Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit” (GIZ) in Vietnam, a service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development.

The participants get in touch with the challenges of the global crisis visiting the Hoa Binh hydropower plant, which is particularly important for Vietnamese energy supply, Bosch Company and world-famous national parks such as Cát Bà. In lectures, excursions and workshops, students identify potentials and challenges for a sustainable future in Vietnam and in Germany. They work in international teams and present their results on a final conference. In addition, they have the possibility to learn more about the Vietnamese language and culture. 

The Summer School has been organized by the team of professors Gunther Stehr (Mechanical Engineering), Thomas Wiedemann (Informatics/Mathematics), Kathrin Harre and Arne Cierjacks (Agriculture/Environment/Chemistry).