Press release dated 6th November 2012
oikos Winter School visits Deutsche Edelstahlwerke
Focus on life and the environment in the Ruhr area
25 students from the USA, India and across Europe visited the steelworks in Witten yesterday as part of the 2012 oikos Winter School. Following a tour of operations at Deutsche Edelstahlwerke, a workshop was held at the company's communications centre. Participants examined sustainable transformation processes based on life and the environment in the Ruhr metropolitan region as an example. "The development of the Ruhr area was closely aligned with that of the steel industry and this continues to be the case into the future. That is why we were happy to be involved with the oikos Winter School programme," says company spokesperson Melanie Biskup.
To kick-start discussion, the workshop began with a presentation by Dr. Thomas Urban, a scientific assistant at the Institute for Social Movements at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. He outlined the economic, social and cultural development of the Ruhr area starting with the formative influence of the coal and steel industry. He also covered the difficult conditions during the two world wars and thereafter, as well as structural change in the region. The subsequent group discussion focused on the Ruhr area's evolution from an industrial powerhouse to a centre of service provision with a solid industrial base. Participants were particularly interested in experiences and approaches to structural change in the Ruhr area that could be applied in their home countries.
The oikos Winter School is an annual, international platform for visionary young people. Being held for the ninth time in 2012, students from all over the world have the opportunity to meet pioneers from business, academia, politics and cultural fields and to explore how to commonly move forward towards a global sustainable society.
"The series of events has its origins in Switzerland. This is the fifth time that the Winter School has come to Witten and, as in previous years, a team of students from Witten/Herdecke University is helping to organize it," reports Jonathan Hoffmann (22), one of the co-organizers.
The oikos Winter School programme includes trips to Dortmund and Duisburg over the next few days where students will learn about other future-oriented projects.