3 countries in 5 minutes

Three countries in five minutes: That’s possible in our Zittau Tri-Border Region. The new ARD “Tagesthemen” series #mittendrin stopped in Upper Lusatia to explore the role that open borders play in people’s everyday lives.

MDR reporter Friederike Rohman met with university staff member Leonie Liemich and accompanied her to a meeting with a project partner in Liberec. Leonie Liemich has been a project coordinator with the Lausitz – Life and Technology Alliance since 2020. Together with her family, she made a conscious decision to live in Zittau—in the heart of Europe—and moved here from Prague for that reason. The political scientist lives (and loves) Europe—both personally and professionally. In her eyes, Upper Lusatia is the perfect place for that.

Working Together for a Strong and Dynamic Region

Professionally, Liemich works with her team and the alliance’s partners to address the following questions: How can we make our region, Upper Lusatia, even more attractive? What technological and social innovations can support the local economy? How can skilled workers discover interesting career opportunities while families find an appealing place to live?

To address these challenges for Upper Lusatia, companies, educational institutions, research organizations, and associations have joined forces in the Lausitz – Life and Technology (L&T) Alliance. Together, they are developing innovative tools and testing new approaches. The fact that these projects in a tri-border region are always conceived with a cross-border perspective is not only a given for Liemich.