The German BUP Center is located at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and is headed by Prof. Dr. Bernd Delakowitz and his team. The presidency of the BUP network rotates every six months between the members and in the first half of 2018 was held by Germany, i.e. mainly by Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.
In this role, the university hosted the BUP Students Conference entitled "Innovation for Sustainability: Energy and Resource Efficiency in Production and Transportation" on the Zittau campus and on the grounds of the Trixi Ferienpark Großschönau from 28 May to 1 June 2018. The conference was attended by 80 predominantly Master's students from 30 universities in 14 countries: 43 students from the BUP network, 25 students from Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and 12 students from the partner university ITMO in St. Petersburg, Russia.
During the week-long event, which was held entirely in English, theoretical and practical findings on sustainability innovations, the carbon bubble, new advances in the circular economy, energy storage and electromobility were presented and discussed. The lectures, discussion rounds and workshops were organized by professors and lecturers from science and research and supplemented by an excursion to the VW Transparent Factory and the Transport Museum in Dresden. The students were also actively involved: They presented the current status as well as development trends and potentials of sustainable development in their home countries on posters and looked for further development and solution approaches together in group work/workshops.
In addition to the technical focus, the personal exchange between the students and the intercultural experience of working and being together are very important components of such an event. The chosen conference venue at Trixi-Park in Großschönau was perfect for this. In addition to the opportunity to use the swimming pool and all the facilities on the site together, a cooking competition was held as part of the event. With great joy and incredible commitment, the students prepared a huge, colorful buffet with many typical and very tasty dishes with the ingredients provided by the organizers. Another highlight of the exciting week was the farewell dinner on the last evening with BBQ, campfire and live music by Prof. Bernd Delakowitz and his colleague Rudi Baumann from the well-known Bavarian folk band Mardi Gras.
