On Monday, December 8th, the University of Warmia and Mazury was visited by guests from the Hochschule Offenburg (leader of the ChallengeEU alliance co-founded by UWM) and the Maria and Georg Dietrich Foundation, which has collaborated with our university for years.

The friendship between the University of Warmia and Mazury, the Maria and Georg Dietrich Foundation, and the Hochschule Offenburg has lasted for decades, but for the past year, it has been strengthened by another element: the ChallengeEU alliance, of which the Offenburg university is the leader. In addition to UWM, seven other European universities are members, including those from Portugal, Spain, France, Latvia, and North Macedonia. Both the hosts from the University of Warmia and Mazury and the guests emphasized that, in the face of the ongoing war in Ukraine and many other geopolitical threats, concern for good relations between countries should be stronger than ever.

Prof. Jerzy Przyborowski, Rector of the University of Warmia and Mazury, welcoming the delegation to the Rector's Office, emphasized that the annual gathering, known as the Christmas Bridge, has become a tradition reflecting our enduring friendship.

"I am extremely grateful that we can gather for this event every year. This tradition was born out of the great kindness and friendship that has developed between our institutions, but also between all who come here. I extend my gratitude to all members of the delegation, led by the family – the daughter and granddaughter of Maria and Georg Dietrich, who come every year during this pre-Christmas period to meet with us," said Rector Przyborowski.

Professor Stefan Trahasch, Rector of the Hochschule Offenburg, also expressed his joy at the joint gathering.

"Thank you very much for this wonderful welcome during this Advent season. For us, this is not an official visit – it is a visit to friends." This friendship is a prerequisite for successful cooperation, because it is from interpersonal relationships that something good usually arises. It is also worth emphasizing that these would not be possible without the efforts of the Maria and Georg Dietrich Foundation. This Christmas Bridge has been in existence for 45 years, and without it, our meeting today would not be possible," said Prof. Stefan Trahasch, referring to 1981, when Georg Dietrich first came to Olsztyn to provide humanitarian aid.

University of Warmia and Mazury and Hochschule Offenburg: The Foundation of a European Campus

Meeting participants emphasized that the recent strengthening of the friendship between the University of Warmia and Mazury and Hochschule Offenburg is the two universities' membership in the ChallengeEU alliance of European Universities. The inaugural agreement was signed on March 13th of this year in Offenburg, but intensive work took much longer to achieve.

"This project is indeed a challenge and a major undertaking, but I believe that thanks to our collaboration with the University of Offenburg, we will be able to further expand our cooperation and share this positive energy with other universities that form this alliance," said Professor Jerzy Przyborowski.

In turn, the Rector of Hochschule Offenburg emphasized the importance of the ChallengeEU alliance's emphasis on student integration as extremely valuable.

"The exchange and cooperation of young people is the foundation of understanding between nations, and consequently, peace in Europe," said Professor Trahasch, adding: "I think it's worth emphasizing that UWM and HSO are the backbone of the alliance's cooperation – without us, this wonderful collaboration between nine universities in ChallengeEU wouldn't exist. I would like to thank not only the Rector and Professor Paweł Wielgosz, but also all the UWM employees who work on and support this project. Rectors can come up with an idea, but whether a project will survive and develop depends solely on the hard work of many people, and for that, I would like to sincerely thank them."

The Christmas Bridge participants unanimously emphasized that in the face of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the hybrid war in Europe, and the unstable geopolitical situation worldwide, we must seek as many opportunities as possible to build good, collaborative relationships based on mutual respect and shared goals.

"Any initiatives that connect people and demonstrate our ability to work together are very valuable." Especially today, we must stick together and deepen what has been built over all these years," argued the Rector of the Hochschule Offenburg.

Dr. Wolfgang Bruder, Chairman of the Board of the Maria and Georg Dietrich Foundation, also shares this view.

"Our cooperation must cover key areas such as culture, the economy, and science, but also – unfortunately – defense. We, as a foundation, universities, and two cities, Olsztyn and Offenburg, can show all of Europe what cooperation should look like in difficult times and at a time when we, as states, share but also differ in interests," said Dr. Bruder.

Discussions regarding joint activities within the ChallengeEU alliance continued during a working meeting. Also participating were Prof. Paweł Wielgosz, the Rector's Representative for European Universities, and Prof. Tobias Hagen from the HSO, who manages the alliance.

"I am very pleased to co-lead this project with Prof. Tobias Hagen." The project has only just begun, but we're already seeing the first results – our academic teachers participated in joint training sessions, and recently, students, including those from our University, attended a joint meeting in Offenburg,” said Prof. Paweł Wielgosz, revealing plans for expanding the collaboration: “We are planning to launch new joint programs – not only with HSO, but also with other partner universities. It's also crucial for me that we can conduct research together. I know from experience that effective academic collaboration stems primarily from joint research, which is why this is so important to me. I hope that the working meetings will result in ideas for new courses of study and areas of scientific collaboration.”

Professor Wielgosz also noted that a conference summarizing the alliance's activities to date will be held at the University of Warmia and Mazury in May of next year.

The ChallengeEU Alliance, along with the University of Warmia and Mazury, comprises nine universities: Hochschule Offenburg (Germany, project leader), South East European University (North Macedonia), ECAM LaSalle (France), Mid Sweden University (Sweden), Universidade Europeia (Portugal), Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (Latvia), Universidad Europea de Valencia (Spain), and Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz FHNW (Switzerland, associate partner).

The initiative was created through the "European Universities" program and is funded by the European Commission. The universities' collaboration focuses on, among other things, increasing the mobility of the academic community and implementing a new model of knowledge transfer that supports partnerships between the academic community and stakeholders from various sectors. The Alliance also aims to promote inclusive education and promote innovation.

Joining Forces to Educate the Next Generation

As Professor Stefan Trahasch pointed out, in addition to collaboration within the ChallengeEU alliance and its other dimensions, what unites UWM and HSO is shared education. The universities offer two programs at the Faculty of Geoengineering (Environmental Engineering in the field of Process Engineering and Biotechnology) and one at the Faculty of Food Science (Food Technology and Human Nutrition in the field of Food Engineering). They also collaborate on programs in German Studies and Business Linguistics, where students also learn German.

"I am pleased that everything indicates that we will soon be able to co-create computer science," said the Rector of HSO.

Meanwhile, Dr. Wolfgang Bruder recalled that the idea of ​​educating young people was one of Georg Dietrich's primary priorities.

"When Georg returned from his first trips to Olsztyn, he said we should integrate young people—he believed this was crucial, especially in the context of the very difficult history of Poland and Germany." And it is in achieving this goal that the university has begun to play an increasingly important role," he said, recalling that in 1999, when Olsztyn and Offenburg signed a cooperation agreement, the University of Warmia and Mazury was also established.

"Over the years, we have awarded over 200 scholarships to students of the University of Warmia and Mazury, which help them expand their knowledge and contribute to the expansion of our cooperation, as well as create better learning conditions. At this point, I would like to thank you, Jerzy [addressing Prof. Jerzy Przyborowski – editor's note], for so brilliantly fulfilling Georg's will," added Dr. Wolfgang Bruder.

Dr. hab. Paweł Wysocki, UWM professor and Vice-Rector for Education, emphasized that an extremely important level of cooperation is that concerning the education of the youngest generations.

"We've managed to develop a framework for educating young people that allows us to learn about each other's traditions and cultures, and also to forge friendships," he said, adding: "We talk a lot today about the difficult times we live in, and I believe that international education for young people, in particular, is very fruitful, because it allows us to better understand each other and live in peace. The better we cooperate, the easier it will be for us to maintain peace in Europe and the world. I hope that educating young people will be what unites us," argued Professor Paweł Wysocki.

It is worth noting that during the meeting, an amendment to the 2006 agreement with Hochschule Offenburg was also signed, including new directions of cooperation.

The Rector of Hochschule Offenburg and the Rector of the University of Warmia and Mazury pose with the signed agreement.

Representatives of faculties that collaborate with both Hochschule Offenburg and the Maria and Georg Dietrich Foundation also participated in the December meeting at the Rector's Office. These included: Dr. hab. Justyna Żulewska, professor at the University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM), Dean of the Faculty of Food Science and leader of the WP4 Work Package in the ChallengeEU alliance, responsible for research and innovation focused on strategic impact; Dr. hab. Dariusz Popielarczyk, professor at the University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM), Dean of the Faculty of Geoengineering; Prof. Mariusz Rutkowski, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities; Dr. hab. Aneta Jachimowicz, professor at the University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM), Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Humanities for Education; Dr. hab. Mariola Jaworska, professor at the University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM), Head of the Department of Applied Linguistics; Dr. hab. Anna Dargiewicz, professor at the University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM), Department of German Language; and Dr. Barbara Sapała from the Department of Literature and Culture of German-Speaking Countries.

Since the meeting took place in a pre-holiday atmosphere, Christmas and New Year's greetings were also exchanged.

– I would like to wish you a joyful holiday season and a family atmosphere that will also serve to reflect on what is most important, and in the next year, 2026, I wish you much success, but above all, peace in the world – said Professor Jerzy Przyborowski.