Namibian delegation wants to intensify cooperation with HSB

'HSB is a fitting partner in our plan to create structures that will enable us to make evidence-based decisions for the sustainable development of our city based on the needs of its citizens`, the delegation informes. `We look forward to working together on topics such as community welfare, health, energy, mobility, and the circular economy.'

The contact was established from the Environmental Engineering Department

Several HSB professors are already involved in exchanges with UNAM in Windhoek: these include Rainer Hartmann, professor of applied leisure studies in Faculty 3 – Social Sciences. Several years ago, he accompanied a delegation to Namibia led by the then Science Senator Eva Quante-Brandt. Dr Martin Wittmeier from the Institute for Energy and Circular Economy is also actively engaged with Namibia. The contact for the current visit to HSB was established via Prof. Dr Silke Eckart from the Environmental Engineering Department of Faculty 2 – School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering: in June 2023, a delegation from the Municipal Waste Management Department in Windhoek visited the Environmental Engineering Department at HSB. At that time, the focus was a tour of the circular economy lab and talks on possible cooperation with the International Bachelor's Programme in Environmental Engineering. The project 'Improving Waste Management in Windhoek/Namibia' is managed in Bremen by the Senate Chancellery.

President: 'Such face-to-face meetings are invaluable for preparing the next steps together'

'We are very much honoured by the visit of the Mayor of Windhoek and his delegation to HSB,' says the President of HSB Prof. Dr Konrad Wolf. 'As a university with strong international orientation, we are looking forward to expanding our contact with Windhoek and its universities in the coming years. Such face-to-face meetings are invaluable for this, in order to take the next steps together.'

The visit to HSB on Tuesday, 12 September 2023 was the last item on the programme of a three-day stay in Bremen by the high-ranking delegation from Windhoek. On Sunday, 10 September 2023, the group visited the Anti-Colonial Monument in Nelson Mandela Park accompanied by Bremen representatives and commemorated the victims of the Battle of Ohamakari (Waterberg). On Monday, the delegation met with representatives of Bremer Straßenbahn AG to explore possibilities for cooperation and the expansion of public transport in Windhoek. This was followed by a meeting with the President of the Bremen Parliament, Antje Grotheer. In Bremen's historic town hall, the mayor of Windhoek met his Bremen counterpart, Dr Andreas Bovenschulte, and signed the Golden Book.