As part of a trip to the Principality of Liechtenstein, on Friday, 8 May 2015 the Prime Minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, also paid a visit to the campus of the University of Liechtenstein. The focus of the Icelandic delegation was on the research and teaching skills on matters of urban development, on the use of renewable energies and on the energy and water autonomy of regions.
As part of a trip to the Principality of Liechtenstein, on Friday, 8 May 2015 the Prime Minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, also paid a visit to the campus of the University of Liechtenstein. The focus of the Icelandic delegation was on the research and teaching skills on matters of urban development, on the use of renewable energies and on the energy and water autonomy of regions.
Together with a visit to the Landtag, a courtesy call on H. S. H. Hereditary Prince Alois von und zu Liechtenstein and a working meeting with Head of Government Adrian Hasler, the campus of the University of Liechtenstein was also on the programme. Prime Minister Gunnlaugsson’s delegation also included the Icelandic ambassador in Liechtenstein, Martin Eyjólfsson, the General Secretary at the Foreign Office, Ragnhildur Arnljótsdóttir, as well as the Prime Minister’s (foreign) political advisers Jóhannes Þór Skúlason and Jörundur Valtýsson.
Visiting Icelandic delegation: Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, Prime Minister of Iceland, (picture centre) with Hugo Dworzak (5.f.r.), Peter Droege (5.f.l.) and uni.li student Madeleine Schwindt (3.f.l.).
Focus on sustainability
After a tour of the campus with the Rector Klaus Näscher the delegation was briefed by Hugo Dworzak, Head of the Institute of Architecture and Planning, and Peter Droege, Professor of Sustainable Urban Design, on the commitment of the University of Liechtenstein in the area of sustainable urban design and renewable energies. The focus was on examples of progressive practice in climate-neutral urban planning and resource-independent urban development as well as biodiversity and regenerative regional change.
Long-standing exchange with Iceland
The University of Liechtenstein has had many years’ contact at higher education level with Icelandic institutions. The Iceland Academy of the Arts has been among the over 70 partner universities where students from Liechtenstein can complete a semester abroad since 2012, Reykjavik University since 2010. Together with the outgoing students, there were also exchanges as part of staff exchange programmes. Und Dr Oliver Müller, assistant professor at the Institute of Information Systems, has been teaching as visiting lecturer at Reykjavik University since 2013. In addition an EEA project with the title “Eye on outgoing students 2014-2015” of the International Office of the University of Liechtenstein is currently running with Reykjavik University.
Hugo Dworzak, Head of the Institute of Architecture and Planning, welcomes the Islandic delegation on uni.li Campus.
Student perspective
Madeleine Schwindt, a student in the Entrepreneurship master programme, accompanied the Icelandic delegation on the uni campus. She had spent a year at Reykjavik University in 2014 and shared here experiences there in her blog “Nordlichtgeflüster” (Northern lights whisper): nordlichtgefluester.jimdo.com.
(More info in the Interview on the semester abroad in the series «Outgoings back @uni.li»)
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