Furniture making workshop at Viadrina: Campus becomes a creative place to work!

Furniture making workshop at Viadrina: Campus becomes a creative place to work!

The noises of jigsaws, milling machines and cordless screwdrivers are currently loud on the campus of the European University Viadrina. A furniture-making workshop taking place from May 12 to 15, 2025 will bring Viadrina students and employees together to design new furniture for the campus together with the Plus X collective. From now on, the freshly created wooden chairs and tables in pastel shades of blue, yellow and purple can be used on the campus meadows, which are intended to promote the revitalization of the Viadrina campus.

Students and employees are enthusiastic about the workshop. A passer-by who previously just watched with interest suddenly begins to work with motivation. On the second day, they design a wooden chair together with a Viadrina employee. The workshop is led by Inga Hengst, a Viadrina graduate, who explains the various processes to participants, including painting, sawing, milling, sanding, painting and assembling. Student Kseniia Pereplotchykova describes the experience as art therapy and emphasizes the importance of collaboration.

New initiatives and future plans

Viadrina employee Jacqueline Haake-Schulz uses her lunch break to work creatively with a chair. The new campus furniture not only invites you to linger, but also to work. A rental station for play equipment such as table tennis rackets, badminton sets and Viking chess is also planned to promote leisure activities on campus.

As part of a reform process, the university is working on the development of the campus and is testing various measures to revitalize it in the 2025 summer semester. Another highlight will be the upcoming workshop in June, which will focus on brainstorming ideas for converting the locker area in front of the university library.

In addition, Viadrina announced an extensive program of events focused on sustainability and regional development. An online science café on the topic of “Collaborative Research for Regional Sustainability” will take place on March 10th. Research experts and regional actors from the German-Polish border region are invited. Other events cover, among other things, compliance issues and offer discussion groups on reconstruction in Ukraine, which are attracting great interest.

Commitment to sustainability in science

At the institutional level, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) supports the development of an innovation culture for sustainability at universities. The “Sustainability in Science” initiative promotes projects that aim to transform towards greater sustainability. Students are actively involved in the design of their universities, working on climate neutrality and developing new approaches for low-emission mobility management.

The Viadrina is part of this comprehensive effort, which involves over 35 universities and research institutions. The aim is to develop sustainable concepts and support existing scientific activities. Transdisciplinary research that brings scientists together with non-scientific partners is also encouraged. The university relies on creative solutions and gives students the opportunity to test the development of ideas in a real context, which is also reflected in the furniture making workshop.

Overall, Viadrina is on a promising path to both actively involve its students in campus life and to promote sustainable initiatives. While the furniture making workshop is a valid measure to revitalize the campus, the commitment to sustainability shows that the university is also proactively addressing overarching issues and involving young talent.

For further information about the Viadrina and BMBF initiatives, please visit the website European University Viadrina, the knowledge and BMBF.