Four Researchers from the University of Greifswald Appointed to MV’s Cooperation Council for the Baltic Sea Region

Research into the Baltic Sea Region, © Jan Meßerschmidt, 2009

In its meeting on 31 May 2022, the Cabinet of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern gave the green light for the creation of the ‘MV Cooperation Council for a Democratic Baltic Sea Region’. Four academics from the University of Greifswald have been made members of the new body. The Council’s 29 members are advising the State Government on the creation of a Baltic Sea Strategy. The goal is to present a concept within a year. The Cooperation Council is chaired by the Minister of Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs Bettina Martin. The Minister-President Manuela Schwesig appoints the members who contribute in an honorary capacity.

The appointees from the University of Greifswald are:

  1. Prof. Dr. Margit Bußmann, Chair of International Relations and Regional Studies / Speaker of the cluster ‘International Relations and Security’ at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO)
  2. Dr. Marek Fialek [de], postdoctoral fellow and lecturer for Polish at the Chair of Slavonic Literature Studies / Chairperson of the German-Polish Society Vorpommern / Deputy Chairperson/Managing Director of polenmARkT e.V.
  3. Prof. Dr. Kilian Heck, Chair of Art History at the University of Greifswald’s Caspar David Friedrich Institute / Managing Director of the Research Centre for Manors in the Baltic Sea Region
  4. Prof. Dr. Cordelia Heß [de], Chair of Nordic History / Speaker of the cluster ‘New Nationalisms’ at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO)

The University of Greifswald’s renowned academic expertise in the Baltic Sea Region is bundled at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO). With its research activities, the interdisciplinary research group ‘Fragmented Transformations’ delivers an innovative contribution to research into change in the Baltic Sea Region. In addition to investigating the joint cultural heritage and new nationalisms in this part of the world, questions also focus on the controversies of the energy transformation, safety architecture and the transformation towards more sustainability. In addition to the research collaboration within IFZO itself, IFZO also supports the joint research activities at the Research Centre for Manors in the Baltic Sea Region, the DFG’s International Research Training Group ‘Baltic Peripeties’, as well as the teaching provided by the Virtual University of the Baltic Sea Region (‘Virtuelle Hochschule Ostseeraum’) and in the master’s degree course ‘History and Culture of the Baltic Sea’ (HiCuBaS).

The ‘Cultures of the Baltic Sea Region’ have been one of the University of Greifswald’s five key fields of research for many years. The key field of research stands for interdisciplinary research, international collaboration and the convergence of basic and applied research. The subject areas belonging to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities are at the heart of this key field of research - the combination of Slavonic, Baltic, Scandinavian and Finnish Studies unite a competence in language and literature studies unique to Germany. ‘The University of Greifswald maintains a number of well-established research and teaching collaborations with partners in the Baltic Sea Region. We are delighted that the academic expertise of our scholars will now help to strengthen the federal state’s strategic collaboration within the Baltic Sea Region,’ says Rector Prof. Dr. Katharina Riedel.

The MV Cooperation Council’s 29 members are not all academics; there are also representatives from the areas of culture, industry, politics and civil society. They have been charged with developing a strategy for a closer collaboration between the Baltic Sea Region’s democratic states within one year.

Further Information
Media release on the MV Cooperation Council from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s State Government
Media release ‘Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO) Sets New Standards in Regional Research’
Website IFZO
Website Research Centre for Manors in the Baltic Sea Region


Contact at the University of Greifswald
Press Officer: Jan Meßerschmidt
University Communications
Domstraße 11, Entrance 1, 17489 Greifswald
Tel.: +49 3834 420 1150
hochschulkommunikationuni-greifswaldde

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