It has been a long time since Hochschule Niederrhein was able to celebrate a joint festival with its partners from business, politics and society as well as its employees. The 50th anniversary celebration in 2021 last fell victim to the Covid pandemic. But on Thursday evening it was finally time again. Around 300 guests accepted the invitation and experienced a warm summer evening with good food, music and interesting conversations. University President Dr. Thomas Grünewald kicked off the evening by welcoming the guests to the main auditorium at the Krefeld South Campus, before futurologist Max Thinius from Berlin explained why it is worthwhile to see the countless possibilities for shaping the future as an opportunity. Digitality also plays a major role in this.
University President Grünewald also looked ahead in his welcoming speech: "My view of the future begins with a constant: The mission of the Hochschule Niederrhein is and remains to be an innovation partner for the Lower Rhine region. We continue to see and understand ourselves as a companion to the regional economy and our communities in the process of modernization and self-renewal." Guest speaker Max Thinius began by explaining what it means to be a futurologist. He said, he is primarily there to recognize the possibilities of the here and now and to shape the future from them. However, this is only possible if society thinks in terms of possibilities and not in terms of pessimistic probabilities.
The extent to which this idea has already arrived in society was demonstrated in a concluding panel discussion by Prof. Dr. Fabienne Köller-Marek (Chancellor of the University of Applied Sciences Lower Rhine), Frank Meyer (Mayor of Krefeld), Caroline Hartmann-Serve (Managing Director of Rechenzentrum Hartmann GmbH & Co. KG and member of the University Council) and Patrick Wendtland (Chairman of AStA). In the conclusion, all participants agreed: the future is not so bleak if everyone uses the 1.4 million possibilities available (Max Thinius) to shape the future.
