14.07.2026

More than a Staff Week: Designing the future of higher education together

Training event in Tübingen fostered international exchange and cooperation

"What a week. Of Jointness. Togetherness. Vibration." This was one participant's spontaneous summary after three inspiring days in Tübingen for a CIVIS Staff Week. And it captures the spirit of the event better than any agenda could. The Staff Week, a training opportunity offered within the CIVIS alliance, was hosted by Martina Lorenz and Christian Zettl from the University of Tübingen’s Division III.1 – Planning and Development of Degree Programs (Studiengangsplanung/-entwicklung). From 8 to 10 July, the hosts and their team welcomed colleagues from 14 universities across two continents and four university alliances for the CIVIS Staff Week “Designing Competence-Oriented Joint Programmes”. The event became a lively space where academic and professional staff shared ideas, challenged perspectives, and explored how universities can work together to create joint programmes that prepare students for a complex and global future.

Workshops and interactive sessions focused on competence-oriented curriculum design, future skills, and the practicalities of developing joint programmes across institutional and national borders. Participants exchanged experiences, learned from one another's successes and challenges, and began shaping new collaborations that will continue long after the event.

Yet some of the week's most valuable moments happened between the sessions. Over coffee, during walks through Tübingen's historic streets, and aboard the city's iconic punting boats (Stocherkähne) on the River Neckar, conversations continued, ideas evolved, and professional contacts became genuine partnerships. As participants joked afterwards, it was hard to tell whether everyone was still buzzing from the inspiring discussions—or simply from the vibrations of the punting boat ride.

The Staff Week highlighted what makes European university alliances such as CIVIS unique: they are not only platforms for cooperation but communities built on openness, trust, and a shared ambition to rethink higher education together. Bringing together colleagues with different expertise, institutional cultures, and perspectives created an environment in which innovation emerged naturally.

The experience was so inspiring that one thing became clear before everyone had even left Tübingen: this should not be the last time. The conversations have only just begun, and the enthusiasm generated during the week deserves a sequel. So, this is not a farewell—it's an invitation. The Division III.1 team look forward to the next Staff Week, hosted together by the University of Tübingen within CIVIS – Europe's Civic University Alliance.

Martina Lorenz, Deputy Head III.1, Planning and Development of Degree Programs

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