Melanie Walter, the Minister for Europe and Regional Development of Lower Saxony since May 2025, is travelling the region to gain a direct impression of central projects in the districts. Together with the Office for Regional Development Weser-Ems, she stopped at the University of Oldenburg to connect with about 25 representatives from the political sector and the region to learn about the CBI-lead project “Health4 DE-NL”.
After a welcome and opening remarks by the Vice President for Research and Transfer, Prof. Dr. Ralf Grüttemeier, and the Dean of School VI - School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Prof. Dr. Hans Gerd Nothwang. Prof. Dr. Kathrin Boerner and Prof. Dr. Lars Schwettmann, as representatives of the CBI-Executive Board, held their presentation “CBI and Health4DE-NL”, substantively ranging from challenges in the mainly rural cross-border region and the founding phase of the CBI to the importance of the recent project “Health4DE-NL: Together for more healthy years in the North of the Netherlands and Northern Germany”.
"The Weser-Ems region is characterised by its special geographical location: As a border region, it is an important location for the maritime economy and energy industry, bioeconomy and agricultural industry - with all the opportunities and challenges that this entails. Lower Saxony lies at the heart of Europe, and strong regions form the foundation for a strong Europe. They are the engine for economic growth and social cohesion. The projects I have looked at today are very good examples of this," said Minister Walter. "It is clear that successful regional development can only be achieved in close cooperation with local people. They are the best experts for their region. This must not be forgotten in the ongoing debate about the future EU budget: In addition to sound regional funding, we also need trust in the regions. EU funds must be administered where they are intended to have an impact. I am also committed to this in Brussels," emphasised the Minister.
"We are pursuing the goal of fostering direct improvements in health services for the people in this region, while developing approaches that can also be applied in other regions," explained Prof. Dr. Hans Gerd Nothwang.
“With the HEALTH4DE-NL project, we are promoting sustainable cross-border cooperation between the relevant healthcare facilities in the northern German-Dutch border region. This networking has great potential for the healthcare of people in the region - and also for the regional economy," Prof. Dr. Lars Schwettmann, PI on the German side of the cross-border research network, added.
After the presentation of the project, there was time for a lively discussion and a constructive exchange. Thank you for the visit, Melanie Walter – we were very delighted!
For further reading, please also see the article published in German by the Oldenburg-based daily newspaper NWZ.
Photos: Daniel Schmidt/UOL
The HEALTH4DE-NL project is being implemented within the framework of the Interreg VI Germany-Netherlands program and is co-financed with 2.33 million euros by the European Union, the Ministry for Federal and European Affairs of Lower Saxony and the provinces of Groningen and Friesland.