The scientific and development potential of Gdańsk universities and the increasingly close cooperation within the framework of the federalisation of Fahrenheit Universities was presented by the Rector of UG prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski during a meeting in the series ‘Key development challenges of Pomerania’. On July 2nd, representatives of the Polish parliament, administrative and local authorities of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, science and industry gathered in the Senate Room of the Gdańsk University of Technology to discuss the most important initiatives for the development of the region.

‘The creation of a strong academic centre in Gdańsk with a high research potential and a modern teaching offer responding to contemporary social and economic needs will make it possible not only to pursue a unified policy towards the Pomeranian region but also to expand cooperation with foreign centres and thus enhance the quality of research,’ said UG Rector prof. Piotr Stepnowski.

The need for a significant increase in support for Gdańsk technical universities was also voiced by the Rector of GdańskTech, prof. dr hab. inż Krzysztof Wilde, who emphasised that their further development, including the Fahrenheit University initiative, will help build a strong Pomerania.

During the meeting, the area of support, development and cooperation of Gdansk universities within the Fahrenheit University was presented as one of the seven most important projects for the future of Pomerania. Other initiatives included the Pomeranian energy hub or the creation of a Pomeranian metropolitan area, which was discussed by the head of the Department of Social and Economic Geography at UG, prof. dr hab. Iwona Sagan.

Working towards the creation of a large cultural and economic centre for the region will make it possible to coordinate and jointly implement tasks that are beyond the capacity of a single city or municipality. A draft metropolitan law was submitted to the Sejm by Pomeranian local government officials at the end of February. If passed, the document would mean that Pomerania would gain over PLN 200 million annually.

The series of meetings ‘Key development challenges for Pomerania’ was held under the patronage of the Pomeranian Voivode Beata Rutkiewicz and the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship Mieczysław Struk.

Photo by Krzysztof Mystkowski/GdańskTech