A collaborative seminar format
The master’s module “Distance Learning Seminar on Cooperation” in the International Management Studies – BWL degree program is a cooperative seminar format involving students and teaching staff from various European universities and degree programs. Its focus is the analysis and design of cooperative relationships and inter-organisational value creation architectures and business models. However, the goal is not only to examine cooperation theoretically – students also gain real-world experience of cooperation in Europe. They work in internationally distributed teams on a joint seminar paper.
The 2025 Distance Learning Seminar was organised in cooperation with Europa-Universität Flensburg, the University of Łódź (Poland), Radboud University Nijmegen (Netherlands), and Kempten University of Applied Sciences (Germany). The student teams explored various business models for green hydrogen in the heavy-duty transport sector across university boundaries. Nine students from Flensburg took part in the course, and 31 students participated overall.
In addition to the academic content, the seminar also aimed to bring young people from Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands into contact with one another by having them co-author a seminar paper while also introducing each other to their respective cities and universities (where block seminars were held). The result was a cross-border project in which students collaborated across cultural and national boundaries, using various media to produce their final paper in intercultural teams.
Joint preparation
The trip to Łódź was one component of this year’s seminar, which also included a workshop in Flensburg, online meetings, and local seminars at each of the participating institutions. Each student group was responsible for their own travel planning. The students from Flensburg, together with Susanne Royer, helped organise both the programme in Flensburg for the incoming groups and their own journey to Poland by train and back. The Polish colleague, Paweł Głodek, arranged accommodation in Łódź for the student groups and worked with his students to put together an evening and sightseeing programme on site.
Stay in Łódź
The “International Seminar on Business Models in Nascent Ecosystems: The Example of the Green Hydrogen Powered Heavy Truck Sector” marked the conclusion of this year’s seminar in Łódź. The programme featured keynote lectures on the seminar topic that offered diverse perspectives and sparked lively discussion. In addition, the student groups – guided by instructors from the participating universities, Nanne Migchels (Radboud University Nijmegen), Paweł Głodek (University of Łódź), Uwe Stratmann (Kempten University of Applied Sciences), and Susanne Royer (Europa-Universität Flensburg) – worked on their project tasks. At the end of the seminar, they presented their initial results and discussed them in the plenary session.
Beyond the academic work, the accompanying programme – including walking tours, shared dinners, and a chance to explore the nightlife – created many opportunities to get to know one another beyond the seminar and build lasting European friendships.
Conclusion
As a professor at Europa-Universität Flensburg – and also on a personal level – it is very important to me to create opportunities for students to collaborate across national borders. More than twenty years ago, this very idea was the starting point for developing this European seminar format. Today, given the political and societal developments of recent years, European cooperation is more important than ever.
With this seminar, I want to help prepare young people for a shared European future: as responsible, open-minded Europeans ready to tackle complex challenges together. The seminar not only offers them the chance to gain intercultural experience and build transnational networks, but also to learn first-hand how to tackle a demanding task as a team. At the same time, personal encounters are not to be neglected – spending time together and getting to know one another across European borders is key to fostering openness and trust in future cooperation.
I am very grateful for the Erasmus+ support that made the trip to Łódź possible.