The History our of Programme Evolution

In 2024, the Master's programme evolved into Sustainable Energy and Development (SEDev). Alongside SEDev, the university now offers two other Master of Engineering programmes: Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) and Sustainable Energy Engineering (SEE), in cooperation with Flensburg University of Applied Sciences.

European regulations, specifically the Bologna Process, required German study programmes to be restructured into Bachelor's and Master's degrees. Until then, the Energy and Environmental Management programme was awarded the German title of Diplom-Ingenieur.

As the Bologna Process necessitated significant changes in study organisation, and given the many similarities and synergies between the two programmes, the former SESAM programme was integrated into EEM. It retained its own chair and organisational structure as a specialised course within the programme.

Prof. Schläpfer retired in 2012, and in the same year, Prof. Bernd Möller was appointed as the programme director.

Following the Rio Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 and the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), energy became an increasing focus for students in the ARTES programme. It also became clear that there was a need for experts with strong engineering skills and substantial knowledge in management and planning. As a result, the ARTES programme evolved into SESAM (Sustainable Energy Systems and Management).

The SESAM curriculum placed greater emphasis on energy, particularly renewable energy technologies, energy economics, management, and planning. Like ARTES, SESAM was designed for students from DAC countries and received strong support from the DAAD. Between 1999 and 2009, 125 students completed the programme.

The long-time director of SESAM, Prof. Uwe Rehling, left Flensburg in 2004 to lead the European Overseas Campus in Bali. In 2008, Dr. August Schläpfer took over as acting director, while Dipl.-Ing. Wulf Boie and Dr. Dieter Klein managed the programme in the interim.

Independent of SESAM, the university introduced a new study programme, Energy and Environmental Management (EEM), aimed at students from Germany and Europe. This programme was developed in response to the challenges of the energy transition in the European energy system. Like SESAM, EEM combined academic training in energy engineering with energy economics and energy policy. The programme was led by Prof. Olav Hohmeyer.

Influenced by the findings of the Brundtland Report and building on previous experience, the initiators developed the concept of an officially recognised Master's programme called ARTES. The programme also gained the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which provided scholarships for Master's students from DAC countries.

Similar to its predecessor, ARTES was interdisciplinary and highly practical. It focused on training disseminators to improve rural infrastructure, including energy, water, sanitation, housing, and small-scale industries. Between 1989 and 2000, more than 100 students graduated from the programme.

In the early 1980s, the number of students at the teacher training college, the predecessor of Europa-Universität Flensburg, declined drastically, leading to the development of new study programmes to make the institution more attractive. In response to this, Uwe Rehling and Dieter Klein, both lecturers at the college, developed a course of study called Technikpädagoge im Entwicklungsdienst (Technology Educator in Development Work).

The programme was primarily attended by German teacher trainees interested in working in the Global South as so-called "development workers." It was interdisciplinary, highly practical, and followed the principles of Appropriate Technology. However, it was recognised only as advanced training and not as a degree programme.