TU Dresden in Dialogue

Project management: Dr. Lucas von Ramin,  School of Humanities and Social Sciences

The project "Storytelling Cafés: TU Dresden in Transformation" sees itself as a dialogue-based bridge-building project between the university and society at large. The focus is on jointly examining the long-term consequences of the restructuring of East German universities after 1990 – not as an abstract analysis, but rather through the personal perspectives of those who experienced it and helped shape this change.

In 2026, two storytelling cafés will be held to bring together current and former employees of TU Dresden from the fields of science, technology, and administration, as well as alumni. The project is aimed in particular at the more than 300 people who have worked at TU Dresden since the 1990s, as well as former employees who can be contacted via the TU Dresden alumni network, the university archives, and existing contacts of the Institute of History. Protected discussion spaces will be created for biographical storytelling, collective memory, and critical reflection on university transformation processes.

The methodological foundation is based on oral history and biographical research. The storytelling cafés serve both as a platform for exchange and networking, as well as a catalyst for institutional self-reflection at TUD. In addition, they open up opportunities for in-depth research and communication platforms.

Project management: Dr. Maren Henneken, Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we all experienced how heated and emotional the discussion about RNA vaccines was and how much educational work was necessary to provide people with a factual and well-founded basis for decision-making. However, the fact that this was not always successful and the social divisions that the pandemic has caused are still noticeable today. In order to counteract this problem at an early stage, the public should be involved in the development of new "living medicines" at an early stage and without pressure. For this purpose, various formats are being implemented as part of the project.

The project will strengthen the feedback loop between citizens and experts, deepen mutual understanding, and bring together both lay and expert perspectives. The goal of the project is to promote social acceptance, enable informed opinion-forming, and ensure democratic participation in ethical, legal, and social issues.

Project management: Jun.-Prof. Nora Huxmann, Institute of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Landscape

The city of Hoyerswerda looks back on a complex and eventful history of urban and regional transformation. Current challenges of demographic and structural change are exacerbated by the phase-out of lignite; global issues such as climate change and the biodiversity crisis have a particularly intense impact against the backdrop of historically grown circumstances. In this living lab of extremes, civic engagement and dialogue between residents, politicians, and urban developers play a crucial role. Simultaneously, the ongoing financial uncertainty and the pressure to acquire funding are leading to participation fatigue, which calls for tangible changes and visible artifacts. This is where the "Climate Grove Campus" project steps in. The tradition of sacred groves as places of social debate dates back to the classical world, where Ἄλσος (álsos, classical Greek for "grove") were places of political, legal, and social gatherings. This idea is taken up to combine science communication with hands-on, practice-oriented participation. As an initial project of the planned Hoyerswerda Climate Campus, the project links experimental open space design with formats of democratic participation within the framework of "TUD in Dialogue". The goal is to make ecological resilience and a new relationship between humans and the environment tangible in the context of structural change. The project will kick off with a planting and sowing campaign – both a symbolic marker and an experimental intervention.

The concept for the intended grove was developed in the NewCityConcepts participatory research project with the involvement of students of landscape architecture. As a low-threshold interface, it brings together planning, practice, and civic engagement. Follow-up activities could include biodiversity monitoring, gardening maintenance (e.g., watering), exploring innovative construction methods in line with the sponge city principle, and acquiring tree sponsors to gradually expand the grove.

Project management:

• Dr. Doreen Pretze (Carus Teaching Center of the Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine)
• Stephan Wiegand (Directorate 9 – University Culture, Unit Campus Life)

The TUD Lectures series (Directorate University Culture) and the podcast series YOU ASK we explain (Faculty of Medicine) are organizing TUD Lectures+. These events create spaces for discussing societal issues on a scientifically sound basis: The topics are presented in an understandable way. Experts from science and practice join the panel to discuss the topics from different perspectives. The audience can engage with the experts by submitting questions in advance or during the recording.

The recordings are made during the on-site events that are like talk shows. The series of events bring questions from the audience to the stage with the intent to interact with the general public. The events take place at locations in and around Dresden which are selected to fit the topic, such as at Kulturpalast Dresden, on market squares, in churches or in beer gardens.

Irrespective of where the experts happen to be sitting, the podcast is not edited or put together retrospectively. Instead, the conversation is recorded and published as it unfolds.

The podcasts are available on the usual platforms.

Further information

Project management:

• Anne Bruder (Directorate 8 – Student Affairs and Continuing Education, Central Point of Contact for Schools at TUD)
• Monique Rust (Directorate 9 – University Culture, Unit University and Society)

Students in grades 9 and 11 from various schools learn about history right on the TU Dresden campus. Author Dr. Renatus Deckert reads from Victor Klemperer's diaries and provides an insight into Klemperer's life and times in his reading. Klemperer had close ties to TU Dresden, where he taught and researched as a Professor of Romance Studies before being dismissed from the university in 1935 due to his Jewish heritage. The excerpts from Klemperer's work are annotated and categorised historically. 

Dr. Hagen Schönrich, historian and scientific coordinator of the research project “Technical College of Dresden under National Socialism”, speaks about the TU Dresden in Klemperer's time.