On May 28, the Day of Diversity took place in Jena for the 11th time. With sunshine and good humor, we were able to set an example for a diverse urban society together with the many visitors in the city center.

Our JenaVersum stand with the “Diversity in Jena – the quiz” was a lot of fun for the many young and old visitors. Great teamwork and the many inspiring conversations made the day a special experience.

Under the motto: Join in and find out more about diversity in our city, together with our partners Welcome Center Jena, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Beutenberg Campus und Eine Welt Netzwerk Thüringen, we created an interactive quiz that was not only fun for visitors, but also provided important insights into social diversity and its contribution to science.

As network of the science and business location, JenaVersum  stands for open exchange and excellent research. Open-mindedness, internationality and collaboration between the best minds from all over the world are fundamental to success in research and science. That is why we are representing our network at the Day of Diversity and look forward to celebrating diversity together with so many others!

On May 6 & 7, creative solutions for local and Europe-wide challenges were developed in Jena, in seven other European cities of the “European Campus of City-Universities” (EC2U) university alliance and in a European online track.
The participants, who only got to know each other at the start of the Makeathon in StadtLab Jena, developed concrete solutions for challenges posed by Friedrich Schiller University Jena, VHS Jena, the city of Jena and JENA Digital in just 24 hours.

The four teams developed a concept for flexible greening of the inner stand using portable trees and augmented, use cases for a chat system for the city of Jena, a vision board for the Digital Innovation Hub Jena and a concept for the VHS’s “Education Bike”. A jury awarded prizes for the solutions in the categories “The most striking”, “The most innovative” and “The most engaging”. The team with the solution for the VHS Jena “Education Bike” particularly impressed the jury. As the local winners, they have won the ticket to Poitiers, where they will be able to present their idea on the European stage. Congratulations to them!

JenaVersum organized the event together with the International Office of the University of Jena and also submitted a challenge itself. This was worked on by a European team in the online track and focused on improving scientific communication strategies.

We are still totally enthusiastic about so much community, creativity and team spirit. Another innovative format for our city and Europe that was a complete success. Thank you to everyone involved!