CULTURAL

ENGINEERING

To link up with your project activities, you will find below an overview of various existing projects in which Cultural Engineers are involved.

University projects

The university offers ample opportunity to implement projects and subprojects in the context of one or several of its institutions, such as:

• Subproject within the "Kustodie-Projekt OVGU"
• Organisation and implementation of student conferences, panel discussions or film festivals with reference to a cultural studies topic with social relevance
• Commitment with project character to the student representatives, the cultural department of the student council or other student groups
• Magdeburg symposium: The association "Symposium Magdeburg e.V. " was founded in 2013 by students from the OVGU. Its purpose is promoting political education for young people.
• KanTe e.V. stands for "Kultur auf neuem Terrain erleben" and offers a platform for creative cultural projects in and for Magdeburg. The association’s unconventional projects focus on enriching Magdeburg’s cultural life on a broader spectrum.
• Storm e.V.: The student organisation for marketing offers students the possibility to put their theoretical knowledge into practice in cooperation with regional businesses.
• in:takt works to use empty spaces in Magdeburg’s city centre in order to address topics relevant to both the city and the society at large in a public space. Besides reflecting critically on the potential of Magdeburg’s city centre, the project strives to create cultural events beyond the offers of established institutions.
• Enactus e.V. supports the founding of sustainable start-ups in the spirit of social entrepreneurship in order to contribute to achieving the UN's sustainability goals.
• Participation in existing projects or initiation of new projects of the Sustainability Office
• Participation in existing projects or initiation of new projects of the International Buddy Programme
• Project work connecting academia and economy at the Transfer and Entrepreneur Centre
• Project work in the fields of logistics, business information systems, and social innovations at the In-Institut METOP
• The AKTIN Emergency Department Register is a project to set up a national emergency department register which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research from 2013 to 2019. Since the funding has ended, the project is continued in form of an association and thus needs a new public relations strategy. Students are expected to create and implement a marketing strategy for online and print content.
• NIIMO is a project based on an initiative of the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg (OVGU) and the Nahverkehrsservice Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH (NASA) and is intended to serve the research-based management of structural change challenges through the intelligent use of practice-driven innovations.

Projects with external partners

It is recommended to turn to projects with external partners by no later than after the semester abroad. This adds to the academic profile and the development of practical competencies. Students are acquainted with project management in the cultural field or economic organisations, develop projects in the area of cultural politics and the culture industries, acquire sponsors and generate billings, create art concepts and are responsible for organising. Saxony-Anhalt and Magdeburg offer ample opportunities in this regard:

• Die INSEL is a place for relaxation at the Adolf-Mittag-See in Magdeburg’s central park. In June of every year it offers several days of cultural events, such as concerts, a bar, sports, family events, theatre, and many more.
• platz*machen e.V. is an association that promotes an open and tolerant society. Their shop "Tacheles" (Sternstraße 30, 39104 Magdeburg) regularly hosts culturally relevant events. platz*machen offers the space to implement your own sub-projects.
• f/12 is a photography competition which focuses on analogue technologies. Participants take one picture each for 12 topics in 24 hours. The results are presented in a travelling exhibition across the city.
• The intercultural garden in Magdeburg’s Neue Neustadt district brings together the young and the old, people with and without migrant backgrounds in order to use the fallow land and to landscape it.
• Im Stadtfelt // Shopping Street Management strengthens the districts around the Diesdorfer Straße and the Olverstedter Straße in order for them to become and remain an attractive space for merchants, tradespeople, residents, and visitors. Small projects, ideas and proposals of individuals, associations, or groups from Magdeburg’s Stadtfeld Ost and West districts can be funded with up to 50% of the total costs.
• Künstlerstadt Kalbe pursues sustainable city and regional development and stimulates innovations with culture and art. They are seeking regularly cultural scientist for the organisation of their projects, such as the "Potentiale Festival". Students can be grated a scholarship and a project fund which is supposed to help them implement their own project for the town of Kalbe.
• MAKER-THEK Börde strives for the modernisation of the library in Wanzleben. In the process of modernising, the library’s offer will be supplemented with a mobile maker space in order to provide the Börde region with a space for creative development and design.
• LeseZeichen organises reading events which offer a stage for (supra)regional authors and Magdeburg residents with literary enthusiasm.
• Living Room Gallery is an event which transforms a living room into a colourful art exhibition for a few hours. While enjoying good music, regional artists exhibit their works in a casual atmosphere.
• Pappsatt is devoted to sustainability and seeks to stimulate a more conscious approach to food consumption. During open-air cooking events in Magdeburg, the team prepares fruit and vegetable dishes for which they get the ingredients from organic shops, supermarkets, and regional freuit and vegetable farmers and merchants.
• Silbersalz Future Science Media is an academic film festival in Halle/Saale. The festival takes its visitors into scenarios of the future and tells scientific stories with the help of interactive events, esp. in the context of the festival’s youth day.
• Upgrade-Festival is an international music and art festival in the heart of Magdeburg which provides a socio- and intercultural platform for people from different European countries.
• The "Urst Urbanes Straßenfest" in Stadtfeld invites residents to experience space in a new way and, above all, to participate in the creation of space and inquire how they want to live in the district. The street festival is organised by the GWA Stadtfeld Ost and the Bürger für Stadtfeld association.
• "Europa macht Schule" is a DAAD programme which seeks to bring international students into contact with pupils at local schools. The pupils get to know the students’ respective home countries, whereas the students are offered access to German society outside of the university. Moreover, they will inevitably come into contact with their fellow students in the organisation team. At the moment, the programme is looking for organisers who will help establish the programme in Magdeburg.
• AIESEC is an exchange organisation which offers voluntary projects abroad in the context of a "Global Volunteer" programme.