2013/10/14     Dresden, Germany

Dr. Malone, Rector of UNU, Stanislaw Tillich, Prime Minister of Saxony, and Reza Ardakanian, Director of UNU-FLORES (from left to right)

Dr David M. Malone, Rector of the United Nations University, on Tuesday met with the Prime Minister of the Free State Saxony, Mr. Stanislaw Tillich. Through the State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts (SMWK), the Free State of Saxony is funding UNU-FLORES (alongside the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF).

At the meeting, Dr. Malone and Mr Tillich discussed the way forward for UNU-FLORES. The Prime Minister expressed his willingness to continue supporting UNU-FLORES in the future, and invited UNU-FLORES to participate in the “Zukunftssymposium”, which will be held in Dresden’s Kongresszentrum on November 14th.

The Rector expressed his confidence that the institute is situated in the right place:

“We at the UN University are very happy with the networks UNU-FLORES has established in Dresden and Saxony, and also at the national and international level. The warm reception I had over the last two days is just another example of how welcoming the State of Saxony and the local institutions have been towards the UNU,” said Dr Malone.

This sentiment was also shared by the Prime Minister:

“We are proud that the UNU has established an institute here in Dresden. This is the first institution of the UN in Saxony and we believe that this presents a great opportunity for scientists in Saxony.”

Dr. Malone visited Dresden to examine the progress of UNU-FLORES, one of the newest institutes of the UN University. On the first day of the Rector’s visit, Dr. David M. Malone had met with the State Minister for Higher Education, Research and the Arts (SMWK), Prof. Sabine von Schorlemer, and the Rector of Technische Universität Dresden (TUD), Prof. Hans Müller-Steinhagen.

Meeting with Rector of TU Dresden, Prof. Hans Mueller-Steinhagen

At the meeting at TUD, Dr. Malone and the Director of the Dresden-based UNU-FLORES institute, Reza Ardakanian, discussed with the Rector of TUD and colleagues the framework of cooperation between the two institutions and the plans for future joint Ph.D. programs.

UNU Rector David Malone with TUD Rector Mueller-Steinhagen

TUD, represented also by Vice-Rector for Research, the Vice-Rector for Academic and International Affairs, the Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, the Director of the Institute of Urban and Industrial Water Management and the Professor for Urban Development at TUD and Deputy Director of the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), also took the opportunity to present their areas of expertise to the Rector and highlight the potential for future and the scope of the already existing cooperation with UNU-FLORES.

Meeting with State Minister Prof. Sabine von Schorlemer

At the second meeting, Dr. Malone was welcomed by Prof. Sabine von Schorlemer, the State Minister for Higher Education, Research and the Arts of the Free State of Saxony. As one of two donors of UNU-FLORES (along with the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, BMBF), the Minister of SMWK welcomed Dr. Malone to Dresden and discussed possible future interaction with the Rector.

UNU Rector David Malone with Minister von Schorlemer and Reza Ardakanian

This was followed by a meeting between the Rector and the newly recruited Academic Officers of UNU-FLORES. The researchers at the newly established institute were able to present their research plans to Dr. Malone and discuss with him how to enhance the role of UNU-FLORES as a think tank on the sustainable management of environmental resources.