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 | IUB opens the Jacobs Center for Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development
On October 22, 2003 IUB celebrated the opening of the Jacobs Center for Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development with numerous guests from the areas of science, business, and politics. The center, funded by a donation from the Jacobs Foundation, will dedicate its research, teaching, and consulting to lifelong human development and education, and to institutional transformation. During the opening ceremony, a panel discussion about unemployment, labor market, and education issues with Federal Minister Wolfgang Clement, among others, stressed the socio-political relevance of the new academic focus at IUB. |
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“I am pleased to have this unique chance to work with a transdisciplinary team of scientists on highly interesting scientific questions, which at the same time represent pressing socio-political problems,“ said Professor Dr. Ursula M. Staudinger at the press conference held on the occasion of the Jacobs Center’s opening. On October 1, 2003 she left Dresden University of Technology to take over the establishing and management of the Jacobs Center as IUB Vice President and Academic Dean. According to Staudinger, no other research facilities in the world are pursuing the topic of lifelong learning with a comparable transdisciplinary scope at a high scholarly level, while at the same time offering teaching as well as consulting especially designed for company- or institution-specific problems. She informed the audience that the first members of the scientific board have already been found and the first of seven teaching positions has been filled. Courses will begin in 2005.
For Jacobs Foundation President Klaus J. Jacobs, the concept of the IUB Jacobs Center fits seamlessly with the sponsoring aims of the foundation: “The basic idea of ‘Lifelong Learning’ should be anchored, if possible, in the education of young people who will design the community of tomorrow, and who are the main focus of our foundation’s work. It will be important to create conditions that prepare all people, young and old, to make use of the possibilities available to them in their personal and work environments throughout their lives,“ he added. In November 2001, Klaus Jacobs and IUB President Dr. Fritz Schaumann signed an agreement for ten million Swiss francs to establish the Jacobs Center for Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development.
Fritz Schaumann thanked Klaus Jacobs for his commitment, demonstrated by this large gift from the Jacobs Foundation and his new membership on the IUB board of trustees. In his opinion, the combination of a transdisciplinary research approach, teaching, and consulting, as it will be achieved in the center, corresponds to the central concerns of IUB, which has set out to implement innovative study structures in Germany. President Schaumann said he was pleased, that with Professor Staudinger an excellent scientist has been found for establishing and managing the center, and he thanked her for taking on this job.
The opening ceremony took place in the afternoon on the IUB campus, with about 400 invited guests in attendance from the areas of science, business, and politics. Following the opening speech given by IUB President Fritz Schaumann, the new director of the Jacobs Center, Ursula Staudinger, spoke on the topic of “Designing Human Development and Education Throughout Life”. She presented an overview of the socio-political situation, the scientific level of knowledge, and the goals that underlie the new research center. One highlight of the event was the panel discussion on the subject “Tied Up Labor Market – Unleashed Unemployment”. Participants were the German Federal Minister of Economics and Labor Wolfgang Clement (SPD), Michael Sommer, Chairman of the German Trade Unions Federation, and Alexander von Witzleben, Chairman of the Board of Jenopik AG, with well-known journalist Klaus Wirtgen acting as moderator. The closing speech was given by Klaus Jacobs, President of the Jacobs Foundation, on the topic “Gaining Competence Throughout Life – A Plea for the Quality of Life”, which is one of the central aims of his foundation and also the basis of his commitment for helping to establish the Jacobs Center at IUB. Musical highlights during the ceremony were provided by Brazilian singer Rosani Reis and her band, and TV anchorwoman Inka Schneider moderated the program.
The Jacobs Center for Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development, alongside the School of Engineering and Science and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, is the third academic pillar of IUB, and the main focus of its activities will be in research. The concept developed by Prof. Staudinger strives for a systematic investigation in lifelong learning and lifelong development of people by tying together various disciplines – psychology, sociology, biology, medical science, economics, and educational and communication sciences.
In terms of teaching, the center plans to offer a B.A. in Human Development, a professional M. A. in Lifelong Learning, and, in cooperation with the other IUB schools, a Ph.D. in Lifespan Development. The language of instruction will be English, and the students will be recruited internationally, as is customary at IUB. In addition to this, executive leadership training will be offered. Altogether eight professors, including the dean, will work at the center.
The Jacobs Center will also offer expertise in solutions to practical problems in corporations or governmental and non-governmental organizations. An example may be developing company-specific concepts for continuing education programs or the perfect fit of older workers. Possible consulting offers also might be the development of public relation campaigns, which could be requested by governmental departments, promoting such issues as new models of lifetime structures, or more diverse images of the elderly among the general public.
The starting point for the work of the Jacobs Center is the fundamental social change of the industrialized world, whose effects have been especially felt in the recent decades: more and more people are reaching old and very old age while birth rates are declining. Knowledge has an ever-shorter half-life, and is under the permanent threat of becoming outdated. Globalization is constantly increasing. As a consequence, to manage the problems that arise from these changes, patterns of working, learning, and living will have to change as well. This implies a necessity to change for social institutions and businesses as well as for every individual. The goal of the Jacobs Center is to contribute to optimizing the necessary transformation processes.
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The Jacobs Foundation was estab-
lished by Klaus Jacobs in 1988 in Zurich, Switzerland, as a private philanthropic organization. It operates throughout the world.
The Jacobs Foundation is committed to contributing to the welfare and social productivity of current and future generations of young people by helping to create conditions which are con-
ducive to the wholesome development of young people. In seeking to over-
come social, economic and ideological barriers, the foundation supports projects that promote self-help and personal responsibility.
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