Welcome to the Baden Württemberg Regional Service on CORDIS

Winfried Kretschmann
Minister President of the State of Baden Württemberg

Dear Visitor,

In 2012, Baden-Württemberg is going to celebrate its 60th anniversary, and we may talk of a great success story. From comparatively modest beginnings, Baden-Württemberg has developed to become one of the economically strongest states not only in Germany, but even in Europe, thanks to the inventiveness, the enthusiasm for innovation and the high level of qualification of its citizens. Many high-quality products from our state are in demand throughout the world, many of our small, medium-sized and large companies are global market leaders in their field.

Many people are watching the work of the new Green-SPD state government with excitement and curiosity, but also with high expectations. Many are hoping for a new political style. We want to be a citizen's government that does not impose an urgently required environmental and social restoration on the citizens from above; we want to trigger a new dynamic in and with all sections of the population. The guiding theme of our actions is sustainability in all areas. We want a "new founding age", the stimuli for which come from the issues of sustainability, energy and resource efficiency and environmental compatibility. A new and sustainable industrial basis for the economy in Baden-Württemberg is to emerge from these issues, which are rapidly gaining significance throughout the world.

The areas of education, science and research play a key role for these challenges of the future. For a state such as Baden-Württemberg, which is low in raw materials, the minds of the people have always been its most important asset. For this reason, Baden-Württemberg provides study opportunities for approximately 287,000 students with nine universities, six universities of education, 23 universities of applied sciences, eight universities of music and art , three academies for church music, the Cooperative State University of Baden-Württemberg with eight sites, the Baden-Württemberg Academy of Performing Arts, the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy, the Baden-Württemberg Pop Academy and 22 private universities recognised by the state, and is thus the state with the most universities in Germany.

More than 100 non-university research institutions of the Max-Planck Society, the Fraunhofer Society, the Leibniz Association and other sponsors are also closely linked to the universities and the economy of the state. For our companies, this dense infrastructure of research and development means a major locational advantage, for every sector can find competent contacts in one of the institutes in our state. A particular concern of the state's innovation and technology policy is to ensure the technology transfer of the extensive knowledge from universities, universities of applied sciences and research institutions to the economy as quickly as possible, in order to strengthen its innovative power and competitiveness.

However, Baden-Württemberg is not just a strong business and science location, but also a state with a high quality of life, beautiful natural scenery and a broad and varied cultural landscape. I would like to invite you to find out about our state as a research and science location on this website. Or even better: come to Baden-Württemberg and get to know and appreciate our state and its people in person.

Winfried Kretschmann

Minister President of the State of Baden Württemberg