Past news

Twelve companies are in the running to win the most prestigious business award in the state of Brandenburg. The final of the 2026 ‘Brandenburg Future Prize’ will take place on 20 November at the Holiday Inn Berlin Airport Conference Centre in Schönefeld. The six winners will be announced there.

The Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and the Brandenburg Chambers of Industry and Commerce are calling for a new leap in quality in the cooperation between Berlin and Brandenburg. At the 2026 Metropolitan Area Conference held today, key priorities for action were defined with a view to securing competitiveness, growth and quality of life in the long term.

Across Germany, towns, districts and local authorities are taking part in the ‘Local Authorities at Breaking Point’ day of action to draw attention to the dire financial situation at local government level. The umbrella organisations representing local authorities – the German Association of Cities, the German Association of Districts and the German Association of Towns and Municipalities – have jointly called for this day of action and are demanding decisive measures from the federal and state governments to stabilise local authority finances.

In the academic journal *Progress in Economic Geography*, the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), in collaboration with other research institutions, has published a new study on start-ups in the agricultural sector. In the study, a research team examines the extent to which so-called agri-start-ups in a region of Lower Saxony with a particularly strong agricultural character are embedded in existing innovation structures. 

On 17 June, as part of the German-Polish Forum in Berlin, Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski presented the prestigious German-Polish Prize to 700 invited guests. The prize is awarded by the governments of both countries on the basis of the Neighbourhood Treaty of 17 June 1991 for outstanding contributions to the development of German-Polish relations.

A major success for the future direction of Wildau University of Applied Sciences: the Brandenburg-based university has impressed the judges with its project ‘Spielraum für Innovation (SPIN)’ as part of the nationwide funding programme ‘Die Welt ist mein Campus’ run by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education. Over the next four years, it will receive around 2.8 million euros in funding.

The Oder-Spree District Administration is expanding its range of digital services: from 3 June 2026, the AI-powered chatbot “FragLOS!” will be available on the district’s website. This will enable residents to receive quick answers around the clock to frequently asked questions about administrative services, responsibilities and the services offered by the district administration.

On 1 June, a new co-chairing arrangement will come into effect at the Brandenburg State Conference of University Presidents (BLHP). For the period from 1 June 2026 to 31 March 2027, the President of the University of Potsdam, Prof. Oliver Günther, Ph.D., will now chair the body. The Deputy Chair is Prof. Andreas Wilms, President of the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences. For the period from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2028, Professors Günther and Wilms will swap the roles of Chair and Deputy Chair.

St Nicholas’ Church in Leipzig, as Johann Sebastian Bach would have seen it during his time as cantor in the 1720s, can now be experienced once again through a virtual reconstruction. This computer-simulated journey back in time has been made possible by an interdisciplinary project.

Four days packed with meetings, cultural highlights and intensive promotion of business, education, culture and tourism. More than 80 towns from twelve European countries took part in this year’s Hanseatic Day. With a joint presentation, Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice showcased themselves as a German-Polish twin city in the heart of Europe from 11 to 14 June at the 46th International Hanseatic Day in Stargard, Poland. The event offered ideal opportunities to strengthen existing contacts, forge new partnerships and jointly raise the profile of the cities of the modern-day Hanseatic League.