Green Digital Degree (GreDigree)

Digitalization has rapidly gained importance in all areas of life and the economy in recent years. New technologies are constantly being developed and existing ones improved. Universities of applied sciences and universities are faced with the challenge of integrating the necessary knowledge and skills development into their teaching in a timely, targeted and subject-specific manner. In 2019, the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf responded to this challenge by establishing the Competence Center for Digital Agriculture (KoDA). One of KoDA's goals is to identify teaching and training needs in the field of digitalization across departments and locations and to implement them in cooperation with teaching staff. A particular focus here is on the synergetic use of teaching capacities - a large part of the basics of digital tools are generic and can be taught synchronously in different degree courses.

Given climate change and the need to protect the living (biodiversity) and non-living environment (protection of natural resources, e.g. drinking water), land use, food and energy systems are facing particular challenges and massive pressure to act. On the one hand, this concerns the monitoring (information gathering) of natural and technical processes and, on the other hand, the optimization of production processes on the basis of decision support systems and the automation of activities and measures. The tools of digitalization can make a significant contribution to increasing sustainability and resilience in the production and processing of food, raw materials and energy. The field of digitalization is also highly innovative and is considered a key driver of the industry's competitiveness. Many start-ups come from this area and thus offer new high-quality jobs. Design thinking as a particularly people-oriented innovation process can generate valuable synergies from user orientation and technical and professional content in combination with digital technologies.

The existing range of courses at the HSWT in the areas of technology and digital tools and methods is focused on the classic domains of computer science, data processing, marketing and economics (e.g. programing, database development, IT-supported data analysis) and is taught in a subject-specific manner with little networking. The available resources are rarely if ever pooled, and expertise usually remains within the respective degree program. Students have hardly any opportunities within their education to exchange ideas on interdisciplinary, content-related and digital-technical questions and solutions. The physical distance of 170 km between the Weihenstephan and Triesdorf campuses must and can only be overcome with innovative teaching formats.

With this in mind, the Green Digital Degree (GreDigree) digitalization college will prepare, interactively illuminate and implement technologically, economically, ecologically and socially relevant topics for students from different disciplines in three college formats. The topics "Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS)", "Agile Software Development" and "Vertical Farming" were selected for this purpose. These topics are of particular importance for various degree courses at the HSWT and require a high degree of networking and interaction between technical and digital skills. In addition, all three subject areas are highly interdisciplinary in nature, giving students the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills in related disciplines.

1. along the entire value chain in the food sector with the subject area "NIRS"
2. classically in the collaboration of different disciplines in the field of "Agile Software Development"
3. through the integration and combination of different technologies to create a new production process in the field of vertical farming
   

The University of applied sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf has the following goals for a broad and interdisciplinary qualification of its students, which are to be achieved through the GreDigree digitalization college:

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1. Students can apply what they have learned in an interdisciplinary and scientifically sound manner
2. Students of non-technical degree programs can apply, understand and adapt technical applications within their subject context and beyond their discipline.
3. Students of technical degree programmes recognize and understand the needs and possibilities of technical applications within the "green" subject areas of the HSWT and can develop user-oriented applications.
4. The existing digital-technical expertise is jointly used and further developed - the synergies created and emerging between the digital-technical and content-related disciplines are actively used in teaching and research.
   

Digital processes are playing an increasingly important role in the production of food and natural raw materials. With a broad portfolio of application-related testing methods (FoodNIRS), user-centered innovation and process management tools (AgriScrum) and innovative cultivation techniques (Indoor Vertical Farm), the applicants want to teach students the broad fields of application of digital and interdisciplinary processes in a practical way. New teaching modules are to be introduced in existing and new degree courses in these areas. The overarching goal is to strengthen the digital skills of graduates (digital working environments) and thus meet the needs of the labour market (digital competition, digital economies) on the one hand and optimize the efficiency and sustainability of production on the other (minimize resource consumption, protect the living and non-living environment, minimize CO₂ emissions, improve physical and mental working conditions, reduce costs).

The modules offered are coordinated in terms of content and can be networked and have a close application focus. Due to the close links with different aspects of food production and processing, the modules have a strong interdisciplinary character. The overall management and coordination of "GreDigree" is the responsibility of the Competence Centre for Digitization in Agriculture (KoDA), with eight professorships involved across two locations and four departments.

All of the aforementioned modules of the digitalization college can be largely covered by the skills available at HSWT. Networking with external experts and their integration into the modules is ensured. Compared to monolithic modules of a degree programme, the cross-departmental and cross-location approach requires considerable additional effort in terms of organization, planning, preparation and implementation of the modules at both locations, especially when setting up and developing them. The experience gained can be used in the preparation and implementation of further cross-departmental modules related to digitalization.

Based on existing inquiries from future employers at Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, it can be assumed that there is a considerable demand for students with knowledge and skills in the subject areas covered. By establishing the digitalization college, the HSWT increases the career opportunities of graduates and meets the needs of companies, research institutions, authorities, associations and societies.

The GreDigree digitization college is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and coordinated by the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt).