The European Spas Association is a partner in the “Health Tour” project which comprises six work packages. The main objectives of the project are to internationalize research and education in the field of health tourism, expand and stabilize the international network in this area, foster international encounters and exchanges through annual summer schools, anchor the network internally by enhancing the technical aspects, and develop an international mobility service that promotes health tourism at the European Campus Rottal-Inn.
The project’s duration is four years, from January 2022 to the end of 2025. Seven universities are part of the project consortium: the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, the University of Economics Prague, the University of Rijeka and Opatija, Budapest Metropolitan University, Caucasus International University in Tbilisi, Georgia, Kherson State University in Ukraine, and Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine.
The universities in the project are driving change in the field of health tourism and are crucial for the development of the industry. Every year, WURI – World’s Universities with Real Impact evaluates the real contributions that universities have on society, highlighting creative and innovative approaches in research and educational programmes. The score is based on the universities’ industrial application, value-creation and entrepreneurship encouragement, social responsibility, student mobility and openness for exchange and collaboration, crisis management and agility in terms of digital evolution.
The ranking for 2022 includes renowned names such as Stanford, Harvard and Oxford, but also one of ESPA’s advisory members, the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) in Germany, which took the 24th spot on the list. One of their international programmes is International Tourism Management / Health & Medical Tourism B.A.
Sustainability
The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) is also a leader in sustainability, it being a central topic in all of the programmes, integrated as part of a comprehensive strategy that is supported by students and professors alike. In the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the topic of sustainability has been anchored for a long time, especially in the Environmental Engineering degree programme. Through the various modules, students acquire the competence to reduce energy consumption in buildings, conserve natural resources, make more use of renewable energies and manufacture building materials in an environmentally conscious manner. This enables them to make a significant contribution to the protection of people, nature and the climate in their later careers.