AlterPerimentale receives funding for a further three years

The AlterPerimentale transfer initiative will be funded for a further three years under the T!Raum funding programme of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). Following a successful interim review, the collaborative project is entering its second funding period.

With the first funding phase coming to an end on 31 January 2027, the second funding period will begin seamlessly on 1 February 2027. This continued funding lays the foundation for sustainably securing and further developing the structures established over the past three years: the practice-based research centres will be strengthened as hubs for collaboration between academia and practice; new workshop projects on topics such as loneliness, mobility and digital participation, and the cross-university knowledge transfer work of the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) and Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences will be firmly established in the region in the long term.

Prof. Dr Alexandra Retkowski (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), project leader of AlterPerimentale, says: “We are delighted that our work is continuing. The second funding period gives us the opportunity to consolidate the structures and networks established over the past three years and to develop them further together with our local partners. I am particularly pleased that our approach of conducting research together with local people has once again proved successful. This is, above all, a success for the people who are involved in the practical research centres and workshop projects.”

Working together to forge new paths towards a good quality of life in old age

AlterPerimentale is working with local people to develop new solutions to the challenges of demographic change in the German-Polish border region of Brandenburg and Saxony. Against the backdrop of an ageing population, structural change in Lusatia and growing challenges in the provision of essential public services, academia, local authorities, civil society and practitioners are working together to develop approaches for a good life in old age – for example, in the areas of housing, mobility, digital participation and social networking.

The focus is on a shift in perspective: older people are not seen as mere recipients of change, but as active participants in shaping their own lives and as catalysts for the development of their region. The renewed funding confirms this transfer-oriented research approach and lays the foundations for embedding successful structures in the region in the long term.

Successful on-site assessment

A two-day on-site evaluation in early June 2026 formed the core of the interim review. Instead of traditional presentations, the evaluation panel – comprising representatives from the project sponsor Jülich, the BMFTR and the academic T!Raum Advisory Board – experienced the AlterPerimentale projects where their work is making a difference: in the local communities of the project region.

As part of a bus tour organised as a ‘coffee tour’, the route led from Schenkendöbern via a storytelling café at the Cottbus Socio-Cultural Centre – held as part of Brandenburg Senior Citizens’ Week – and the Rothenburg/Oberlausitz Multi-Generational Centre to Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. Along the way, the three practice-based research centres and all the workshop projects launched to date presented their work and demonstrated how academia and practice are jointly developing innovative solutions to the challenges of demographic change. On the second day, an in-depth scientific and funding strategy review took place at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.

The successful interim evaluation confirms that AlterPerimentale is on the right track and lays the foundation for the continuation of the joint knowledge transfer work in Lusatia. Together with its partners from academia, local authorities, civil society and the practical sector, the initiative will continue to work over the next three years to actively help shape good living and working conditions for older people in rural and peripheral areas.

Contact
persons: Christoph Thewes and Jan Nowakowski
AlterPerimentale and BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg
T: +49 (0)355 69 3552
E: kontakt(at)alterperimentale.de