Ariane Derks in a short interview

Did you already know Lusatia and Cottbus before you took over the management of the project to set up the operating company for the Lusatia Science Park?

I don't really know the region yet, but I do know a lot of people from and in the region whom I have come to appreciate very much over the past few years with their direct, honest and constructive manner. Some of them have also encouraged me and "pushed" me a bit to take on this special task.

What made you take on the project in this position? What challenges and opportunities do you see in the LSP?

I am a positive person and mainly try to see the opportunities that the Lusatia Science Park brings to the region. However, these must be communicated well in Lusatia and beyond and anchored in such a way that people and companies benefit in the long term.

If we succeed in shaping the change in Lusatia together with our partners and all stakeholders with a clever settlement policy, we can shape innovations, develop further competences and thus sustainably strengthen the economic performance and thus the competitiveness of the region.

Together with the project group, the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, the city of Cottbus and the state of Brandenburg, what goals have you set for 2023 with regard to the LSP?

My new colleagues have already worked very intensively on the project together with many partners. I am sure that in 2023 we will first strengthen and link the existing threads and lay the foundations for the successful development of the Lusatia Science Park. At the same time, together with the city, the state and our partner, WISTA Management GmbH [Wissenschafts- und Wirtschaftsstandort Adlershof, editor's note], we are building a team with which we want to realise this great task.

What is your personal vision for the Lusatia Science Park in 2038 - in terms of the region, Germany, Europe and internationally?

I would like Lusatia to be the innovation region of Europe in 2038 and for successful, innovative companies to have settled here that are world leaders with their products and services. That we have developed new business models for industry, science and crafts, created numerous jobs and thus secured the quality of life in the region in the long term.