16 March 2026

New ESF+ project strengthens the sustainable retention of young talent in the region

On 9 March 2026, the twelve-member team of the WORT Nord project - Weltoffene Region Nordthüringen - came together in full for the first time on the campus of Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences. The aim is to sustainably strengthen Northern Thuringia as a sustainable place to live, learn and work for international students and skilled workers.

Supported by the Free State of Thuringia with funds from the European Social Fund Plus

Interdisciplinary team from university and civil society

The project team combines expertise from the university and civil society: twelve people - five employees and three professors at the main Nordhausen site as well as four other university employees based in Jena - make up the WORT Nord team. The Jena colleagues are actively contributing their many years of expertise and the network of the interculture.de e.V. association to the project - a recognised player in Thuringia and beyond in the field of intercultural openness and skills development.

Two focal points, one goal: enabling people to arrive and stay

WORT Nord pursues two central fields of action:

1. on the one hand, the intercultural opening and qualification at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences itself - with the aim of promoting contact, mediation and structural participation.

2. networking in the region: by building social ties and active cooperation between the university, business, the city and civil society.

All project activities are based on a common conceptual framework consisting of four dimensions of the future: Future thinking, future attitude, future experience and future action. The aim is to close gaps between problem awareness and concrete action - for stakeholders from business, politics, civil society and students alike.

Making collaboration tangible right from the start

The team day deliberately did not start with strategy papers: The team first welcomed Dr Anne Vatter (responsible for: Intercultural Personnel and Organisational Development) as the final addition to the team. This was followed by a practical team exercise on self-organisation and communication under difficult conditions. The joint evaluation laid the initial foundations for collaboration over the next three years of the project.

„We need empathy for our target groups and an open attitude, but we also need to give ourselves time to manifest this attitude. We need to make our findings tangible, demonstrate changes and present competences. Enable impulses for action through personal experience. We want to show presence and offer stability through regular and open dialogue.“ - Simone Drivers (strategic project coordination)

About WORT Nord:

The project „WORT Nord - Weltoffene Region Thüringens: Talente binden, Zukunft sichern“ is being funded by the Free State of Thuringia with around 2 million euros from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).

Term: November 2025 to October 2028.

Press contact:

Chris Mertinat Public Relations and Communication - Project WORT Nord Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences E-Mail: