Bildungscampus

The Bildungscampus of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation is a place of lifelong learning. It houses a wide variety of educational institutions with an ideal combination of study programmes and continuing education opportunities.

The Akademie für Innovative Bildung und Management (Academy for Innovative Education and Management, aim), a non-profit institution for continuing education designated for teachers, early childhood educators, parents and pupils, is one of the institutions accommodated at the Bildungscampus. With its activities, the aim pursues the objective of positively shaping the educational situation in the region. Its vision: “Best possible educational opportunities for all children and young people”.

The German Graduate School of Management and Law (GGS), too, is accommodated at the Bildungscampus. The state-recognised private school offers part-time master’s degree programmes for working professionals and educates future managers and business leaders. GGS also provides executive education programmes tailored to the needs of the economy, which represent a major contribution to sustainable business success and the region’s economic growth.

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has been present with a university campus in Heilbronn since the 2018/2019 winter semester. The focus of the programmes taught at the Bildungscampus is on the management of digital technologies, entrepreneurship and family businesses. In addition to a doctoral programme and continuing education master’s degree programmes, the TUM campus in Heilbronn offers undergraduate study courses as well as consecutive master’s degree programmes.

The Bildungscampus also houses two higher education institutions of Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg, DHBW): DHBW Heilbronn and DHBW CAS. Initially established as a branch in 2010, DHBW Heilbronn has become an important destination for the food industry with its career-integrated bachelor’s degree programmes. Besides Business Administration-Food Management, DHBW Heilbronn offers the courses Business Administration-Commerce and Business Administration-Service Management with different specialisations. The Center for Advanced Studies (CAS) is a DHBW institution focusing on postgraduate study programmes and continuing education opportunities. It offers 18 study programmes and specialisations with integrated on-the-job training in the Schools of Business, Engineering and Social Work.

Since 2016, numerous study programmes of Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Heilbronn, HNN), one of the largest universities of applied sciences in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, have also been integrated at the Bildungscampus. The range of studies includes a total of around 50 degree programmes in the fields of Engineering, Business and Information Technology. The focus of the schools accommodated at the Bildungscampus is on Business Administration and Tourism as well as on Hotel and Restaurant Management.

The Dieter Schwarz Foundation supports the educational institutions by providing premises at the Bildungscampus, taking care of their initial equipment and building the necessary infrastructure to create a vibrant and multifaceted learning and living environment. In addition to a spacious refectory (Mensa) and a joint library for all universities, an assembly hall (Aula) is available to all institutions, which can be used for events and also be rented for use as a conference centre by third parties.

What is more, the Dieter Schwarz Foundation invests in the area of entrepreneurship and innovation and supports the start-up culture of the Heilbronn-Franken region through CampusFounders gGmbH. Accommodated at the Bildungscampus, the centre’s primary focus is to inspire pupils and students in terms of entrepreneurial thinking and spark their interest in founding their own start-up businesses. The programme ranges from cross-university teaching and training opportunities to coaching measures for founders to the provision of premises that allow them to test their business ideas.

Alongside the universities and educational institutions accommodated at the Bildungscampus, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO is building up a new research and innovation centre at the Bildungscampus. Focussing on cognitive service systems, KODIS will relate research questions on artificial intelligence to the direct practical application of customer-oriented services.

On top of that, Erzieherakademie Heilbronn (academy for early childhood educators) opens its door for the training year 2019/2020, focussing entirely on practical training (praxisintegrierte Ausbildung, PiA). This dual education system provides the perfect combination of theory and practice. During the three-year training period, the future early childhood educators both attend professional school (around 60%) and work at a daycare centre (around 40%), so the probationary year (Anerkennungsjahr) can be dropped. School-leavers with the school-leaving certificate Mittlere Reife start with a prepended socio-pedagogical year at a vocational college (Berufskolleg). The practical training leads to the title staatlich anerkannte/r ErzieherIn (state-certified early childhood educator).

In November 2019, the Ferdinand-Steinbeis-Institut (FSTI HN) started its activities at the Bildungscampus with a new location in Heilbronn. The main research focus is on economic and social changes resulting from increasing digitisation and networking. At the Bildungscampus, the FSTI HN will demonstrate opportunities of digitisation and expand the range of learning opportunities as a transfer-oriented research institute. Another aim is to create links for innovative cooperation in research and education, which is to be realised in close collaboration with the universities and institutions accommodated at the Bildungscampus.

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