By the end of 2018, the Applied NetWork on Automotive Research and Education AWARE will have spanned an entire decade of exchange activities. In the meantime, we have also won further selected strategic partners from Argentina and Colombia alongside those from Brazil and Germany. In addition to expansion within Latin America as part of developing a larger Mercosur network, AWARE has also attracted considerable interest within the European university community. Inspired by this interest, its organizational structure and performance results were the subject of several conference lectures throughout Europe in locations such as Berlin, Brussels, and Riga.
As the title of this book suggests, the extension of our network is not merely understood in terms of geography but also in relation to our mission. The new, second title of our AWARE publication series “Mobility. Transfer. Society” gives way to a novel approach: The assessing and developing of higher education activities, not just from the sole university perspective, but also from the perspective of a broader social relevance. Along these lines, the book emphasizes relevant fields such as entrepreneurship, organizational innovation, internationalization, university activities and event formats, allowing wide participation by civil society. Due to the high practical relevance, we largely forego footnotes, in the same manner as our last AWARE publication in 2016. By reviewing crucial activities and projects that occurred throughout the second AWARE funding period from 2017 onwards, this book sees itself as a continuation of our strategic partnership, and we are looking forward to the years to come.
We have always regarded the funding provided by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as something given on a temporary basis. As such, we made use of this time to build up our network and solidify its organizational structure. From 2019 onward, AWARE will be able to stand and perform on its own. We are already eagerly awaiting the years ahead, the future commitment of those involved, and even further fresh inspiration from both the New and Old World.
Curitiba, Florianópolis and Ingolstadt, December 2018
Prof. Dr. Walter Schober, President (THI)
Georg Overbeck, Administrative Director Research Center ZAF (THI)
Anne-Sophie Lohmeier, Operative Director of AWARE (THI)
Prof. Dr. Sérgio Luiz Gargioni, President (FAPESC)
Prof. Dr. Horacio Tertuliano dos Santos Filho, Head of Technology Sector (UFPR)
