The Association for the Promotion of Wissensregion Düsseldorf e.V. has a new chairwoman: Prof. Dr. Edeltraud Vomberg and Prof. Dr. Anja Steinbeck swapped roles with election on May 13, 2022

New distribution of roles in a well-established team

At the end of last year, HHU Rector Anja Steinbeck, who has been Chairwoman of the association since it was founded in 2017, proposed swapping roles with the previous Deputy Chairwoman, HSD President Edeltraud Vomberg, in mid-2022.
The idea was immediately welcomed by Ms Vomberg, who has been in office since 2019, as the rotation is fully in line with the core idea of the association.
At the Board meeting on May 13, 2022, the plan was put into practice and the role swap was officially completed.
So now it’s: new roles, familiar faces, proven constellation!

Consistently in the spirit of the association

Above all, it was important for Ms Steinbeck to emphasize that the initiative to step down as chair and move to the position of deputy chair did not stem from negative feelings – rather, the swap is the logical consequence of what the association stands for and stands up for.
The idea of networking, close interaction, short distances and growing together means that the association is not about hierarchically structured positions, positions of power or the profiling of individuals.
Instead, it is about give and take, working together and for each other, a permanent dialog.
In the association, the member institutions meet as equals; this also makes it possible to swap roles or assign tasks differently at any time, trusting the other members, as recently happened between Ms. Steinbeck and Ms. Vomberg in close coordination.
The association is not stuck in rigid structures, but is agile – the structure may change, but it remains one.

Full speed ahead

From now on, Ms. Vomberg will chair the association: We would like to congratulate her on this and wish her every success!
Before moving to Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, Ms. Vomberg, who studied social sciences, worked in the Aachen city region (Head of the Department of Social Affairs and Health), at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences (professor in the Department of Social Affairs) and as a founder (SO.CON Social Concepts research institute).
Since becoming President of HSD in summer 2019, she has also been a member of the board of Wissensregion Düsseldorf e.V. and works as an experienced networker at the various interfaces of the association’s work.
Incidentally, she coined the phrase “We can learn the most from people who think differently ” – the credo of the Innovation Semester!
What applies to the external work, in projects and working groups, naturally also applies to the internal work of the association: common goals and visions are easier to drive forward if new perspectives are constantly being incorporated, responsibilities change and continuity ensures that the path we have chosen can be successfully continued.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Steinbeck for her work as Chairwoman of the Association – without her commitment, her input and her conviction, the Association would be unthinkable.
Her work is inextricably linked to Wissensregion Düsseldorf and it is great that we can continue to count on her in her new role as Deputy Chairwoman.
We look forward to continuing the trusting collaboration with Ms. Vomberg and Ms. Steinbeck in their new roles!