New Competence Center for Earthen Construction at the University of Liechtenstein.

At EARTH HUB, we bring together extensive expertise in earthen construction from our region, creating a platform for pioneering building approaches.

The EARTH HUB aims to:

• Proactively showcase flagship projects and regional strengths.
• Integrate the interdisciplinary knowledge of the LSA and the university as a whole.
• Address the conditions for success and the challenges of the "building transition" with stakeholders from the economy and society, both regionally and at European level.

Starting in autumn 2024, the EARTH HUB will, among other things, explore the potential of environmentally friendly building materials—particularly clay-wood architecture—for the region and Europe. The combination of clay and wood is gaining significant momentum in professional circles across Europe as it enables CO2-efficient, fire-resistant, thermally optimized, and systematized high-rise construction. An example of this is the collaboration between LSA lecturer Martin Mackowitz, Blumer Lehmann from St. Gallen, and GBD Dornbirn, who are jointly developing innovative construction systems based on clay and wood.

The EARTH HUB emerged from the Urbanism, Architecture & Society unit and positions itself as a driver of sustainable building practices in Europe.

The first Earth Hub Symposium will take place at the University of Liechtenstein on 11 October 2024.

From 9 to 13 September 2024, the second study trip for students of the Executive Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Economic Criminal Law took place, led by Prof. Dr. Konstantina Papathanasiou, LL.M., Chair of Economic Criminal Law, Compliance, and Digitalization.

The excursion began with a visit to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, where the group received an introduction to the court's history and operations. This was followed by the opportunity to attend a public hearing. Afterwards, the group held a presentation on the Eurojust report and its relevance to the Principality of Liechtenstein.

On the second day, the group visited the International Court of Justice (ICJ). After a guided tour through the impressive Peace Palace, a presentation on the unique characteristics of the Court followed. The group then visited the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), where they received an in-depth presentation by press officer Ton van Lierop on the challenges of cross-border cooperation. The day concluded with a group presentation on the topic "Decisions of the EFTA Court Related to Economic Criminal Law."

On the third day, the group travelled to Brussels, where they visited the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and attended a lecture on the institution's operations by Legal Assistant Nikoleta Symela Mavromati. Afterwards, they proceeded to the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA), where they were welcomed by Dr. Stefan Barriga (Liechtenstein's College Member at the ESA), whose expertise provided valuable insights into the functioning of the EFTA. The day ended with a final group presentation on the topic "CJEU Judgments in the Context of Economic Criminal Proceedings," which was kindly hosted at the ESA premises.

For the last two days of the trip, the group travelled by train to Luxembourg. At the EFTA Court, the students were warmly welcomed and received informative presentations on the Court’s history and jurisprudence as well as its relationship with the jurisprudence of the CJEU. The talks were given by Michael-James Clifton and Dr. Hans Ekkehard Roidis-Schnorrenberg, LL.M., both from the cabinet of Liechtenstein’s judge Dr. Bernd Hammermann.

The final stop of the trip was the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). After a tour of the impressive building, Dr. Hanns Peter Nehl, Legal Secretary in the cabinet of Advocate General Prof. Dr. Dres. h.c. Juliane Kokott, explained the procedural structure of the CJEU. The group also received insights into the challenges of multilingualism and the role of lawyer-linguists at the CJEU.

This second study trip once again offered exciting insights and valuable knowledge about major supranational institutions that are also of great importance for the implementation of law in the Principality of Liechtenstein.

20 years ago, the founding team around Prof. em. Dr. Urs Baldegger established the «Entrepreneurship» department at the then university of applied sciences, laying the foundation for a success story. Reason enough to celebrate this anniversary together with alumni, students and the staff team.

On Saturday, September 14, 2024, alumnae and alumni of the Master's degree program in Entrepreneurship and Management (and its predecessor programs) found their way back to the campus of the University of Liechtenstein for the «20 years of Entrepreneurship» ceremony. The graduating classes stretched back to 2008 and brought together graduates from the university of applied sciences, «Hochschule Liechtenstein» and the University of Liechtenstein.

Panel: Back to the beginning

It was a particular pleasure to welcome the former rector Klaus Näscher to the campus alongside the founding team. Over 20 years ago, his commitment paved the way for the Entrepreneurship department. Emeritus professor and founding father Dr. Urs Baldegger took the audience on a journey to the beginnings of entrepreneurship in Liechtenstein and, together with Klaus Näscher, created a lively atmosphere with interesting and amusing background information on the history of its origins. Former course manager Daniel Müller added impressions of study trips, projects and successes from 20 years of entrepreneurship. The program was rounded off with insights into today's Master's program by Academic Director Dr. Marco Furtner and Executive Director Tobias Fitz.

Pitches and excursions: Current projects

The rest of the program was determined by projects that emerged from the Master's in Entrepreneurship. The start-up 32 Peaks by alumni Daniel Knapp, Christian Bredemeier and Franco Bargetze took part in the pitches in the Start-up Lab alongside two student projects. Two Uni.Li alumni of served lunch: Philipp Luder, a graduate of the Bachelor of Business Administration, and his family with the Pasta Barn and Peter Demmel with his Liechtenstein-famous coffee. And Student Ambassadors of the Master’s in Entrepreneurship took the guests on a campus tour.

The excursions by shuttle bus destined to two places in the country that were founded by two former Uni.Li students: CEO Fabian Wachter welcomed the participants to the Technopark Liechtenstein. And managing director Thomas Büchel presented the range of services offered by the entrepreneurial center "kommod" in Ruggell.

Celebration: Ideas for the future

The entrepreneurship community celebrated the end of the event until the early hours of the morning in Ridamm City in Vaduz and took the opportunity to network with other study years. The extremely positive feedback from alumnae and alumni on the 20th anniversary and the new alumni activities in general resulted in new project and event ideas such as year reunions and networking for the alumni year 2025 that same evening. The entrepreneurship team and current students also enjoyed the exchange with the alumni to share their experiences of the past and present.

Open to all alumni

Of course, all graduates of the University of Liechtenstein are cordially invited to use the new offers for alumni. Ideas, requests and suggestions are always welcome via alumni@uni.li. And the new alumni channels are available for networking with one another: Community, LinkedInand WhatsApp.

Last saturday, the University of Liechtenstein hosted an open day at its new “Ebaholz” site on Landstrasse in Vaduz.

Rector Christian Frommelt welcomed numerous guests from politics and society before his welcoming speech. In his address, he provided answers to the question of why the University of Liechtenstein is needed for the country, the region and the economy, and why students should come to Liechtenstein in particular.

Prof. Dipl. Arch. ETH Urs Meister then presented the new location and showed how the interior of the Ebaholz building shell was developed and constructed by architecture students together with regional craftsmen.

After this official part, visitors had the opportunity to either discover the building for themselves or take part in guided tours led by university staff to find out lots of interesting facts about the new premises, current research priorities and everything to do with studying. The puzzle rally for children also led guests through the entire building and provided exciting insights.

Researchers from the University of Liechtenstein presented their work on the topics of AI, cybersecurity, entrepreneurship and finance in short scientific presentations, while posters on a wide range of topics provided further information. Staff were happy to answer questions and a number of stimulating discussions ensued.