News Society and Economics

As part of the repeatedly successful cooperation project between the International Business and Management, B.A. program, led by Professor Dr. Heiko Wilde, and ERGO Group AG, a practice-oriented company visit took place at the company's headquarters in Düsseldorf on June 17, 2026.

Yesterday, as students in the Early Childhood Education program at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, we had the opportunity to help organize the opening of the new forest playground in Elten.

During the summer semester, we designed the module “Educational Processes in Nature” together with landscape architect Jenny Humrich from Naturleben. She designed the forest playground, thereby creating a special place for learning. We didn’t just reflect on nature-based educational processes in theory; we also experienced the space firsthand and considered what educators need to be able to use this location as an educational setting. To this end, the students developed a practice-oriented guide for daycare centers and elementary schools

On 15 June 2026, the Faculty welcomed a distinguished guest speaker as part of the module International Aspects of German Tax Law taught by Prof. Dr. Norbert Dautzenberg: Prof. Dr. jur. Till Zech, LL.M. (Miami), Professor of Tax Law at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences. Numerous students from the IBM and ITL degree programmes took the opportunity to gain insights into the highly relevant field of transfer pricing.

As part of the long-standing cooperation project between the study programme International Taxation and Law, B.A., Prof. Dr. habil. Ute Merbecks and Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, students once again had the opportunity to work on current issues in corporate taxation, corporate valuation, and digitalization in a practice-oriented setting and to discuss their results directly with experts from industry practice.

Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences has been committed to sustainability, resource conservation, and the responsible use of public funds for many years. Ambitious goals! And sometimes they begin in surprisingly down-to-earth ways.

As part of the long-standing international cooperation project with The Hague University of Applied Sciences, the traditional final event in The Hague took place at the beginning of June. While the students presented their innovative HR concepts, the project leaders, Philipp Schorn and Fabian Dargel, took on a challenge of their own: Travelling to The Hague by bike.

For many years, the International Business and Management, B.A. programme has maintained a successful and vibrant partnership with The Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Once again, this international cooperation project took place during the summer semester under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Philipp Schorn and Fabian Dargel, M.Sc., providing participating students with a unique opportunity to experience international collaboration in a practical setting.

On Friday, May 29, graduates of the Faculty of Society and Economics at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences experienced an emotional and memorable afternoon. The Dean of the Faculty of Society and Economics, Prof. Dr. Ralf Klapdor, welcomed a total of 88 graduates together with their families and friends to the festive Graduation Ceremony held in the nearly fully occupied Audimax. The large audience and almost full auditorium highlighted the special significance of the occasion.

From October 2025 to the end of January 2026, nearly 40 students from Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences competed against students from across Germany in the stock market simulation “Planspiel Börse”, trading on the stock market with a fictitious starting capital of 50,000 euros.

Eid Abdelnaim (student of bachelor programme International Taxation & Law) achieved a portfolio value of 60,137 euros by the end of the game, a gain of more than 20% in 4 months, while well-known stock market indices such as Dow Jones or EURO STOXX 50 only performed 7% over the same period. He not only achieved the best result among all students in Kleve, but also the third-best performance of all students in the Rhineland.

Jedes Jahr im März leiten Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Hinterhuber und Prof. Jan van der Molen von der Fakultät für Gesellschaft und Ökonomie die Winter School „Inclusive Water Management in Southern Africa to Improve Gender Equality and Reduce Poverty and Vulnerability“. Die Winter School ist eine informelle Kooperation zwischen der Hochschule Rhein-Waal und der Blue Deal Eswatini Partnership, einer langjährigen Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem Wassersektor in Eswatini und den niederländischen Wasserbehörden. Der Beitrag und die Anwesenheit von Delegierten aus Eswatini und den Niederlanden – Sindy Mthimkhulu (Exekutive Secretary, INMACOM), Takhona Dlamini (Manager Technical Services, JRBA), Marga Oosterveld und Céline de Visser (Blue Deal Partnership Managers) – tragen maßgeblich zum herausragenden Charakter des Projekts bei.

Während der letzten Semesterpause wurde Prof. Oliver Serfling eingeladen, einen Gastvortrag im Rahmen des Masterstudiengangs Betriebswirtschaftslehre an der Nationalen Technischen Universität in Charkiw, Ukraine, zu halten. Im Mittelpunkt seines Vortrags stand die Frage, wie Maßnahmen zum Kapazitätsaufbau gestaltet werden müssen, um einen nachhaltigen Nutzen für Organisationen zu schaffen und die nachhaltige Entwicklung ganzer Länder und Regionen voranzutreiben. 

On January 22, 2025, the workshop “Good Work - Attracting and Retaining Workers from South-Eastern Europe”, planned by the working group Arbeit und Betriebe/ Arbeid en Bedrijven, took place at Haus Riswick in Kleve. The workshop was organized in collaboration with the Chamber of Agriculture of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landwirtschaftskammer NRW) and was aimed at employers in the agricultural sector. The central question was how to recruit migrant workers fairly and retain them on farms in the long term. Legal and collective bargaining conditions, tips for fair recruitment, the basics of respectful communication on farms, and ways to integrate migrant workers were presented.

On January 14, 2026, students of the Bachelor’s degree program International Taxation and Law had the opportunity to attend a highly practice-oriented guest lecture in the module International Tax Planning. At the invitation of Prof. Dr. Norbert Dautzenberg, Lars Rinkewitz, certified tax advisor and authorized signatory at ECOVIS KSO, joined the course to provide valuable insights into the concept of permanent establishment in international tax law.

On Tuesday, January 13, 2026, the International Taxation and Law, B.A. program had the honor of experiencing a special highlight in the course “Transfer Pricing” taught by Prof. Dr. habil. Ute Merbecks. Moritz Bettray (Manager M&A Tax & Certified Tax Advisor) and Leif-Ole Baehr (Junior Manager Tax) from Henkel AG & Co. KGaA provided exciting insights into the world of M&A Tax – practical, engaging, and inspiring.