NEWCLIM SUMMER SCHOOL 2025: Weincampus Neustadt becomes the center of the international project in the fight against the effects of climate change in viticulture
As part of the Newclim Summer School, which took place from 23 to 26 June 2025 at the Weincampus Neustadt, 30 Master's students from various European and non-European universities developed strategies and solutions to the question of how viticulture can adapt to the challenges of climate change. Over four days, four groups of students worked together and created presentations of their results, AI podcasts and short videos in which the strategies and solutions were then shown and shared. The focus of the student projects was on viticultural-technical adaptation strategies to extreme weather events, on the fight against pests in accordance with the objectives of the EU Green Deal, on the introduction strategies of fungus-resistant grape varieties and on coping with the increasing financial risks in viticulture. The four focus topics were addressed using Challenge-Based Learning (CBL). The advantages of CBL lie in the promotion of critical thinking, group work, the combination of theory and practice and motivation through real challenges. Excursions to the Bürklin-Wolf vineyard in Wachenheim and the Georg Mosbacher vineyard in Forst illustrated the impact of climate change in the vineyard. The students were supported by international experts in viticulture and tutors from the field of education.
On Thursday, June 26, 2025, the students presented the strategies and solutions developed in the four focus groups to a broad audience from politics, science and practice. Following the students' presentations, a panel of experts took up the content from the Summer School and discussed the individual points. The panel consisted of Christine Schneider (Member of the European Parliament), Hans Rebholz from Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz, Karl Rummel from Bio-Weingut Rummel, Prof. Dr. Oliver Trapp (JKI Siebeldingen), Prof. Dr. Michael Rademacher (TH Bingen) and Christin Wagner from Rebschule Freytag. During the panel discussion, Ms. Christine Schneider spoke out in favour of promoting Piwis: "Planting Piwis involves a certain amount of risk. Ultimately, it is the consumer who decides what to buy. Politics cannot influence the consumer. What politics can do, however, is provide financial support for winegrowers and promote a positive image of Piwis. Young winegrowers should actually plant the new grape varieties so that consumers can be convinced in the long term." Schneider also appealed to the students: "I am aware that the reduction of pesticides and the establishment of Piwis will create a bureaucratic burden for winemakers. Germany wants its individual agricultural regulations and laws and at the same time has to comply with European requirements. This automatically means more bureaucracy. Tell me about specific problems and challenges from your professional practice. Tell me about concrete solutions instead of focusing on increasing bureaucracy."
The Neustadt Wine Campus stands for the combination of research and practice. Innovative forms of teaching and the expansion of international relations are among the strategic goals in the development of the Neustadt Wine University. "We are very proud to have hosted the large group of international students and experts. The students did an impressive job in the transnational groups. The European idea became tangible. The cooperation in the area of a major challenge such as climate change has shown clear synergy effects that a single project partner could hardly have achieved alone. The Newclim Summer School represents a significant milestone in the development of the Neustadt Wine Campus. We will continue to promote concepts such as the Newclim Summer School in the future in order to keep our finger on the pulse of the times," summarizes Prof. Dr. Dominik Durner, Campus Director.
About Newclim
Newclim's main objective is to develop innovative forms of teaching and digital platforms with open source educational materials on climate change and sustainable production in wine and fruit growing. Newclim is an EU cooperation project funded by Erasmus+, involving three European universities and an associated partner from Chile. The project thus contributes to improving cooperation within and outside the EU. The project will run from 2023 to 2026 and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) has already hosted its first summer school in summer 2024. In 2025, it will be the turn of the Neustadt Wine Campus. A third summer school will be held at L'Institut Agro in 2026.
