Six Years of Franco-German Cooperation: The MoVE Project Honors the Successful Establishment of the Master’s Program in Viticulture & Oenology at the Neustadt Wine Campus.
A festive event was held on Thursday, July 9, 2026, at the Neustadt Wine Campus to celebrate the successful launch of the cross-border, work-integrated Master’s program in Viticulture and Oenology. The occasion marked the award of the degree for the three-year Interreg project “MoVE – German-French Work-Integrated Master’s in Viticulture & Oenology,” which drove the concrete development and establishment of the degree program. At the same time, MoVE represents the culmination—to date—of a six-year German-French collaboration between the Neustadt Wine Campus and the Université de Haute-Alsace in Colmar.
While the first project, FAVO, had already developed a joint degree program and structurally anchored the German-French collaboration, the second funding period—with MoVE —focused on further developing the program to include a work-integrated track. The project was co-financed with approximately 1.7 million euros through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and implemented in collaboration with the Université de Haute-Alsace.
Guests from the worlds of politics, public administration, European cooperation, higher education, and the wine industry gathered for the celebratory event. Speakers included State Secretary Dr. Kristina Brixius, Delia Bonsignore from the European Commission, Marc Weigel, Mayor of Neustadt an der Weinstraße, and Klaus Schneider, President of the German Winegrowers’ Association. Representatives from the Rural Service Center (DLR) Rheinpfalz, the Neustadt Wine Campus, the German and French program directors, as well as current and former students, also participated in the event.
“The Master’s program in Viticulture & Oenology embodies a living Franco-German partnership and is also an excellent example of innovative cooperation within the European wine industry. Based on the integration of research, education, consulting, and experimental work, practical knowledge is successfully generated here for practical application. Master’s students and young professionals are brought up to speed on the latest state-of-the-art developments across national borders to equip the wine industry to meet current and future challenges,” said Dr. Kristina Brixius, State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture, Environment, and Forestry.
The event focused on the concrete results of this collaboration: a study program that combines high-level academic training with practical experience at companies in the wine industry in Germany and France. The collaboration between the Neustadt Wine Campus and the Université de Haute-Alsace in Colmar forms the core of the degree program. Together with DLR Rheinpfalz as the project sponsor and the participating universities in Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, and Bingen, a program was created that combines in-depth specialized knowledge, international perspectives, and intercultural competence. For students, this means studying and conducting research in two major European wine-growing regions while gaining insight into different business structures and wine-growing cultures. Thanks to its English-language focus, the degree program is also accessible to international students and can help attract qualified young professionals to the region’s wine industry.
“A degree program like this doesn’t come about on paper, but through people who are willing to collaborate across borders and find common solutions. That is exactly what we have experienced over the past six years. Interreg funding has given us the opportunity to develop this collaboration into a master’s program that brings the European ideal to life in study, research, and professional practice,” emphasized program director Prof. Dr. Lena Keller from Weincampus Neustadt.
Over the past three years, we have not only established academic structures but also jointly developed courses, harmonized content, and created new formats for cross-border knowledge transfer. In doing so, MoVE has not only produced a highly sought-after degree program but has also further strengthened institutional bridges between universities, regions, and the wine industry. The celebratory event thus marked not a conclusion, but an important milestone for Franco-German cooperation.
Further information on the degree program: https://www.weincampus-neustadt.de/studiengaenge/master-of-science-in-viticulture-and-enology
