‘Total Immersion Week - Advanced Regional and Transversal Skills’ hosted in Sweden again

The ERASMUS+ programme generation Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) promotes short-term mobilities with blended learning components. In May 2025, another BIP was implemented as a Spring School at TH AB's Swedish partner university. It took place at the Östersund campus of Mid Sweden University. A BIP of this type had already been organised there in December 2022.

The BIP as part of the subject-specific compulsory elective module (FWPM) is based on the concept of a blended total immersion week. The University of Applied Sciences is cooperating with five European partner universities: In addition to the organising Mid Sweden University, students and lecturers from Turku University of Applied Sciences, Universidad de Málaga, Université de Bretagne Sud and the new Italian partner Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore were also involved.

The underlying BIP concept was developed by Prof Dr Renate Link in the spirit of total immersion. In addition to subject-specific and intercultural content, it also includes taster courses in the national language of the hosting university (Swedish at the BIP in Östersund) as well as regional-cultural activities, such as excursions in line with the motto of the programme. The taster courses in particular are intended to establish international language tandem partnerships and promote friendships. In this way, the TH Aschaffenburg actively creates incentives for students. These incentives aim at motivating students to take part in future BIPs or to spend a semester abroad at one of the participating partner universities and learn the local language. This is in line with the promotion of multilingualism embedded in the Higher Education Innovation Act.

The BIP week in Sweden was dedicated to the topic of ‘Sustainable Business Development with a Focus on Tourism and Related Industries’. Around 30 students from the above-mentioned European universities, including five from TH AB, approached the topic of sustainability in tourism through specialist lectures by lecturers from the participating BIP partner universities. The range of impulses ranged from intercultural aspects of sustainability, the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility at major sporting events and sustainable catering to sustainable cost and quality management. As a project task, the students worked in pan-European teams to film and pitch videos on sustainability concepts for tourist destinations of their choice and submitted an accompanying written report.

As part of the supporting programme, the BIP participants were given exclusive insights into the world of biathlon in a discussion with Swedish gold medallist Henning Sjökvist. During a visit to the Jamtli Open-Air Museum, the BIP participants learnt about the history and culture of the Swedish provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen.

The next pan-European Total Immersion BIP will take place from 9 to 13 March 2026 as a Spring School at the Université de Bretagne Sud in Vannes. Students at TH AB can have their participation in the Total Immersion BIPs recognised as a compulsory elective module and credited towards the additional qualification BW/BWR with an international profile.