European Project Center gets new 2.5 million euro project

The European Project Center at Wismar University of Applied Sciences has been awarded a new project as part of the Interreg South Baltic program. The idea behind Back2Woods is to combine forest therapy, environmental education and sustainable tourism in order to strengthen regional attractiveness and the health of children, adolescents and young adults in particular.
Back2Woods strengthens the profile of Wismar University of Applied Sciences in the Baltic Sea region, especially in the “Southern Baltic” region, which includes the coastal regions of Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. "This time, we have managed to form a particularly strong consortium with the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Spa Association (Germany), the Institute for Sustainable Economy and Logistics (Germany), Skjoldungernes Land National Park (Denmark), NaturBornholm (Denmark), the Rietavas Tourism and Business Information Center (Lithuania), Klaipeda University (Lithuania), Media Design (Poland), Warmian - Mazurian Center for Lung Diseases in Olsztyn (Poland), Baltic Institute for Regional Affairs (Poland), Linnaeus University (Sweden) and, of course, Wismar University of Applied Sciences. Many years of cooperation and a wealth of experience in international project management have proven their worth," says Dr. Laima Gerlitz, project manager of the new project approved on 18 June 2025 and head of the European Project Center at Wismar University of Applied Sciences. She was significantly supported in the project application by Geertje Wehry. “For one of the first applications, this is an above-average achievement,” says Dr. Gerlitz about her new project manager. "We are proud that our regional partners, such as the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Spas Association in this case, approach us and come up with ideas to get us started. This also shows that we have been able to bundle good research and project management skills at the European Project Center and Wismar University of Applied Sciences." The project is expected to start in mid-September 2025. It was financed with a total of EUR 2,039,720.00 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the South Baltic Program 2021-2017. With the co-financing, the project budget amounts to 2,549,650.00 euros.
The Minister of Economic Affairs of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Dr. Wolfgang Blank, said in a press release on the occasion of the approval of a total of 13 cross-border projects: "We are making consistent use of the opportunities offered by European cooperation. European funds will be used for the selected projects to promote innovation, sustainability and social cohesion in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern." Back2Woods is described in the press release as citizen-oriented. 
The Interreg program is a joint initiative of the European Regional Development Fund. The South Baltic program includes cross-border projects in coastal regions in Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Poland and Germany.