The Münsterland brings THE GOOD LIFE to Brussels

Region presents itself at the summer festival of the NRW state government at the EU

A strong economy with green technologies, castles and palaces along popular cycling and riding routes, cosmopolitan culture and sustainable cuisine: with these and other themes, the Münsterland region presented itself on Wednesday (6 September) at the summer festival of the NRW State Representation to the EU in Brussels. Together with its partners, the North Westphalia Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Münster Chamber of Crafts and EUREGIO, Münsterland e.V. brought THE GOOD LIFE to Brussels and presented the region as a shining example of a high-performance NRW.

At the street festival with musical acts, culinary specialities and halls with thematic focuses, the approximately 1200 guests from politics, business and the media learned more about the Münsterland: as a GreenTech region with successful cross-border cooperation, as a region of castles and palaces with picnic areas in the countryside, as a historically significant region with a view of the Peace of Westphalia and as a delicious region with regional products and producers.

North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister President Hendrik Wüst: "Diversity is a special strength of our state: North Rhine-Westphalia combines city and countryside, innovative centres and liveable regions. One of these regions, the Münsterland, is presenting itself as a strong partner of this year's summer festival of our NRW State Representation in Brussels. Guests will get to know Münsterland as an innovative business location, as a region of cultural and tourist interest - in short, as a beautiful and strong part of North Rhine-Westphalia. Not least, I am personally pleased because Münsterland is also my home and my home away from home."

Klaus Ehling, Chairman of Münsterland e.V., Dr Fritz Jaeckel, Managing Director of the North Westphalia Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Hans Hund, President of the Münster Chamber of Skilled Crafts, and Christoph Almering, Managing Director of EUREGIO, emphasised: "Münsterland is a region of doers - but it is not known for talking a lot about its own strengths. At the summer festival we shed our modesty: We showed how forward-looking, innovative and cosmopolitan the people of Münsterland are and how they make our region a region with a future that also takes advantage of the opportunities offered by its proximity to the Netherlands. The focus was on projects, initiatives and features that stand for sustainability, cultural and tourist attractiveness and culinary enjoyment. As a powerful player, the Münsterland can also be seen on the EU stage."

The various theme islands made it clear: Münsterland's strengths lie in its diversity and sense of community. Under the focus of "GreenTech", the region bundled the topics of batteries, hydrogen and renewable energies during the evening and presented itself as an important region within this promising field of action. Representatives from business and science, including H2 Green Power & Logistics, 2G Energy AG, NOWEGA GmbH, EVONIK Industries AG, HUESKER Synthetic GmbH, Münster University of Applied Sciences, University of Münster, Fraunhofer facility for battery cell research FFB, Saerbeck Bioenergy Park and the hydrogen initiative GET H2, were on hand to give examples of this.

Castles and palaces were the focus of the "Tourism" theme island. There, the tourism destination could be experienced audio-visually, picnic islands invited visitors to take listening tours and a bicycle simulator provided impetus for the cycling region.

In addition, there were artistic impressions from the Münsterland with live music on the Bonsai stage and various performances by regional artists. The Jumelage 23 project, the Hana meets EAT THE FROG collective as the Münsterland Festival Quartet, the JAZZ-MANUFAKTUR, the Moustache Theatre, live illustrators from the Illustren Runde as well as magician Michael Sondermeyer and poetry slammer Dilara Yüksek were all on site.

The farm shop stand with regional products proved that the Münsterland also tastes good. There, the Münsterland seal and the Münsterland eco-model region offered, among other things, a tasting mile and provided the guests with seasonal specialities and regional drinks.

Klaus Ehling, Chairman of Münsterland e.V.: "With this varied programme, together with our partners, we invited people to get to know the Münsterland in all its facets. Whether in your free time, at work, on holiday, at home: Münsterland is a region for arriving, feeling good and staying here - in the city as well as in the countryside. We can score points with this, especially in the Europe of the regions.