Before the on-site week began, the twenty-two students enrolled in Agile Project Management in Coastal Communities had each spoken with at least five companies or organisations about how agile methods are used in their region's economy, and where they could go further. The cohort arrived in Stralsund with field evidence already gathered.
The course was hosted by Stralsund University of Applied Sciences (HOST) in Germany. It opened online on 16 April 2026 and continued with a full on-site week from 18 to 22 May. Led by Prof. Dr. Gero Wedemann, the programme brought together twenty-two students from five countries and six staff from four partner universities, for 3 ECTS.
The choice of subject was deliberate. Agile project management is built for short cycles and rapid adaptation. That is what software development in modernising coastal and island economies tends to demand. Many computer science students meet agile in lectures, but rarely apply it alongside peers facing similar coastal realities. The interviews were designed to give them a shared starting point grounded in their own regions.
The week moved fast from theory to application. Sessions on flow and observability built on the field evidence the students had gathered. A creative workshop on critical success factors drew strong feedback. Students were grouped across nationalities to prepare and defend a project presentation, since agile only works when teams communicate well. Most of them had never met before.
The coastal setting did some of the teaching. A EUNICoast CityGame ran across Stralsund. The cohort visited the Ozeaneum marine museum and the IRES laboratory, which develops green hydrogen and smart-grid technologies for the region. These visits set agile thinking inside the kinds of organisations students would encounter at home.
Across all twenty-two student respondents, the course was rated 4.68 out of 5, with a 9.5 out of 10 likelihood to recommend. Nineteen scored it nine or ten. Sixteen of the twenty-two reported the week had already led to new collaborations. The four lecturers who responded rated it 4.75 out of 5.
A student from the University of Patras pointed to the lasting gain: "the most important skill we gained is how to cooperate in a multinational environment and create something together." A student from the University of the Azores noted a shared starting point: "what stood out was how relatable our situations are, because we all come from coastal institutions." A student from the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin put it more simply: "the chance to network and learn new perspectives from people around Europe was the best part." A lecturer from the University of the Balearic Islands added that "after talking with teachers from other universities, we found common research interests to explore once the course ends."
This course is part of EUNICoast's joint education work, which the alliance coordinates through its Education work package. Blended intensive programmes like this one help build the shared, cross-border teaching model the alliance is developing, and they expand the catalogue of coastal and maritime courses that will grow into microcredentials and joint degrees.
The week also leaves material to build on. The interviews the students carried out form a first-hand record of how agile methods are used across coastal economies, and the lecturers came away with shared research interests they intend to pursue.
