REGIERUNGSPRASIDIUM FREIBURG

Their core work

The Regierungspräsidium Freiburg is a German regional administrative authority that houses the State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining (LGRB) for Baden-Württemberg. In EU research, they contribute as a national geological survey institution — providing subsurface data, geo-energy assessments, groundwater information, and raw materials expertise to pan-European knowledge infrastructure projects. They also participate in science education initiatives that connect schools to communities around environmental citizenship and non-formal learning. Their role in EU projects is that of a domain data provider and official regional authority representative, not a research innovator.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their first H2020 engagement (2017) was rooted in applied geoscience — contributing geological survey data, geo-energy expertise, and raw materials knowledge to the GeoERA European geological knowledge infrastructure. By 2020, they had moved into a completely different domain: open schooling and environmental science education, working on connecting schools to communities around environmental citizenship and transversal skills. This is not a gradual drift but a two-track identity — a geological survey authority that also operates educational outreach programs, likely through separate internal departments.

They appear to be expanding from technical geological data provision into public science education and environmental citizenship, suggesting growing interest in societal impact and science communication alongside their core geoscience mandate.

How they like to work

They have never led an H2020 project, always joining as a participating partner in large consortia. Despite only two projects, they have engaged with 75 unique partners across 34 countries — indicating they operate within very broad, multi-partner networks typical of ERA-NET-Cofund and CSA funding schemes. They are comfortable functioning as one specialist node in a wide European network rather than driving project direction or budget allocation.

Despite only two H2020 projects, their participation in large-consortium schemes has brought them into contact with 75 unique partners across 34 countries, reflecting the wide geographic spread of European geological survey networks and multi-country education research consortia.

What sets them apart

As a German Regierungspräsidium (regional government body), they bring official public authority status and access to state-level geological datasets that private research organizations cannot replicate. Their LGRB division is one of Germany's authoritative sources for subsurface geology, raw materials, and groundwater in Baden-Württemberg — a credential that gives EU consortium partners access to official German regional geoscience data. For education-focused consortia, their dual identity as both a technical authority and a public body with community outreach capacity is an uncommon combination.

Highlights from their portfolio

• GeoERA
  Their largest project by budget (EUR 153,623) and the most directly aligned with their core mandate, contributing to pan-European geological data infrastructure spanning over 30 partner countries.
• MOST
  Reveals an unexpected second identity beyond geoscience — participation in a Europe-wide open schooling initiative signals that this public authority also engages in formal science education and community-based environmental learning programs.