The answer is Stuttgart. The region is one of the most innovative in Germany, with the second highest number of patent applications per head and a top rank in research spending. Every day, 13 million euros are invested in research and development in Stuttgart, more than anywhere else in Germany.
Stuttgart is home to 25 recognised universities, colleges and academies. These include five Fraunhofer and two Max Planck Institutes, but also universities of music, art and architecture. Stuttgart University trains 80 per cent of all German aerospace engineers.
And now the Science Festival will be making its debut and demonstrating how to use this strong know-how and innovative power for events. It is being launched jointly by the city and 75 institutions, including the universities of Stuttgart and Hohenheim, the Museum of Natural History and Literaturhaus Stuttgart.
From 26 June to 6 July, visitors can look forward to around 80 events - for citizens, companies and scientists alike. They range from major events such as the “Next Frontiers - Applied Fiction Days” with a Future Congress and Festival at the ICS, a space show for young people at Liederhalle Culture and Congress Centre, workshops on the world of robot ideas to brief entertaining lectures in Stuttgart's underground railways as well as interactive events throughout the city.
The motto of the eleven-day festival is “Stuttgart - smart and clever”. “Smart” stands for the intelligent solutions Stuttgart-based scientists are working on to meet the challenges of resource scarcity, mobility, demographic change and digitisation. The term "clever" is to show how R&D results mature into specific products and solutions in companies and start-ups.
The Science Festival thus also offers event planners an abundance of ideas on how to leverage the huge potential of Stuttgart’s science scene combined with a wide range of venues for all kinds of events. You can download a detailed programme of the festival here: www.wissenschaftsfestival-stuttgart.de.
