Reutlingen University of Applied Sciences is one of the strongest research universities in BW and has excellent networks with universities, universities of applied sciences, public authorities, companies and public institutions. The HHZ is affiliated to the Faculty of Computer Science and is dedicated to issues of the future, such as digitization and the associated changes in society. In order to address and solve these future tasks, innovative tools for modeling business processes, algorithms and databases for big data analysis as well as topics related to the Internet of Things (IdD) are being researched. The transfer of findings from research into applicable solutions is a central component of research at HHZ. The HHZ is currently setting up a Living Lab for Smart City Research together with local stakeholders from politics, business and research. This lab operates in a regional context (cities and municipalities) and integrates future-relevant research and innovation processes. In the project, a user-oriented, real-world research environment is being established in which research and development is carried out together with the users (citizens). The Living Lab integrates different research approaches and stakeholders* and provides a context for the development of innovative ideas, scenarios, concepts and technological artifacts in practical use cases. First implementations are in the areas of sustainable mobility and the development of an open data platform for the district of Böblingen.

HFR has been a leader in research of HAWs in BW for years. Many of the core competencies and fields of activity at the HFR are particularly relevant for ÖkoTrans:

• Production & logistics, plant breeding, agriculture, botany, ecology, soil science, material development and production engineering, operations management
• Regenerative energies, energy planning, energy management, biogas technology, process engineering, life cycle assessment and climate change, resource management, waste management
• Economy of rural areas, sustainable regional management incl. tourism, natural space development, development cooperation, environmental and nature conservation, business administration, environmental policy
• game ecology, hunting, forestry, timber industry, timber construction, silviculture
• Hydrology, geoinformation systems, water management, management, landscape protection, geography, modeling

In the past, forestry and energy projects have often been linked with the development of rural areas, holistic consideration of biogenic material flows, options for the use of organic residues from agriculture and forestry, own experiments for agroforestry systems, landscape ecological aspects or geographical analyses. In addition, the Chair of Agricultural Economics repeatedly invites tenders for and works on final theses and projects in the field of sustainable/ecological land use, most recently also Bio-AHV, and prioritizes them in university teaching. The chair holder, Prof. Dr. Poetsch, also looks back on his own research work (see publications). Future ongoing and recently completed research projects as well as the list of publications show the range of the professional methodological competence of the professorships of the HFR involved in ÖkoTrans.