Regional Society for Education, Research and Competence Development e.V.

The regional company - founded in 2004 - is based in Lutherstadt Eisleben in Saxony-Anhalt and is registered as an association in the register of associations.

The association's work focuses on the conception, development and implementation of innovative projects and topics with regard to the economic and social development of the region using relevant EU, federal and state funding programs as part of the structural transformation of the region Mansfeld/Südharz.

The association's initial project activities under the project management of Dr. sc. oec. Lutz Koch were at that time still focused on EU-funded projects. One of these projects was the InterReg Central Europe project ReSource "Turning problems into potentials" in cooperation with partners from Central Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia.

In further cooperation with partners from Poland (AGH), Estonia (TUT), Finland (University of Oulo), Sweden (University of Örebro) and Norway (University of Stavanger), the InterReg Baltic Sea Region project "Min-Novation" scientifically investigated the possibilities of using the potential of former mining areas.

The association's current projects focus on scientific investigations of regional resources in regards to the utilisation of mineral raw materials and the geothermal potential of the former Mansfeld-Sangerhausen mining district. These projects are funded by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) as part of the current processes of energy transition and structural change.

With the financial support of the BAFA for these projects and topics, the activities of the RBFK aim on the one hand to create the conditions for the medium- and long-term economic use of these resources, and on the other hand to play a direct role in the complex shaping of structural change and regional development in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz.