The power of a beautiful region: the Einstein Telescope in Eutropia

How do you tell the story of the Einstein Telescope? To everyone in the same way? Tailor-made? Is everything important? Or should we focus on precisely those issues that will convince European ET countries of the EMR candidacy? Tangible evidence and the art of persuasion.

The bid book team of the Einstein Telescope EMR project office is gathering answers to these and many other questions. All the more reason for a broad brainstorming session at the New Regional Bauhaus in Heerlen, where a diverse group of experts with varying expertise or involvement from the three EMR countries were eager to participate. Focus: the Euregio where it all has to happen.

So the question was whether the power of cross-border cooperation within the Euregio Meuse-Rhine is important for the European countries that have to make a choice. What are the advantages in the area between Aachen, Liège, Maastricht and Hasselt? And what are the disadvantages?

Metro map

The well-known metro map by architects Marc and Nicole Maurer was brought to the table. The London metro network, but translated to the Euregio. Welcome to Eutropolis, an area with unprecedented potential, with different cultures, good facilities and invisible borders; at most, you can feel dotted lines. Broad conviction: surely the selection committee cannot ignore this. Exclamation mark, not question mark!

But are these really all bonus points for the Einstein Telescope? Multilingualism, for example, is a nice story, but why is German so unpopular in the Netherlands or Flanders? So, it was argued, more and better foreign language education is needed as a prerequisite for scoring points in the bid book.

And where can we find EMR on the map? At the moment, it is mainly an abbreviation that still hides an unknown world. It’s high time for branding, ladies and gentlemen!

Borderless

Connection without borders. Sounds good. With the Three Countries Train, but it will only be a real asset if it always runs. And: wouldn’t it be stronger if that Euregio also included part of the Rhineland or the Eindhoven region? And if those borders mean little or nothing anyway, why is there separate legislation for each country instead of a kind of separate legal status for the Euregio Meuse-Rhine?

Enthusiasm and conviction, but also dissent. Does it matter to scientists where the Einstein Telescope is built? A few experts argued that it really doesn’t matter to scientists whether they do their work in Timbuktu or in the three-country region. Solution: come up with a scenario in which it is the partner and children who make that choice.

In small groups, there was quickly consensus that the Einstein Telescope should be more than just a fantastic scientific measuring instrument for gravitational waves. No, it must be a catalyst to make the entire Euregio economically stronger and the social fabric more social. A local baker returning. The library reopening its doors. This also raises the question of whether today’s residents will open their doors and traditions to the new people who are expected to arrive. Conversely, to what extent will these new people integrate into the village communities?

And let’s not forget the landscape. Will the ambition to leave the landscape in better condition than it was found at the start of construction be realised after the telescope is built?

At the same time, all these ambitions should not lead to the feeling that the Einstein Telescope is some kind of Holy Grail that will solve all problems. Meddlesome mothers-in-law and moody neighbours will always be around.

Competition

Whatever the topic, the question was: how far along would the competition in Saxony and Sardinia be? And would Germany really announce its preferred location within two months, as one expert predicted?

A bright future for future generations. For today’s children. In that Euregio, but also for young people who want to move to this region in the future. First, a good education, preferably in a technical or scientific field. Then a challenging job with a future as a material condition for a “happy life”. And in the meantime, measuring gravitational waves from the Meuse-Rhine Euregio and exploring the universe right back to just after the Big Bang. All in the back garden in Eutropia.

Managers Paula Beger and Anouk Schmid of the bid book team have the wonderful task of categorising all the reflections on opportunities, desired or necessary measures or scenarios to win “the competition”. Ultimately, to turn it into one coherent, balanced story. The bid book.