--- title: "Department of Nursing Science, Osnabrück University, receives 2026 NordWest Award in Health category for BeBeRobot – The Future Game, Cloppenburg Museum Village; €5,000 prize" sdDatePublished: "2026-09-01T12:39:00Z" source: "https://www.uni-osnabrueck.de/en/campus-life/university-news/news-detail-page/2026/09/abteilung-pflegewissenschaft-der-uni-osnabrueck-erhaelt-nordwestaward-2026-fuer-beberobot-das-zukunftsspiel" topics: - name: "college and university" identifier: "medtop:20000405" - name: "health" identifier: "medtop:07000000" - name: "science and technology" identifier: "medtop:13000000" - name: "education" identifier: "medtop:05000000" - name: "human interest" identifier: "medtop:08000000" locations: - "Lower Saxony" - "Cloppenburg" - "Osnabrück" - "Germany" --- Department of Nursing Science, Osnabrück University, receives 2026 NordWest Award in Health category for BeBeRobot – The Future Game, Cloppenburg Museum Village; €5,000 prize Department of Nursing Science Receives the 2026 NordWestAward for “BeBeRobot – The Game of the Future”: Uni Osnabrück Department of Nursing Science Receives the 2026 NordWestAward for “BeBeRobot – The Game of the Future” For its mixed-media planning game “BeBeRobot – The Future Game,” the Department of Nursing Science at Osnabrück University, in collaboration with the media agency vomhörensehen, was awarded first place in the Health Award category as part of the 2026 NordWest Awards. With the Health Award, the states of Lower Saxony and Bremen recognize innovative initiatives in the field of health and prevention in the Northwest Metropolitan Region. The award ceremony took place on August 20 at the Cloppenburg Museum Village. “It has never been more important to focus on ideas about the future of our society. With our ‘Future Game,’ we’ve developed a format that allows people to playfully reflect on and discuss the future of care in light of the potential use of new technologies,” says Prof. Dr. Manfred Hülsken-Giesler, head of the Department of Nursing Science. The game was created as part of the interdisciplinary research project “Justification and Evaluation Criteria for Robotics in Nursing Care” (BeBeRobot), which explored the possibilities and ethical limits of robotic assistance in everyday nursing care from technical, nursing, and social science perspectives. In the simulation game, participants engage in a playful exploration of three future scenarios for nursing care in the year 2050. To do so, players take on roles from the fields of nursing, politics, education, science, and IT. The game is played in groups of up to twelve people—such as high school students, interested members of the public, or nursing trainees—using a combination of digital and analog game boards. The results from the simulation game are compiled on an online platform, and concrete, real-world recommendations for action are derived from them. The technical concept was developed by the Department of Nursing Science at Osnabrück University, and implementation was carried out by the Bremen-based media agency vomhörensehen. For the seventh time this year, the Northwest Metropolitan Region presented the NordWest Awards in the categories of social cohesion, health, sustainability, and innovation. The award is intended to highlight and recognize innovative ideas from the metropolitan region. First-place prizes are each worth €5,000, second-place prizes €3,000, and third-place prizes €2,000. Further information for the media: Jennifer Maue, Osnabrück University, Institute of Health Research and Education Osnabrück University Researches Supply Chain Resilience in Multiple Crises To understand how agricultural and food supply chains can be transformed in a sustainable and resilient manner amid climate change, geopolitical instability, and market volatility, two projects at the Institute of Geography are receiving funding from the German Research Foundation. Neighborly Help: Soil Bacteria Provide Nutrients to One Another A new study by Osnabrück University, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, shows that soil bacteria live in beneficial communities and frequently exchange nutrients with one another. The study, led by Prof. Dr. Christian Kost, has now been published in “Nature Microbiology”. Osnabrück University Evaluates Hamburg Pilot Projects for a Good Quality of Life in Old Age Many people have a strong desire to continue living in their familiar home environment for as long as possible, even when they require care. The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is exploring how this can be achieved through innovative support and care structures in the pilot project “Staying in [...] What do populists sound like? A research team from Freie Universität Berlin and Osnabrück University is now analyzing how sound shapes political emotions and a collective sense of belonging. The “Soundscapes of Populism” project is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation with 333,000 euros. Osnabrück University Researches Supply Chain Resilience in Multiple Crises: To the press release Neighborly Help: Soil Bacteria Provide Nutrients to One Another: To the press release Osnabrück University Evaluates Hamburg Pilot Projects for a Good Quality of Life in Old Age: To the press release What do populists sound like?: More about the research project