The two-day trip from 10th to 12th September to the Rezekne Academy of Technologies has opened new research fields of cooperation and strengthened the German-Baltic relationship after a first meeting in April at the Harz University of Applied Sciences. Prof. Jens-Oliver Weiss, Prof. Hardy Pundt, Prof. Dominik Wilhelm and two employees of the Application Lab have set off for Rezekne with the aim of establishing a transnational and interdisciplinary science and innovation network for solving urgent challenges and preparing applications in suitable EU research programmes. Through the interdisciplinary research of the countries, targeted solutions can be developed to support the attractiveness of small regions. The focus is set on the effects of social and structural change in shrinking regions.