Minister Melanie Walter on a visit

On Friday, 27 March 2026, Melanie Walter, Lower Saxony’s Minister for European Affairs and Regional Development, visited the campus of the University of Twente to learn about the current status of the Interreg project Parkinson Vibrating Socks.

Among her responsibilities are European structural policy and cross-border cooperation in Lower Saxony, precisely the funding and collaborative frameworks that make projects like this possible.

The visit focused on the current development stage of the wearable vibration system and the next steps within the project consortium. In particular, work on the second prototype was presented, while the previous version was also on site and personally tested by the minister.

Minister Walter expressed her admiration for the project’s innovative potential: “This is truly a great initiative that can noticeably improve people’s daily lives!”

Initial testing phases continue to show high user acceptance. At the same time, they provide important insights for technical and functional optimisation, which are currently being directly incorporated into further development.

The project is funded through Interreg Deutschland-Nederland. For around 35 years, the programme has strengthened cooperation between Germany and Netherlands, creating room for innovations that would hardly be possible without cross-border collaboration.

The visit highlights the importance of European cooperation in developing concrete solutions in healthcare. Especially in addressing challenges such as demographic change and neurodegenerative diseases, it demonstrates the value of close collaboration between research, industry, and public funding structures.