Concept

From 16 to 27 July 2025, the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Rhine-Ruhr Region will welcome around 10,000 athletes and officials from over 170 countries at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games. The athletes will compete over a period of 12 days and in 18 different sports in Bochum, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen and Mülheim an der Ruhr.

Apart from high-level sport competitions the aspects of science, sustainability and innovation as well as intercultural exchange will also be highlighted during the event.

The conceptual focus of the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games will be on social, ecological and economic sustainability topics as well on innovation and participation. The Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games aim to serve as an incubator for processes of change in sport and in the metropolitan region of Rhine-Ruhr. Apart from this they aim to provide longer term development impulses in society as a whole – especially in regard to intensive involvement of students. Furthermore, their aim is to create manifold sportive and meeting occasions for the members of the public and guests from around the world.

The implementation concept for the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games was successfully developed by the German University Sports Federation in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community, the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia, the International University Spots Federation (FISU) as well as the municipalities of Bochum, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen and Mülheim an der Ruhr, the adh-member universities as well as further partners of organised sports and science. The two-year development process through to the allocation of the event in May 2021 was closely supported by the PROPROJEKT Planning Management & Project Consulting GmbH.

Host of the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games is the German University Sports Federation, organizer is the International University Sports Federation.