24h Makea­thon: Win­ning team wants to in­crease re­usable pack­aging in Bib­er­ach

The participating students worked in four groups on the questions, or so-called "challenges", submitted by the partners - the cities of Neu-Ulm, Ulm and Biberach and the Haus der Nachhaltigkeit e.V.. The topics were:

    How can reusable packaging become the first choice for consumers*? (Reusable Packaging Challenge)
    What could a concept for a pawn store in Neu-Ulm look like? (Share Economy Challenge)
    In what way can the city of Neu-Ulm show the voluntary support of companies (in the sense of corporate citizenship) and thank them for their commitment, which is by no means a matter of course?
    How can we increase the acceptance of citizens and the use of public transport in the city of Ulm? (Sustainable Travel and Mobility Challenge)

Developing sustainable ideas with the design thinking method

Using design thinking, the participants tinkered with individual problems. Design thinking is a method for developing user-oriented solutions based on structured processes. To begin, students defined their challenge or problem, interviewed typical users, tested existing solutions, and built expertise to gain a better understanding of the initial situation. In the next step, the participants themselves took on the role of the user and visualized the needs, thoughts and feelings of potential users with regard to a specific product or service with the help of user empathy maps and user journeys. Finally, the teams applied creativity techniques to generate ideas to meet the previously identified needs. These ideas were then prototyped in the form of sketches, models, a story and a film.

The participants were supervised by StartupSÜD coaches Hannes Metzger, Lena Schmid, Verena Mattes, Sarah Leible, Anna Luisa Scheffel, Linda Mühlbach and Prof. Thomas Bayer. Prof. Daniel Schallmo accompanied the content-related methodological part of the design thinking process.

The project concluded on Saturday afternoon with the presentation of the results and the awarding of prizes to the best team. All teams successfully mastered the challenge and developed creative ideas for their problem.

The results from 24 hours and the winning team

The winning team convinced the jury with their idea for the "Reusable Packaging" challenge. They presented a concept that decouples the return process of borrowed reusable packaging from restaurants and food vendors. A return vending machine is to be set up at highly frequented places in the city or also at transport account points and P&R parking lots in order to simplify the return process as far as possible for the consumer. Furthermore, a membership card is to be used to facilitate deposit collection.

For the Corporate Citizenship Challenge of the city of Neu-Ulm, the group designed an award concept that honors socially engaged entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized companies for their social commitment in the region. Awards are to be presented in various categories, such as sports & culture, education, social commitment, sustainability, etc. The visibility of the role models is intended to attract further attention. The visibility of the role models is intended to encourage other entrepreneurs to get involved.

The team involved in the "Sustainable Travel and Mobility" challenge developed the "GrUlm" app, a prototype for a bonus card concept that uses gamification approaches and additional benefits to motivate citizens to use public transport instead of their cars.

As part of the challenge on the topic of "Share Economy", the team developed two solution approaches for the future lending store of the Haus der Nachhaltigkeit e.V.. A first prototype shows how tools, instruments, equipment, etc. can be rented out according to the principle "Reuse. Reduce. Recycle." principle can be handled digitally. Furthermore, communication measures were proposed to sensitize citizens in the region for the topic and to generate more visibility for the lending store.

Challenges and intercultural experiences

Through the combination of methodical idea development and practical, real-life challenges paired with creative energy of the students, convincing results were also achieved in the second edition of the 24h Makeathon.

"For me, the Makeathon 2023 was not only characterized by high-quality ideas, but especially by the special working atmosphere and dynamics in the teams, which became an intercultural experience due to the high number of participating international students." So, Linda Mühlbach, Startup Coach and organizer of the event.

The feedback from the practice partners was very positive and there are already efforts to push the ideas together with the students also after the event.