Raising awareness of the HdN in society and among students: With this goal in mind, the concept seminar for fifth to seventh semester students on the Business Psychology course took place in the summer semester of 2024. Divided into nine teams and supervised by Prof. Dr. Tobias Krüger, the students worked on several sub-challenges to promote the House of Sustainability.
Turning waste into marketing: solution idea to reduce the amount of waste at Nabada
Under the motto "Sustainable Nabada - We swear by sustainability", a team considered which events and offers the HNU could use to attract more visitors and developed an idea to reduce waste at Ulm's biggest festival, Schwörmontag: the boats left over from the Nabada are to be collected after the end of the water parade and turned into works of art. These in turn are to be presented and awarded prizes at the HdN, thus giving the association greater visibility.
Luminous thought garden: solution idea for networking and knowledge transfer
Another group dealt with the design of the HdN premises. The rooms were not only to be designed to be more appealing, but also to serve the purpose of knowledge transfer and networking. The students worked out several specific design ideas and developed prototypes. These include a "luminous garden of ideas", which enables fruitful exchange and networking in a natural design. Interactive honeycombs also provide information about the sustainability goals of the House of Sustainability.
Sustainability space at the HNU: solution idea for the visibility of the topic in the university environment
Another starting point was networking with the region's universities: Students in particular should be made more familiar with the HdN and invited to actively participate in sustainability issues. To this end, a group developed both a virtual and a physical model of a "sustainability space" at Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences. For example, it would be suitable to rededicate a common room, where hundreds of students spend time every day, as a themed room for sustainability. In this way, students can also be made more aware of the topic of sustainability in the university environment.
Final pitches of the ideas to the project partner
The students then presented their creative ideas at a pitch event with the project partners. Project supervisor Prof. Dr. Tobias Krüger is enthusiastic about the commitment of his students: "I am always deeply impressed by the exceptionally creative and practical solutions that the students develop as part of the design thinking process. It was fantastic to see how committed they were to the topic. Especially when it comes to sustainability, I am delighted that we as a university can make an important contribution to our practice partner."
Ivanka Burger from the House of Sustainability is also delighted with the productive collaboration: "It is a great enrichment for us that we were able to be a challenge provider for the consumer psychology concept seminar. The students provide us with feedback and perspectives from outside, which is extremely valuable. The resulting prototypes and ideas are very creative and innovative. We can implement individual solutions quickly, which makes us particularly happy!"
The project was also supported by the HNU Founders Space as part of the Impact Entrepreneurship Collaboration Hub (IECH).
Project supervisor Alexander Warth sums up: "Prof. Dr. Krüger's semester focus also showed once again that our HNU students work on social innovations with above-average motivation and develop new approaches with passion.They have come up with some really great, practicable ideas!"
