Romana Rauch and Mira Rochyadi-Reetz - a campus garden as a place of sustainability, research and community
We are currently working on a campus garden at the TU Ilmenau in the sustainability working group. The idea came about through an inspiring exchange with Erfurt University of Applied Sciences, which already has a successful campus garden. We took a look at their concept, including a natural garden, berry bushes and individual plots that students can cultivate themselves - without any chemical fertilizers. That’s exactly what we want. It is particularly important to us that this place is not only used for recreation and as a social meeting place, but also enables research and educational projects, such as sensor technology and irrigation systems that could be developed by students or aerial photographs to measure biodiversity. We are in contact with specialist areas that would like to contribute their expertise. And we are delighted that many students and employees have already shown an interest in cultivating their own plots.Prof. Stephan Husung - developing technical products sustainably
As an engineer and head of the Product and Systems Engineering Group I see it as my responsibility to develop technical products in such a way that they not only function, but also consume as little energy and resources as possible. For me, sustainability is not an add-on, but must be considered from the outset. We need intelligent, recyclable solutions. In our teaching, we therefore teach prospective engineers how to develop products that fulfil their purpose while minimizing our ecological footprint. The interdisciplinary teaching project as part of the BMBF-funded Climate N project in cooperation with the Group for Empirical Media Research and Political Communication is particularly exciting. The focus is on better waste separation and reduction on the TU Ilmenau campus. The students examine this highly relevant topic from different perspectives. Engineering students develop technical solutions for waste detection and communication science students carry out stakeholder analyses and develop communication strategies. The aim is to ensure that incorrect disposal is directly recognized and contributes to raising awareness. This is how we bring technology and social responsibility together - in a very concrete and practical way.Dr.-Ing. Tobias Wätzel - green electricity and hydrogen as an opportunity for the economy and climate
At BOREAS Energie GmbH, I am responsible for hydrogen, or more precisely for the field of power-to-gas. In order to decarbonize our society, our industry and our consumption, we need one thing above all - sustainable and CO2-free energy - in addition to the careful and circular use of resources. This is exactly where green hydrogen comes in. For me, energy and material flow management have been inextricably linked since I started working in this area; there is energy in everything and it has to be produced in a renewable and sustainable way. When I was asked to take part in the Sustainability Days via the VDI young engineers, I immediately accepted out of conviction. My credo is: renewable energies are a huge opportunity for the economy and the climate of tomorrow. Establishing a renewable energy system will create new value chains for industry and commerce, i.e. new markets. We need many new infrastructures and components, but also new services and people who work in this field - including committed students, researchers and graduates of TU Ilmenau.I have been involved in the TU Ilmenau sustainability working group for over two years. My main aim is to motivate other students - for example with campaigns such as the Fashion Corner, where 230 items of clothing have already found new owners, or playful formats for waste separation. I represent the students in the university’s Sustainability Task Group and am committed to ensuring that sustainability is more firmly anchored at our university. The Sustainability Days are a project close to my heart: we want to show that sustainability is not abstract, but very concrete - and that everyone can get involved. My personal motivation? I believe that sustainability is a way to be a good person. If I can get others excited about it, it motivates me myself - and that gives me the feeling that I am contributing something meaningful to our society.
I conduct research in the Data-intensive Systems and Visualization Group , i.e. in the field of artificial intelligence, on the detection of parasites in bees - a topic that is equally relevant to ecology and sustainability. The Varroa mite, for example, has only spread to domesticated honey bees in the last century and is therefore an acute threat to beekeeping. We are also discovering parasites in wild bees for which deep learning algorithms have not yet been used. A major challenge here is the lack of data, especially for wild bees. To expand the data set, I create synthetic images: I combine real parasite images with images of healthy bees, which improves detection rates. My goal is to use data-driven technology to make concrete contributions to the protection of biodiversity.
In university catering, for which we are responsible at Studierendenwerk Thüringen, we want to give our guests the opportunity to find out about the CO2 equivalent value of their meals. That’s why we label each dish with its CO2 equivalent value, which shows the emissions from production, storage and transportation through to receipt of the goods. Seasonality plays a major role here: fresh tomatoes, for example, usually cause higher emissions in winter - due to heated greenhouses, for example. In addition to transparency, we also pay attention to sustainability when selecting products - regional ingredients, energy-saving kitchen technology and the targeted use of plant-based alternatives are all part of this for us. We are increasingly using products with pea or mung bean protein in our plant-based dishes - as a supplement to soy. We are paying more attention to ingredients with the shortest possible transportation routes. We offer vegan options depending on demand and rely on regional suppliers with higher husbandry standards for meat.
I am committed to sustainability on campus as part of the ISWI association. For me, this starts in everyday life: we carefully separate waste into paper, plastic and residual waste and reuse paper that has already been printed on, such as the backs of flyers, for notes. For me, sustainability means solidarity - not only with people today, but also with future generations who will inherit our world. I came up with a playful quiz for the Sustainability Days: a true-or-false game about sustainability issues. If you do well, you get a small reward - but the most important thing is that people learn something and go home with a new awareness. Sustainability should be fun and thought-provoking at the same time.
