How can circular economy and sustainable materials research become tangible for students, researchers and society? This question was at the heart of our exchange with Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Rector of the United Nations University (UNU), and Prof. Edeltraud Günther, Director of UNU-FLORES, together with the president of Hamburg Technical University Prof. Andreas Timm-Giel.
Dr. Baldur Schroeter gave an overview of the CampusLab’s mission and showed how it connects circular economy, engineering education, societal transfer and hands-on experimentation within the Humboldt 4.0 concept. Mathis Kirstein and Ushe Mutamba then presented concrete examples of student-oriented practical learning: hydrogen production at small scale and biorefinery technologies at large scale.
In this way, the CampusLab Circular Economy links hands-on experiments with process-oriented applications and provides a learning environment where students can engage directly with technologies and concepts for sustainable development.
We are grateful for the inspiring exchange on sustainability, circular economy, engineering education and the role of universities in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
