Start of the executive project phase of INpact sustainability program

On Wednesday, March 31, 2021, the big kick-off for our sustainability project INpact took place virtually via zoom. One day before the official start of the project, all involved came together to introduce each other and to clarify the next steps.

After the two project initiators, Dr. Franz Glatz, managing director of the digital start-up center of the Ingolstadt brigk region and Dr. Michael Tretter, Managing Director of the Institute for Applied Sustainability (inas) welcomed the challenge donors and the the students, the overarching goal of the program was made clear once again: The Usage of the diverse opportunities of sustainability in regional companies!

Afterwards, Prof. Dr. Georg Rosenfeld, board member of IFG Ingolstadt, greeted the participants. Mainly because of the current situation, the IFG feels the responsibility for shaping the future of companies. That’s the reason for welcome the initiative to significantly support companies with interesting project drafts in their sustainable development. All challengers are funded by the IFG with funds from the “Cooperation Initiative” within the framework of the “Structural Funds Economy for SMEs”.

The challenge providers briefly introduced themselves and explained the sustainable challenges in their company. It all started with Organic Garden, a food startup from Ingolstadt. The team developed the idea for their startup from the ever increasing problems of today’s food industry: Thinking about nutrition holistically. From the production to the finished dish, the entire value chain is mapped at Organic Garden. The challenge within the framework of INpact is to position companies as pioneers for high-quality, regional and environmentally friendly nutrition in the food market and to develop guidelines for their own certification.

The second challenge is given by Renate Matuschka. A master hairdresser from Ingolstadt who is now the second generation to run her salon. Together with chemists, she developed her own product series based on customer requests, which, however, posed a problem: the packaging. The task for the students is to create holistic, sustainable packaging that is also environmentally friendly in the second instance.

Gebrüder Peters is a family company in the meanwhile 4th generation and can look back on 117 years of company history. The traditionally medium-sized craft business has set itself the goal of creating a holistic, sustainable working and living environment as part of INpact program. The focus is on the now more than 800 employees. The design of workplaces and the implementation of healthy and sustainable nutrition are intended to promote health, well-being and the compatibility of family and work. In addition, a concept for sustainable mobility is being considered.

The fourth challenge is presented by NurINpur, the one and only unpackaged shop in Ingolstadt. The three-person founding team has set itself the goal of expanding their network and also want to cover a new business area in which food and drugstore items can be delivered to consumers as sustainably as possible. The challenge for the students is to develop a strategy for expanding the B2B area and to find options for deliveries with a low carbon footprint. The sustainable goal behind the task is to create added value for society through regionality.

Last but not least: The fifth challenge was presented by the youngest company. EcoEmbassy is a startup from Ingolstadt who only decided to found their own company at the beginning of the year. The idea behind EcoEmbassy is to network companies and their employees with sustainable service providers and products using an online platform. In the additionally planned Academy, companies and their employees are to be trained in their sustainability awareness. At the end of the program, the team would like a usable click dummy. EcoEmbassy was delighted to announce the launch of its own website, which went live almost in real time for the kick-off.

Following the introduction of the challenge providers, the students introduced themselves and described themselves using 3 hashtags. Corona made it possible to win students from a total of 7 universities from all over Bavaria for the program.

For the best possible implementation of the projects, our experts Dr. Franz Glatz von brigk and Dr. Michael Tretter from the Institute for Applied Sustainability (inas) provide project participants with advice and assistance at regular intervals. Among other things, theoretical fundamentals are imparted in six sessions, but project-related issues are also clarified in regular coordination. The most important thing in the implementation of the projects is the commitment on the part of the students, who are responsible for the solution. Of course, fun shouldn’t be neglected at this point.

At the end of the six-month project phase, the initial project ideas resulted in the best possible sustainable concepts, which will be presented to the challenge providers in a final presentation at the end of September. And who knows – maybe even in presence. We remain optimistic!

We wish all project participants the best of luck and lots of fun, and we will keep you up to date on the interim status of the projects.