Spring Academy Sustainability
The circular economy promises to conserve resources: products should be more durable, generate less waste, and require fewer new raw materials. What incentives do businesses and consumers need to make repair, reuse, and part replacement the default option?
Where do conflicts of interest arise between technology, the economy, politics, and our daily lives? Which current approaches seem promising—and why have they failed so far? Students and interested members of the public can explore these and other questions at the Spring Academy on Sustainability, taking place from March 23 to 26, 2026, at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The project week is organized by Studium Generale. Forum Science and Society (FORUM) .
The project week begins with a keynote address and exhibition booths where researchers and local initiatives will introduce themselves, and concludes with a panel discussion. These events are open to the public and do not require registration; admission is free. The venue is InformatiKOM at the KIT South Campus (Building 50.19, Adenauerring 12). For students, the project week also offers a selection of thematic workshops and field trips.
Opening night featuring a keynote speech on this perpetually innovative product
The focus on Monday, March 23, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in the keynote address “Used Yet Like New—The Eternally Innovative Product in the Circular Economy” by Professor Sven Matthiesen, co-spokesperson for Collaborative Research Center 1574 “Circular Factory for the Eternally Innovative Product” and director of IPEK—the Institute for Product Development at KIT. In his presentation, the expert will discuss current challenges in fields such as production engineering, materials science, ergonomics, and computer science on the path toward sustainable and competitive production of the future. Following the presentation, there will be time for questions from the audience, and all attendees are invited to join the discussion.
The Sustainability Forum invites visitors to engage in discussions at its booths
Following the keynote address on Monday, March 23, 2026, starting at 7:30 p.m., there will be a reception, and a forum with exhibition booths will provide an opportunity for further discussion. Various research projects, associations, and initiatives from Karlsruhe and the surrounding region will present their work and research on the sustainable circular economy.
Closing session with a panel discussion on the future of value creation
Why have we not yet succeeded in designing and using products in a way that makes repairability, longer lifecycles, and data-driven services the norm? The public panel discussion “Circular Economy: Wishful Thinking or the Future of Value Creation?” on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. will conclude the project week. Moderated by Martin Besinger of SWR, the panel will feature Dr. Michael Dieterle, Development Engineer for Circularity & Product Sustainability at SEW-Eurodrive; Philipp Krohn, Business Editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Anna Reiners, Co-founder and Managing Director of Circular Black Forest gGmbH; and Professor Dr. Sven Matthiesen, Co-Spokesperson for Collaborative Research Center 1574. The discussion will focus on the structural barriers hindering a sustainable transition toward circular products and the opportunities digital technologies offer for new value creation models. The audience is invited to join the discussion.
About the Spring Academy on Sustainability at FORUM
The four-day project week at KIT has been organized since 2017 by Studium Generale. Forum for Science and Society (FORUM), formerly ZAK. With numerous parallel workshops and excursions for students, as well as a public opening lecture and a panel discussion open to all interested parties, it offers insights into changing key topics and facilitates exchange with stakeholders from academia and industry. In 2026, the focus will be on the topic “What is a sustainable circular economy?” in cooperation with the interdisciplinary Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1574 “Circular Factory for the Eternally Innovative Product” at KIT. Around 60 staff members at the SFB are working toward the vision of enabling the “eternal” reuse of used product materials. The SFB brings together the expertise of researchers in mechanical engineering, computer science, and electrical engineering and information technology at KIT.
In 2026, the Spring Academy on Sustainability will mark the 10th anniversary of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Eucor – The European Campus. As a trinational alliance of the universities of Freiburg, Basel, Strasbourg, Haute-Alsace, and KIT, Eucor has its own legal personality and promotes the exchange of students and staff through cooperation in teaching, research, innovation, and administration.
In 2022, KIT was recognized as a learning site in the UNESCO program “Education for Sustainable Development: Achieving the Global Sustainable Development Goals (ESD 2030).”
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Further information: www.forum.kit.edu/fruehlingsakademie.
Information about the Studium Generale. Forum on Science and Society (FORUM)
The FORUM is a key academic institution at KIT. Through public events, interdisciplinary teaching, and social science research, it fosters a fact-based dialogue between academia and society and brings students, researchers, and the interested public into the conversation.
Information about the Studium Generale. Forum on Science and Society (FORUM)