The Sustainable Technologies Laboratory at the “Hochschulen und Klimawandel” Symposium at HAW Hamburg
On 29 January 2026, the symposium “Hochschulen und Klimawandel” took place at HAW Hamburg. In a productive atmosphere, representatives from universities and higher education institutions across Germany engaged with the question of what higher education institutions are doing, in teaching, campus initiatives, and research, to address climate change, one of the greatest challenges of our time. The Hanseatic city welcomed all participants with biting cold and a frozen Außenalster. As part of the symposium, the project CIRCLE (Creative Impulses for Recycling, Crafting and Learning) was also presented.
Dr. Erik Alexander Recklies represented the project team as well as the Sustainable Technologies Laboratory with a presentation entitled “Thinking and Acting in Cycles.” In view of the ongoing transgression of planetary boundaries caused by prevailing patterns of production and consumption, he emphasized the need for a fundamental transformation toward a circular economy. In this context, Recklies presented CIRCLE as an innovative teaching initiative at Bochum University of Applied Sciences. The presentation was met with a very positive response. At the same time, Recklies took away numerous impulses for the further development of the project’s content as well as for interdisciplinary exchange with other initiatives and higher education institutions.
Overall, the symposium impressively demonstrated the wide range of ways in which different higher education institutions are responding to the shared challenge of climate change across the areas of teaching, research, and governance. It provided a forum for extensive exchange of experience and knowledge transfer between individual stakeholders, universities, and initiatives, as well as beyond the higher education sector into politics and society.
The project Creative Impulses for Recycling, Crafting and Learning (CIRCLE) is funded by the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre as part of the Freiraum 2025 program (project number: 3003-1388).
