On November 9, guest speaker and German economist Michael Braungart (Leuphana University Lüneburg) held an interesting and engaging presentation at the JKU titled "Cradle to Cradle als Innovationstreiber für die Wirtschaft von morgen?", introducing many examples and new ideas to inspire the audience to think about different products. The presentation took place as part of the Entwicklungspolitischen Hochschulwochen Linz serics. Prof. Dr. Braungart also provided a number of interesting insights with regard to the concepts "Entwicklung wohin? Kontinuitäten unterbrechen".

Prof. Braungart has focused on the “cradle-to-cradle” design concept over the past decades, collaborating with many different organizations and companies in various industries to develop tools and design eco-effective products and business models that include "intelligent materials pooling". His believes that products should not be less efficient, but rather they should be more eco-effective and impact people and the environment in a positive way.  The presentation is in line with the Cradle-to-Cradle Innovation Processes (CCIP), opens an external URL in a new window at the JKU’s Institute for Integrated Quality Design (IQD). Dr. Julia Schmitt and Prof. Dr. Erik Hansen’s project explores just how Austrian environmental pioneers implement “cradle-to-cradle” as part of their innovation processes.