From October 14-16, 2022, the Berlin International University of Applied Sciences organized the „Sustainable Systems for the Future – Practical Approaches for Design and Business” conference. This alumni event brought together former international students of the Faculty of Business as well as of the design disciplines in a targeted interdisciplinary and intercultural way, on the topics of sustainability, social entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation as future-oriented practices and guiding principles of the industry.

Nicole Loeser, board director of IFAI Berlin, was invited to give a theoretical introduction into the AFFL method, that derives from design-thinking and future prototyping. Her talk was followed by a practical “Ocean Future Lab” workshop, where participants used creative future thinking methods to develop ideas and impulses for desirable futures for our blue planet.

The groups presented their results in a concluding short presentation. The Ocean Future Lab aggregates these results into societal impulses. For example, selected narratives are artistically visualized in order to get a broad public involved in this important topic.

At the Berlin International University of Applied Sciences students from 92 nations are studying. Berlin International is part of a global network that allows students to travel and pursue their studies in different locations. In addition to this, the university benefits from a large number of cooperations with universities around the globe preparing them for their careers in a globalized work environment.

The next online workshop will take place on November 3.

More information about our project: www.oceanfuturelab.de

Project partners in the Science Year 2022 “Participate!” are the German Alliance of Marine Research, the Ozeaneum – German Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund, the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, and the Institute of Art and Innovation Berlin. The Ocean Future Lab is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.