Innovations are often not based on the brilliant idea of a single genius. They arise when people work together on a shared vision for a better future. This motto guides the city of Dortmund in shaping its innovation ecosystem - and it is also lived out at Fachhochschule Dortmund. At the weekend, guests from Europe's innovation centers visited Dortmund and the Fachhochschule Dortmund.
With the iCapital Award, the EU Commission has made Dortmund the first German city to be named European Capital of Innovation. At the "European Perspectives on Innovation Ecosystems" workshop on May 27 and 28, 2022 at the Dortmunder U, the city presented itself to around 40 representatives from science, business studies and urban society from countries including Spain, Finland, Belgium, Italy, Romania and France and invited them to exchange ideas.
Solution-oriented with high practical relevance
Prof. Dr. Andrea Kienle, Vice-Rector for Digitalization, gave insights into the role of scientific institutions in the Dortmund network as a representative of Fachhochschule Dortmund. She was already involved in the iCapital pitch in front of the EU Commission's jury. "With its practice-oriented teaching and research, Fachhochschule Dortmund is right at the heart of the Dortmund innovation network," said the Vice Rector. However, it is not just about training creative and idea-driven specialists. "Together with our partners in Dortmund and the region, we are working on concrete solutions for social challenges, be it digitalization, sustainability or social justice," emphasized Andrea Kienle.
For example, new ideas in areas such as robotics and smart living are being developed and tested at Fachhochschule Dortmund research institutions such as the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL). The storyLab kiU(Opens in a new tab) sets standards with digital storytelling formats. And with the creative and start-up center SQuArE(Opens in a new tab) , Fachhochschule Dortmund has just created a contact and meeting place to promote innovation and give ideas the necessary impetus.
Guest at "Dortmund.Live"
The European guests presented best practice examples from their innovation clusters at the workshop: for example, the successful rebuilding of a company network following the crisis at cell phone manufacturer Nokia and the many unemployed people in Espoo (Finland). Another example: the compactness of university buildings in the city center of Leuven (Belgium), which allows a high degree of permeability between university operations and urban society. "A good role model for the further development of our university location," emphasized Andrea Kienle.
In the parallel 24-hour live stream of the digital city festival "Dortmund.Live"(Opens in a new tab) , she presented the Dortmund innovation network and the connections to Europe together with Prof. Dr. Herbert Waldmann, the representative for the Dortmund Science 2.0 master plan. Afterwards, the workshop guests went on an "innovation tour" through Dortmund. This started directly in front of the Dortmunder U, where many partners of the Dortmund Innovation Network presented themselves with activities, stands and a stage program. Innovation and science were brought to life at the "DORTBUNT!" city and neighborhood festival(Opens in a new tab) . Among other things, the University of Applied Sciences was on site with high-tech from the open workshop "FabLab"(Opens in a new tab) and the racing car of the "Race-Ing. team"(Opens in a new tab) .
A special finale to the first day of the workshop was a video installation at the Dortmunder U in the evening: the storyLab kiU team from Fachhochschule Dortmund projected impressive images(Opens in a new tab) onto the façade of the building, drawing on images from art, philosophy, European history and news from the past 50 years.
