Kaiser is enthusiastic about the concept behind the new zdi student laboratory and comments on the importance of resource efficiency and ‘green’ technologies in the field of out-of-school education:
“A great many young people are very interested in the topic of sustainability and are increasingly re-evaluating their own behaviour. This is also fuelling a growing enthusiasm for STEM subjects, as pupils see these fields as an opportunity to play a part in shaping an environmentally sustainable future. At the Green FabLab, budding researchers can now gain practical insights for themselves. The FabLab thus places a unique emphasis in North Rhine-Westphalia on the intersection of technology and sustainability in out-of-school education.”
The Green FabLab, which has been running events for the public for several weeks now, is part of the state-wide joint initiative ‘Zukunft durch Innovation’ (Future through Innovation), or zdi.NRW for short, aimed at promoting the next generation of STEM talent in North Rhine-Westphalia. “The aim of the new zdi student laboratory is to develop visions for our shared future, in harmony with the natural foundations of life,” said Professor Dr Kai Jörg Tiedemann, Professor of Ecology and the Environment at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and project leader of the Green FabLab. The facility is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Conceptually, this digital fabrication workshop is modelled on the prototype of a globally widespread family of facilities – the so-called ‘Fabrication Laboratory’, or FabLab for short. The FabLab is virtually unique in this form across Europe; comparable concepts currently exist only in Barcelona and at three locations outside Europe. The Green FabLab focuses on digital technologies, thereby applying the successful FabLab concept to environmental and sustainability issues. It provides an excellent complement to the existing FabLab on the Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences campus in Kamp-Lintfort.
With the Green FabLab and its sister institution, FabLab Kamp-Lintfort, the university now has two facilities that sustainably integrate the opportunities offered by the digital transformation into school education. Since 2015, FabLab Kamp-Lintfort has been offering workshops to help school pupils get started in robotics, electrical engineering, computer science, computer-aided design and 3D printing. At the Green FabLab, teaching and research now also cover topics ranging from environmental change, green architecture and renewable raw materials to renewable energies and fuel cell technology.
“With the Green FabLab, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences is once again setting an example for innovation and combining research and practice in an outstanding way,” emphasises University President Dr Oliver Locker-Grütjen. With its two FabLabs, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences is providing a strong impetus for the sustainable development of the city and the region as a centre for applied science.
