The flower wholesaler “Eurofleurs Elbers GmbH & Co KG” wishes to expand its production, logistics and distribution facilities, with a particular focus on sustainability. How can water be managed as sustainably as possible despite prolonged heatwaves and falling groundwater levels? Numerous companies are currently facing this challenge. During a workshop – held entirely online due to the pandemic – organised by the “StartGlocal” project, students from Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences discussed these questions and developed initial ideas in dialogue with the Kevelaer-based company.
Managing Director Ann Elbers was impressed by the students’ creativity and expertise: “On the one hand, the project has reinforced our own ideas for more sustainable water use, and on the other, it has also enabled us to think outside the box. It was really exciting to gain new perspectives and specialist knowledge, and it was simply great fun.” The students were also thrilled by this opportunity to work on ‘real’ problems in ‘real’ companies.
One of the eleven students will be writing her final dissertation following the ‘Pressure Cooker Day’ as part of an internship with the flower wholesaler. Student Ruvimbo Munashe Kapurura sees this as a unique opportunity: “At the start, I didn’t have a clear idea of what to expect from the workshop, and now I’m absolutely delighted I took part. Working on real business problems and developing proposals that could actually be implemented in the end – that’s an absolutely unique experience for me.”
“StartGlocal – Global Spirit for Local Start-ups”
The “StartGlocal – Global Spirit for Local Start-ups” project is funded by the EXIST-Potentiale funding scheme of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Social Fund. Sustainability is the project team’s top priority: the aim is to plant a tree for every milestone in a project, creating a ‘Start Glocal Forest’. “Sustainability is a key priority in our StartGlocal project. It is very important to us to establish the university as an innovation partner for sustainability issues in the region, whilst at the same time involving our students and supporting their development. As a symbol of this, the ‘Gravensteiner autumn apple’ was planted in collaboration with Eurofleurs as the next tree in our StartGlocal Forest,” said Dr Gerhard Heusipp, Head of the Centre for Research, Innovation and Transfer at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.
The “StartGlocal – Global Spirit for Local Start-ups” project is funded as part of the EXIST programme by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Social Fund.
