The interim conference of the DBU-funded project ‘From Eco to Ecopreneur – Between Activism and Entrepreneurship: Practical Approaches to Sustainable Transformation’ has two objectives: 1) to practically demonstrate the potential and range of sustainable entrepreneurship and 2) to give young people a platform and a place to exchange their sustainable start-up and project ideas.

The background to this is that there is often a lack of places and opportunities where initiators of sustainable start-up ideas have the chance to exchange ideas with sustainable founders in the early stages. There is also often a lack of entrepreneurial role models who combine start-up expertise and sustainability and contribute to sustainable transformations, as well as offering insights into how exactly the start-up process took place, what challenges had to be overcome and what sources of strength ensure a sustainable start-up process.

With its programme of keynotes, gallery walks, research input and panel discussions, the conference aims to provide impetus in this area. We have invited 5 exciting start-ups, all of which address ecological, social and economic challenges in their own way and contribute to the sustainability transformation. Im Zentrum der Konferenz steht ein Gallery Walk mit den nachhaltigen Gründungs- und Projektideen junger Menschen aus der Leuphana und dem Projekt.

This is your opportunity to discuss your start-ups and project ideas with people from the start-up world, the German Federal Environmental Foundation, researchers and other idea providers. If you would like to present your idea at the Gallery Walk in the form of a poster, please indicate this when you register. If you have any questions, please contact me: maike.buhr@leuphana.de

Five exciting start-ups will be taking part as keynote speakers and panellists: LOKORA, Backdigital, BonusBot, Hempy Period and Nidisi. We also share initial research findings from the ecopreneur project, including which skills are important for sustainable entrepreneurship. Our funding body, the German Federal Environmental Foundation, will also be introducing itself and we will be organising a panel discussion on the potential and role of ecopreneurship with various stakeholders. We discuss with Fabien Matthies from Nidisi and Amelie Harm & Agnes Maria Paul from Hempy Period, Prof Dr Jana-Michaela Timm from the University of Hamburg and Verena Exner from the German Federal Environmental Foundation.

On Friday, June 28th 2024, the conference will then take us on an excursion to the heart of sustainable entrepreneurship – Utopia Lüneburg. A sustainable start-up centre, co-working space, start-up incubator, workshop and community in Lüneburg.