Science | Education

Design and sustainability: Commitment to FH Dortmund

Whether it’s specialist excursions abroad, design projects, or the equipping of a lab: With its support, the foundation assists numerous projects at FH Dortmund, thus fostering creativity, innovation, and intercultural experiences among students.

Africa, Asia, Europe

Germany, Kenya, Congo, Mongolia

Dortmund, Nairobi, Ulaanbaatar

Funding period: 2013-2014, 2021-2022, 2024

Partnership for sustainability and international understanding

At the intersection of sustainable education and international networking, the Department of Design at FH Dortmund continually provides creative impulses through its international partnerships and sustainability projects. In workshops, research, and exhibition projects, students and lecturers together open up new perspectives on urban living environments and societal issues. The Wilo-Foundation has supported the following projects, which demonstrate how future-oriented topics can build bridges.

Kenya: “NICE Lab 50/50” (2024)

The “NICE Lab 50/50” summer school of the Department of Design at FH Dortmund took place in summer 2024 in cooperation with NICE labs (Zurich, Switzerland), Technical University of Kenya (TUK), University of Pretoria (UOP), and the local IT company Megasmart in Nairobi. Students from TUK, UOP, and FH Dortmund worked with young creatives from Townshop Viwandani (Nairobi), accompanied by international mentors, in the workshops Creative Writing, Fully Analogue, Totally Digital, Typography & Layout. The highlight was a pop-up shop in Nairobi at the end of the summer school. The art magazine NICE also documents all texts, drawings, print graphics, and photos created during the workshops.

Visit by the Wilo-Foundation at the opening of NICE Labs at the Technical University of Kenya in Nairobi in July 2024. Photo: Wilo-Foundation

FabLab@FHDO (2022)

FabLab@FHDO is a creative workshop at FH Dortmund that brings together students from different disciplines and gives them access to the latest manufacturing techniques for collaborative experimentation. A wide range of state-of-the-art machines, including 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines, and other tools of all kinds are available for FH Dortmund students as well as external visitors to experiment with. Thanks to supporters such as the Wilo-Foundation, the equipment could be fully completed. FabLab@FHDO is part of an international network of similar facilities and provides a platform for creative minds to work together on innovative projects and push the boundaries of technology.

Anniversary project “50 Years – 50 Trees” (2021)

The so-called Tree Cube project “50 Years – 50 Trees” was launched by FH Dortmund to mark its 50th anniversary in the 2021-22 academic year. As part of this initiative, 50 new trees were planted in various districts of Dortmund. As a further demonstration of sustainability, the Department of Architecture set up “Anniversary Cubes”—striking wooden seating cubes that each surround a newly planted tree. These cubes not only provide seating but also protect the young trees during their growth phase. The cubes were placed at various locations in the city, with the Wilo-Foundation sponsoring the cube in Dortmund’s Westfalenpark as a tree patron.

As a sustainability partner of FH Dortmund, the Wilo-Foundation supported a anniversary seating cube. Photo: FH Dortmund

Mongolia: „Urban Nomads (2014)

“Urban Nomads” was an interdisciplinary summer school run by the Department of Design at FH Dortmund, which explored urban living environments, migration, and flexible lifestyles—with a particular focus on Mongolia. In 2014, 12 students from FH Dortmund in scenography, film, graphics, photography, object and spatial design traveled together with three professors and two assistants to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. There, as part of the “Urban Research Lab” workshop, they worked with Mongolian students from the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture (MSUAC) and the research and performance platform MONGOL CITIZENS from Berlin and Ulaanbaatar. The grand finale was a public presentation at MSUAC.

Some of the works were publicly exhibited in front of the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture (MSUAC) in Ulaanbaatar. Photo: FH Dortmund

Democratic Republic of Congo: “Kinshasa Vivant” (2013)

“Kinshasa Vivant” was a project of the Department of Design at FH Dortmund in cooperation with the Natural History Museum Dortmund and the association DorKin e.V. (Dortmund-Kinshasa). In 2013, students from the photography program traveled to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and documented in an impressive series of around 90 photographs the contrasts of this metropolis—between poverty and zest for life, wildlife, environmental destruction, and cultural diversity.

The best photographs were exhibited at the Natural History Museum in Dortmund after the excursion. Photo: Jörg Winde

After the excursion, the best pictures were presented at the Natural History Museum in Dortmund, where the fields of tension under the motto “Kin la belle” and “Kin la poubelle” became visible.

Photo Header: FH Dortmund

Unser Förderpartner

Since its founding in 1971, Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts (FH Dortmund) has stood for practice-oriented, future-focused teaching and research. Currently, around 13,500 young people are enrolled in approximately 70 degree programs in the fields of computer science, architecture and design, as well as engineering, business, and social sciences. International partnerships with 140 universities from around 50 countries enable students to gain intercultural experience and develop their potential. Through third-party funded research and transfer projects with companies from the region, the university makes a significant contribution to Dortmund as a city of science.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) forms the global framework for action for socially, economically and ecologically sustainable development. Our funding commitment also supports these sustainability goals. With this project, we are making a contribution to achieving the following SDGs:

What are the SDG's?