Future Sustainability Summit: How the economy in OstWestfalenLippe is tackling the issue of sustainability
A green digital twin, sustainability in engineering and energy optimization of factories: These and other sustainability topics are being worked on in numerous projects in OstWestfalenLippe. At the Future Sustainability Summit, over 100 experts from companies and research institutions discussed the challenges and solutions in the field of sustainability that are currently occupying business and science. The event was hosted by it’s OWL together with TH OWL, Fraunhofer IEM, the Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Ruhr-OWL and OWL GmbH at InnovationSpin in Lemgo.
“In OstWestfalenLippe, we have the best prerequisites for working together to make the economy more sustainable. With the leading-edge cluster it’s OWL, we are focusing on sustainability through technology and, with our network, the regional development strategy ‘OWL 2025’ and the many sustainability projects in the region, we offer concrete applications and support services for companies on their way to greater sustainability,” says Wolfgang Marquardt, authorized signatory of OstWestfalenLippe GmbH and Head of Communications at it’s OWL. The experts discussed how companies can be supported in workshops on the topics of circular value creation, data-based sustainability, resilient value creation and sustainability transformation in OWL. The participants were also given insights into 24 sustainability projects from OstWestfalenLippe in entertaining three-minute pitches. An exchange like this, in the InnovationSPIN developed and structurally designed for such purposes, is at the heart of the strong transfer in OWL
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Professor Stefan Witte, Vice President for Research and Transfer at TH OWL
“An exchange like this, in the InnovationSPIN developed and structurally designed for such purposes, is at the heart of the strong transfer in OWL,” says Professor Stefan Witte, Vice President for Research and Transfer at TH OWL. “Placing the topic of sustainability at the center of this good cooperation is more than logical – only together can research and companies shape the challenges of today.”
Circular value creation: the benefits of the circular economy for companies
In the it’s OWL project ‘ZirkusPro’, Miele, a manufacturer of household and commercial appliances, is looking at how aspects of the circular economy can be given greater consideration in the development of future generations of ovens, particularly when it comes to electronics. Because ovens are intelligent and networked, they have cameras and sensors and learn independently. More functions lead to more electronics in the appliance, which should become more sustainable. The design of components should also make repairs even easier and more efficient in future.
You can find all the projects presented on our innovation platform
In addition to the projects outlined here, you can find the topics and information on over 20 projects with detailed project descriptions and their contacts on our innovation platform: Discover now.
How to achieve sustainable engineering
In the it’s OWL project ‘Sustainable Lifecycle Engineering’, companies and research institutions are working on which engineering solutions save the most CO2. The project aims to enable developers and product managers to incorporate sustainability aspects into their decision-making at an early stage of engineering. After all, it is not always clear which engineering options are the most sustainable. For example, electric motors can be encapsulated to minimize heat loss, or not encapsulated to make it easier to recycle the motor. The project provides answers to these and other questions.
Field robots ensure greater sustainability in agriculture
The TH OWL is currently working on the ‘Smart Farming’ project to find out how the use of field robots can simplify farmers’ work and increase the sustainability of agricultural production. Today, automatically steering and self-adjusting agricultural machinery for soil cultivation or grain harvesting already has a major impact on food production, as do fully automated milking robots in dairy farming. The project aims to increase the usability of autonomous technology in agriculture and enable more sustainable management, for example through the digital recording and evaluation of nutrient cycles.
Energy-optimized: a smart e-factory is being built in Lemgo
Digital solutions are needed to support industry in the implementation of climate-friendly technologies. To this end, research and industry partners are developing a model factory using the example of the Lemgo SmartFactoryOWL: the Smart-E-Factory. The project is researching digital technologies for the energy optimization of factories and promoting the transfer of these to small and medium-sized enterprises. At the SmartFactoryOWL, visitors to the Future Sustainabilty Summit experienced the possibilities and benefits of digitalization in industry using concrete application examples and practical demonstrators.
Industry.zero: it’s OWL relies on technology for more sustainability
For more than ten years, it’s OWL has developed solutions and applications in around 500 projects on topics such as artificial intelligence and intelligent product development, thus supporting companies with digitalization. The leading-edge cluster is building on its expertise as the largest initiative for Industry 4.0 and aims to make OstWestfalenLippe a model region for sustainable value creation as a ‘competence network for Industry.Zero’. How the region’s companies and research institutions can shape this transformation was one of the topics discussed by participants in the ‘Sustainability transformation in OWL’ workshop.
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