Jury

Werner Aisslinger founded studio aisslinger in 1993 in Berlin. The studio has a focus on experimental design, product design, material innovations and architectural concepts. As a designer, he is particularly interested in the use of new technologies and unusual materials. His Juli Chair was the first item of furniture to use a new type of polyurethane integral foam, and became the first German chair since 1964 to be selected as a permanent exhibit at the MoMA in New York. His nomadic architecture modules such as the Loftcube are considered pioneering in the new urban lifestyle. His first major exhibition took place in 2013 at the Museum Haus am Waldsee in Berlin under the title of Home of the Future. His House of Wonders exhibition opened in 2016 in the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, and focuses on such issues as sustainability, upcycling, material innovations and indoor farming.

After completing her Master's degree in "Sustainability in Fashion", Ina Budde taught Sustainable Design at international universities. Today, as co-founder and managing director, she leads the sustainable innovation agency 'circular.fashion', which offers advice and software solutions to move the textile industry towards a circular economy. With workshops, circular design software and criteria, she and her team support fashion brands in producing sustainable and recyclable garments and in establishing solutions for the circular management and recycling of products. In the same way, circularity shall be anchored in the objectives and strategy of companies - to scale a circular future of fashion.

Prof. Matthias Held studied product design at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd University of Applied Sciences (HfG) and received a master’s degree as a Fulbright scholar from the Pratt Institute in New York. He is co-founder of the quintessence design office in Stuttgart and was appointed professor at the HfG in 2006. There, he contributed to the establishment of the Institute for Applied Research, where he carried out research projects in the field of sustainability, renewable energy and medical technology, among others. He is also engaged in the German Society for Design Theory and Research (DGTF).

To the jury interview with Prof. Matthias Held (2022)

Dr. Bettina Hoffmann has been Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection since 2021. Until 2017, the biologist holding a PhD was managing director of an agency for planning and communication in the field of environment, tourism and regional development and moved into the German Bundestag as a member for the first time in the same year. Since 2017, she has also been a member and chairwoman of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Sustainable Development.

Prof. Dr. Claudia Perren has been Director of the FHNW Academy of Art and Design since August 2020. From 2014 to 2020, she was director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. Before that she taught design, curatorial practice, history and theory of architecture and art at the University of Sydney in the department of architecture, design and urban planning. Results of her research, teaching and curatorial activities have been published in numerous publications and exhibitions worldwide.

To the jury interview with Prof. Dr. Claudia Perren (2022)

Siddharth Prakash coordinates several national and international projects in the field of Circular Economy with a focus on policies and instruments for sustainable consumption and production, including strengthening eco-labeling and sustainable public procurement and developing minimum legal standards. He has led various projects for public clients and companies in the field of "Strategies against Obsolescence". He is currently advising the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the German Environment Agency on the preparation of the National Recycling Management Strategy in Germany. His sectoral focus is on electrical and electronic equipment.

Paula Raché designs and supervises projects in the fields of packaging design, material and trend research, brand development, publications and exhibition design. Together with Aart van Bezooijen, she went on a worldwide research trip, following which they published the book "It's Not Easy Being Green: Two Designers Exploring Sustainability Worldwide (2012)". It contains contributions from around 60 designers, entrepreneurs and decision-makers from all over the world that are intended to inspire and enable a more sustainable future. Since then, she has been following and documenting international sustainability initiatives and passing on her knowledge and experience to students at various universities, organizations and agencies through consulting, workshops and lectures.

Bettina Rechenberg is the head of Division III “Sustainable Products and Production, Circular Economy” at the German Environment Agency (UBA). The biologist has worked at the UBA since 1992, initially in the areas of water protection and chemical safety, as well as in sustainable production, resource conservation and material cycles. Since 2015, Rechenberg has headed Division III, which analyses the environmental impacts of such activities as the extraction of raw materials, industrial production and usage, and the recycling and disposal of products, and seeks practical, environmentally compatible and resource-saving solutions.

Michael Volkmer first completed an apprenticeship as a photographer before studying Communication Design at the FH Wiesbaden. After graduating, he co-founded the creative agency Scholz & Volkmer with Anette Scholz in 1994, focusing on design and digital brand management. Today, the agency, with over 100 employees, operates in Wiesbaden and Berlin, executing campaigns and digital projects for clients, as well as developing their own products in the sustainability sector. In 2006, Michael Volkmer initiated the see-Conference, which has since become one of the largest design conferences in Germany. The underlying association, Bilder der Zukunft e.V., sets the socio-political focus for a sustainable world.