The Federal Ministry for the Environment, the German Environment Agency and the International Design Center Berlin invited on September 19 to the official opening of the exhibition at the Metropolenhaus. After the 2024 nominees had been decided, they were presented to the public together with all other submissions admitted to the jury session. Some competition entries were introduced in person by the submitters.

The exclusive member event on 27 June provided exciting insights into the plans for the subsequent use of the former airport site. Robin Hoske, co-founder of the WINT DESIGN LAB based in Tegel and winner of the German Ecodesign Award 2023, then presented the project "GOLD - textiles made of collagen". The following Q&A session and get-together offered the opportunity to exchange ideas and get to know each other.

In December 2023 Virginia Reil impressed in the Young Talent category with her submission "Layers of Value" and won the German Ecodesign Award. On May 31 and June 1, 2024, participants were invited to take part in the textile workshop “ReMake” at the 36. Coburger Designtage and experiment with new surfaces made from textile remnants.

The "Right to Repair" is intended to create a change from a throwaway society to one that values products. In an impulse talk, Anja Mager of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, illustrated which measures are planned on national and european level and which goals are pursued. Steffen Vangerow, who was nominated for the German Ecodesign Award with his company 2019, reported in his role as an executive director of the Runden Tisch Reparatur e.V. on his engagement to a new culture of repair. The three former winners of the design award Tobias Kronawitter from kaputt.de, Lisa Prantner from Bis es mir vom Leibe fällt and Helmut Stabe from Räubersachen showed and discussed which solutions design offers to extend the life of a product. The conversation was moderated by Ronja Scholz, designer and research associate at the Technical University of Berlin and Fraunhofer IZM Berlin.

Designer Daniel Kroh and Thomas Gläser from the Kostümkollektiv e.V. showed how holes, tears and Co. can be restored with simple hand movements and how old towels, broken umbrellas and fabric remnants can be given a new use. According to the motto "help for self-help", they shared their versatile knowledge and assisted the 12 participants as experienced textile repairers and upcyclers.

Sustainable consumption encompasses all areas of life but not every change in our habits has the same impact. Nearly 80 percent of the environmental impact of our consumption comes from the way we live, eat and move through the world. According to Federal Environment Agency, the "big points" of sustainable consumption therefore include reducing air travel, increasing cycling instead of driving, switching to a low-meat diet and investing in thermal insulation. Whether it's cutting back on consumption or adapting consumption, one thing is certain: an environmentally conscious lifestyle helps people everywhere live well, and will continue to do so in the future.

With an initiative for sharing things among neighbors, an online store for gifting time and a bakery that is also a mealworm farm, the projects Pumpipumpe, Zeit statt Zeug by Scholz & Volkmer and Baker's Butchery are fighting against waste. We spoke with the leaders of the project, Lisa Ochsenbein, Michael Volkmer and Lukas Keller, about the role design plays in solving current challenges and how their projects developed after receiving the German Ecodesign Award. To complement this, Lisa Frien-Kossolobow, an expert on sustainable consumption at the UBA, enlightened us on the environmental consequences of our consumption decisions and what we can do in our everyday lives. This was followed by an exchange with the audience. The discussion was moderated by Ronja Scholz, designer and research associate at the Technical University of Berlin and Fraunhofer IZM Berlin.

Matthias Heskamp from the Radbahn team joined Annalena Horsch (Managing Director of Coboc GmbH) and Michael Volkmer (Managing Director of Agentur Scholz & Volkmer) to discuss what the urban transport of tomorrow might look like. The discussion was moderated by Liza Sander, who researches and teaches on the topics of Circular Design and Circular Society at HTW Berlin and HfK Bremen.

Environmental expert Jan Gimkiewicz (Federal Environment Agency), designer and winner of the Federal Ecodesign Award 2017 Ina Budde, and scientist Kerli Kant Hvass explored the question of how a circular economy can become established in the textile and fashion industry. The online talk was held in English in cooperation with the Estonian Design Centre as part of the "HOW TO?" series. The talk was moderated by Conrad Dorer (Federal Environment Agency). More information about the event can be found here.

Environmental expert and former jury member Andreas Detzel, Frederic Goldkorn from the Querfeld team and Carolin Schulze from the Falscher Hase project outlined and discussed how design can have an impact on the problems of our existing food culture. The conversation was moderated by Liza Sander, who researches and teaches on the topics of Circular Design and Circular Society at HTW Berlin and HfK Bremen.

Together with the German Ecodesign Award winner Querfeld and the initiative Restlos Glücklich, 15 participants created culinary delicacies from organic crooked fruit. The two companies have been standing up against food waste for years and not only stimulated our appetite with this cooking event, but also our brain cells.

Following the motto "Shifting Boundaries", the award winners Marcella Hansch and Lea Schücking talked about how their projects everwave and Shards have developed and discussed about how good ideas can be put into practice. The conversation was moderated by Liza Sander, who researches and teaches on the topics of Circular Design and Circular Society at HTW Berlin and HfK Bremen.