Impressions from the Open Day & Dies Academicus – University of Hohenheim [05.08.25]
We’re excited to share some impressions from our stand at the recent Open Day and Dies Academicus at the University of Hohenheim!
This year, we collaborated with the Sustainability Working Group (Arbeitskreis Nachhaltigkeit, AKN) and the Working Group on Organic Agriculture (Arbeitskreis Ökologischer Landbau) to bring sustainability to life through interactive elements and meaningful conversations.
Collaboration across status groups - students, staff, and professors - plays a key role in sharing a common vision for a just and sustainable future, both on campus and beyond. This aligns closely with the goals of our TREE project, funded by Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre, which aims to build a community of practice for transformative teaching and learning at Hohenheim, while actively supporting student engagement.
What we offered at our stand:
- A self-reflection station
Visitors could draw and write on a large table, reflecting on two key questions:
- Where would you like to shape transformation?
- Where do you already experience transformation?
This invited people to think about how they are already making a difference - and where they'd like to contribute more in the future.
- A sustainability competencies voting area
Using the five sustainability competencies defined by Wiek et al. - systems thinking, anticipatory competence, normative competence, strategic competence, and interpersonal competence - visitors could vote with beans for the competency they considered most important. These competencies are also used in our teaching to help students reflect on their strengths and goals.
- Quiz Pong
For a bit of fun, we created a "quiz pong" station: participants threw ping pong balls into cups and received sustainability-related questions in return. Some of these involved identifying seed samples provided by the Organic Agriculture group - a fun and tricky challenge! Instead of beer, winners received sweets and notebooks from Papierpilz e.V., an initiative from Tübingen that recycles old calendars and one-sided paper into unique, hand-made booklets.
- Module Information & Resources
We also showcased several transformation-focused modules offered at Hohenheim, such as:
- Exploring Regional Transformation through Utopia
- Ethical Reflections on Food and Agriculture
- Enacting Transformation in the Local Food System
- Transformation Studies in Agri-Food Systems
Alongside that, we distributed booklets and pamphlets from Netzwerk N, offering further inspiration and pathways for getting involved in transformation and sustainability work.
It was a joyful, curious, and creative space - and we're grateful to everyone who stopped by, reflected with us, and brought their own energy to the day. Thanks also for the team who made this happen Kelzy Jepsen Anna Struth, Amelie Schönhaar, Julia Thompson, Hamza Tariq
