Green Concept Award

In the cate­gory ​“World of Work” and for their project of ​“Plant­S­crew,” students of Univer­sity of Applied Sciences Schwä­bisch Gmünd (HfG) Fran­ziska Dehm and Dominic Hahn have recently won the Green Concept Award 2023. Further­more, also the project ​“lecka – A modular storage system for food” by HfG-student Moritz Bendl had been nomi­nated for the Green Concept Award. 

The Green Concept Award is part of the inter­na­tio­nally announced Green Product Award, which serves as a plat­form for compa­nies, students, and start-ups whose products combine the topics of design, inno­va­tion, and sustaina­bi­lity. The prizes are awarded in 13 cate­go­ries to compa­nies, students, and start-ups separately.

With compe­ti­tors from 40 count­ries and a total of 1,300 entries, the Green Product Award has received a new record parti­ci­pa­tion in 2023 – serving as a proof for the aware­ness for and the importance of durable design products and services for a more sustainable future. Within the compe­ti­tion, the project ​“Plant­S­crew” by HfG students Fran­ziska Dehm and Dominic Hahn was awarded with the Green Concept Award in the cate­gory of ​“World of Work”. 

Effec­tive refo­re­sta­tion through PlantScrew

“Plant­S­crew” is an ergo­nomic device which effec­tively uproots seed­lings without dama­ging the whole root struc­ture. A ​“healthy” root increases the surviva­bi­lity of seed­lings and leads to a more effi­cient refo­re­sta­tion. In doing so, ​“Plant­S­crew” not only enhances the chances of survival for trees, but also makes the work of fores­ters easier, healt­hier, and more ergo­nomic. The device is easy to handle and allows private forest owners to plant seed­lings – cropped up through natural rege­ne­ra­tion – in their indi­vi­dual woodland. 

“In the future, refo­re­sta­tion will become incre­asingly rele­vant. For this reason, it is important to make several aspects of refo­re­sta­tion easier and more effec­tively to handle and design. Each successfully planted tree posi­tively contri­butes to our envi­ron­ment through oxygen produc­tion and storage of atmo­spheric carbon. With ´Plant­S­crew,´ we want to raise the aware­ness for the signi­fi­cance of refo­re­sta­tion and want to deliver important input for the cause of a more sustainable future,“ the HfG awar­dees Fran­ziska Dehm and Dominic Hahn stress. At HfG, ​“Plant­S­crew” was super­vised by Andreas Hess in the field of product design. 

HfG-student Moritz Bendl and his ​„lecka“-project also nominated 

“lecka,“ a project by HfG-student Moritz Bendl and also nomi­nated for the Green Concept Award, is a storage system for food and tries to make the purchase, storage, and consump­tion of food more appe­tizing and sustainable through a holi­stic approach. ​“lecka“ consists of few mate­rials which can be comple­tely sepa­rated from each other. This leads to an excel­lent cleana­bi­lity and repai­ra­bi­lity. Through its form, ​“lecka“ pres­ents the food appe­tiz­ingly on the table and extends the shelf life through the use of clay and char­coal. In doing so, it tries to set a sign against food waste. At HfG, the project by Moritz Bendl in the field of product design was super­vised by Prof. Susanne Schade.

About the Award

Since 2013, the inter­na­tional Green Product Award honors products and services that are outstan­ding in their design, inno­va­tion, and sustaina­bi­lity. In coope­ra­tion with IKEA foun­da­tion, the Green Concept Award evaluates concepts from young desi­gners and supports their further deve­lo­p­ment. In 2023, the award ceremony of the Green Product and Green Concept Award took place at Felle­shus of the Nordic Embas­sies in Berlin. Final winners came from China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, France, Israel, the Nether­lands, Austria, Poland, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and the USA.