17. November 2025
Innovation, Inclusion & Inspiration at the Sustainability Week
Last week, INGENIUM universities across Europe came together for a vibrant Sustainability Week — a full programme dedicated to exploring today’s most urgent sustainability challenges. Students, teachers, researchers, and staff joined forces in activities that spanned environmental responsibility, student wellbeing, social sustainability, and intercultural awareness.
At the heart of the week was the SDGs Hackathon, where creativity, collaboration, and concrete problem-solving took centre stage.
SDGs Hackathon: EcoCampus Hub Takes First Prize
Over two intensive days, thirteen teams worked tirelessly to develop hands-on solutions inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. On Thursday afternoon, teams presented their concepts to a jury of four experts from INGENIUM partner universities. The judges were impressed by the diversity and high quality of the presentations — but the final decision was unanimous.
Winner: Team 8 – EcoCampus Hub
The winning team, Guido Di Bernardo, Diego Tana and Laura Moderau from the University of Pescara, Aniwura Omolayo and Nithya Narayanan from the University of Skövde, and Raluca-Maria Țâbuleac from Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi and their presentation EcoCampus Hub addressed a familiar challenge across European universities: despite numerous sustainability initiatives, students often don’t know what their institution is doing.
Their pitch highlighted key issues such as outdated data, few incentives for sustainable behaviour, and a challenge to give feedback or track impact. The EcoCampus Hub’s solution is a platform that makes sustainability efforts visible, interactive, and student-driven.
“By integrating real-time dashboards, an interactive campus map, events, challenges, and a student feedback loop, the app replaces dispersed documents with a coherent and engaging interface”, says Raluca-Maria Tâbuleac, student at TUIASI and member of the winning team.
With this, issues as Higher student engagement, stronger collaboration with local businesses, and a more connected, sustainability-focused campus community would be an expected impact. The jury praised the project for its relevance, scalability, and potential to strengthen the INGENIUM network’s sustainability mission.
“I leave the hackathon with a deeper understanding of how interdisciplinary collaboration can strengthen sustainability solutions. Working with colleagues from different academic fields and cultural backgrounds demonstrated how diverse perspectives enrich problem-solving and lead to more innovative and feasible ideas for sustainable development on campus”, says Raluca-Maria.
Across Campus: Creativity, Wellbeing & Everyday Sustainability
Beyond the Hackathon, Sustainability Week offered a rich mix of activities across INGENIUM universities. At Karlsruhe, students explored how communication shapes the energy transition through the “Heizhammer” exhibition by Noelle Wilser and Samira Weigand, while others took time to unwind during Kellie’s mindfulness-based yoga sessions.
At Xamk, the focus turned to everyday sustainability, with students and staff sharing simple actions that make a meaningful difference. The week also included a Balanced Student Life lecture, offering guidance on maintaining wellbeing alongside academic demands. At Ud’A, students visited DECO S.p.A.’s MBT (Mechanical Biological Treatment) plant in Chieti, one of Europe’s most advanced facilities for the treatment of residual municipal waste.
To round off the programme, an interactive workshop on social sustainability and intercultural inclusion — led by Ines Nikšić and Karin Jonegård at University of Skövde — invited participants to reflect on cultural norms, practice cross-cultural communication, and explore ways to build more inclusive environments.
A Week of Learning, Connection, and Action
INGENIUM’s Sustainability Week brought together a wide range of activities, discussions, and innovations — all aimed at shaping a more sustainable future for our universities and communities.
Congratulations again to EcoCampus Hub, and a heartfelt thank-you to all students, staff, and partners who contributed to this inspiring week.
Together, we are building a greener, more inclusive, and more sustainable European university community.
