Circularity Challenge - Format Innovation Sprint
13th - 14th November 2025, Innsbruck
Today's world needs special innovation formats
At the Innovation Sprint students from a wide range of disciplines come together to tackle existing corporate challenges. Mixed teams of management, design, and technology students accompanied by experienced innovation coaches, develop new ideas and present prototype within 48hours. The best teams will be awarded.
The innovation sprint comes to Innsbruck and this time it's all about sustainability!
Why to join?
To succeed in today’s world, we believe that complex problems are best solved collaboratively. We are looking for open minded and creative participants from various disciplines.
Create opportunities
Interact with company partners to explore career opportunities and form your network. The best ideas get the support of the partner organizations to get started.
Build skills
Work as part of a team with diverse skills and mindsets. Learn from each other and create innovative solutions. You will be mentored by experienced innovation coaches.
Gain experience
Innovation is something you get better at by doing it. This is your opportunity to gain real-world experience by solving critical challenges.
How to participate
- Get in touch with the challenges submitted by corporate partners (challenges see below).
- Register and tell us more about your background and your preferences.
- Learn more about your team, different skills and get support from innovation coaches at the Innovation Days.
- Pitch your solution and win prizes.
- Seek for further collaboration to make your idea a reality.
Be inspired by a former event:
© Hermann Auer
The Challenges for Innsbruck 2025
Design Composite develops sustainable, recyclable monocomposite materials for lightweight transport boxes, aiming to eliminate aluminum frames currently necessary for stability. The challenge is to create a technical solution to remove these profiles while maintaining structural integrity, recyclability, and repairability. Teams should also propose effective marketing strategies and viable business models to promote adoption among vehicle manufacturers.
Heliotherm seeks innovative ideas to harness unused thermal energy from urban wastewater systems for sustainable district heating. The challenge is designing a modular, standardized solution that integrates their compact, propane-based heat pump technology. Creativity, circular design thinking, and scalable concepts are essential to develop a practical method for capturing and utilizing wastewater heat in cities effectively and sustainably.
Riwega is facing significant environmental challenges due to excessive use of non-sustainable plastic packaging materials in inbound and outbound logistics. The challenge involves creating an innovative, circular packaging solution to substantially reduce single-use plastics while ensuring product protection, stability, weather resistance, and efficiency. Proposals should be immediately implementable, economically viable, and acceptable to both suppliers and customers.
Siglmühle aims to reduce its substantial environmental impact from plastic packaging in logistics operations. Teams must devise a practical, circular, and sustainable packaging strategy that minimizes single-use plastic waste. Solutions should address issues like standardization, environmental sustainability, economic feasibility, and must meet the functional requirements of stability, efficiency, and weather resistance. Acceptance by stakeholders is also critical.
Swarovski challenges innovators to enhance circularity in their jewelry by developing efficient methods for disassembling and recovering crystals and other valuable materials from diverse product ranges. The solution should facilitate effective sorting, separation, and recycling of materials, enabling Swarovski to close material loops fully. Technical innovation, scalability, and practical applicability across varied product portfolios are key considerations for success.