During the winter semester of 2024/25, students at the Cologne International School of Design (KISD) collaborated with the Cologne Waste Management Authority (AWB) and the City of Cologne's Innovation Office to develop concepts for making major events more sustainable.
The starting point was the question of how glass waste can be reduced, and deposit bottles returned to the recycling cycle responsibly, particularly in the context of the Cologne Carnival.
A user-centred, exploratory design process formed the core of the practice-based research project. The students conducted extensive research, including interviews with citizens and AWB employees, observations in public spaces and analyses of existing systems. The aim was to develop systemic approaches that go beyond purely technical solutions and integrate social, communicative and design perspectives.
The resulting concepts — including the ‘deposit fence’, the ‘bottle parade’, the interactive ‘bottle tunes’ deposit station, a bench with integrated bottle racks and an accompanying deposit campaign — were presented to the public in the form of prototypes. It is currently being examined which of the ideas can be realised at future events.
Professor:
Prof. Birgit Mager
Project Supervision:
Anastasia Bondar – Stadt Köln, Katja Trinkwalder – KISD
Students:
Anna-Lisa Heyden, Ayça Güler, Apolline Jacqueline Rose Regnault, Chia Hsi Chen, Clara Catherine Monastirsky, Dana Yerbolat, Isabelle Herrmiene Fritsch, Georgiana Peiling Carrington, Julia Kirch, Kosuke Ito, Lucie Wernecke, Nur Ebrar Bulut, Nisha Meret Autenrieth, Simon Alexander Blonsky, Yuki Kitagawa
Project Partners:
Innovationsbüro der Stadt Köln, AWB Köln
Duration:
10.12.2024 —7.02.2025
Further Sources:
Innovative Stadt Köln
