23 August 2024 | Münster
Continuing the story to create impactful societal change through science
Last semester, a semester project called Change Lab 3.0 was developed as part of the Change Lab project funded by FH Münster University of Applied Sciences and carried out under the direction of Judith Helmer, research associate at the S2BMRC. This project is a cooperation with the climate community Saerbeck and the Maximilian-Kolbe-Gesamtschule (MKG) in Saerbeck. Change Lab began as an initiative to investigate the impact of research on social and environmental change. By working with communities, opening up science and creating community projects, goes beyond the traditional boundaries of universities to bring about effective change in society. This is in line with FH Münster's development plan for 'openness' - including the promotion of open science, open innovation and collaboration at FH Münster and beyond.
The project team for the second Change Lab 3.0 semester consisted of Judith Helmer, Thorsten Kliewe and Matias Eduardo Escanilla Becerra from the S2BMRC team and three Master's students from the International Marketing and Sales course at FH Münster University of Applied Sciences - Inez Rosenkranz, Finja Saße and Shereene Schröder. Together, the team developed a seminar concept and materials to further support the students of a year 12 course at the MKG in Saerbeck in their research projects on self-chosen research topics in the broader context of sustainability.
What happened in the summer semester 2024
The project picked up exactly where the winter semester 2023/24 project had left off. The students had found their research topics and had started to collect initial data and evaluated first results over the semester break.
The aim of the project team in the summer semester 2024 was to continue the seminar concept and develop rich materials with an agile approach to support the students in writing a scientific research paper as well as to prepare them for pitching their results to the Saerbeck climate community.
In the first joint practical workshop on site at the MKG in Saerbeck, the students received detailed materials and guidance on how to write a scientific paper including tips and tricks on how to formulate texts scientifically and how to visual their results. The second workshop focused exclusively on practicing their science pitch. First, the students were introduced to the principles of developing a Pitch PowerPoint Deck. After that, they had the opportunity to practice their pitch in an interactive session. During the workshops, the master's students took the role of research mentors to provide individual feedback and support.
Final pitch event showcasing the broad engagement in the regional community
On June 4th 2024, the students finally pitched their research project results to the Saerbeck major, citizens as well as politicians. This gave them the opportunity to share their insights and initiate potential change in their own community through science. Following up on the success from the last semester project, the second project received throughout positive feedback from all stakeholders.
Achieving societal impact in the studies
Through the engagement with citizens, the school and other stakeholders in Saerbeck, the master's students from FH Münster were able to achieve visible and effective results. The project clearly demonstrates that it is initiating sustainable change. Long-term collaboration with the school and other educational institutions opens up numerous opportunities to broaden and deepen the impact of this innovative approach.
