Cross Innovation Day

Innovation does not come from conformity - but from courageously questioning the status quo. Wolf Lotter argues in favour of more friction, more creativity and more personal responsibility in companies that really want change. Creative restlessness is not a disruptive factor, but the motor for genuine renewal. In his impulse, Wolf Lotter shows how companies can learn to deal productively with disruption - and thus shape change themselves. Wolf Lotter provides an unconventional view of transformation: why innovative strength is not created by processes, but by people who have the courage to think differently - and thus change organisations.

Speaker: Wolf Lotter

Wolf Lotter has been a journalist specialising in the transformation from industry to the knowledge society for more than four decades. He is a founding member of brand eins, where he was the lead essayist for more than two decades and has published numerous books on the subject of creativity and transformation.

Innovation and transformation can only be successful if they meet with acceptance. However, technological progress alone is not enough - vision, transparency and the involvement of relevant stakeholders play a decisive role. The presentation will highlight current trends and challenges that influence the acceptance of transformation and will show how innovation and change can be organised in an accepted manner based on theory and practice.

Speaker: Simone Kaiser

Simone Kaiser is Head of the Centre for Responsible Research and Innovation (CeRRI) at Fraunhofer IAO and leads the "Societal Trends and Technology" team. Together with her team, she identifies societal wishes and demands for new technologies and in transformation processes. Simone Kaiser has been with Fraunhofer since 2010, prior to which she worked for four years in the Innovation, Technology and Education consulting division of Prognos AG in Berlin. From 2020 to 2022, she was Co-Head of the Ethics Working Group of Initiative D21 and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the World Fund.

Dr Hans-Dietrich Reckhaus, originally a manufacturer of insecticides, experienced a profound change after working with creative artists. They challenged him to radically question his business model - they confronted him with the ecological significance of insects and the responsibility of his actions. The creative impulse thus became the starting point for an ethically and ecologically orientated corporate revolution. In the keynote speech, Reckhaus will discuss the transformation of his company from a traditional pest control company to a pioneer for biodiversity and species diversity.

Speaker: Dr Hans-Dietrich Reckhaus

Dr Hans-Dietrich Reckhaus is the managing partner of Reckhaus GmbH & Co KG. After studying at the University of St. Gallen, he joined the family business in 1992 and took over the management in 1995. Originally specialising in the production of insecticides, Dr Reckhaus initiated a fundamental change in 2012. He is now the initiator of the INSECT RESPECT seal of approval, which stands for ecological compensation in insect control.

The Beyond Boundaries panel will shed light on cross innovation as an effective strategy that goes beyond traditional innovation paths: with a keynote by Isabel Jansen from the Cross Innovation Hub, we will start by taking a look at the potential of open innovation systems and creative collaboration as a game changer in transformation processes.

In the subsequent panel talk, Inga Wellmann (Head of the Department of Art and Creative Industries, Ministry of Culture and Media), Markus Durstewitz (Senior Director Innovation at Airbus) and Lorraine Suxdorf (Human Impact Designer and Design Thinking Coach) will discuss the opportunities and challenges of open innovation processes from a practical perspective - from the point of view of business, administration and the creative industry. How can co-creative collaboration succeed at eye level? Where are the barriers - and how can they be overcome?

Speakers:

Impulse: Isabel Jansen (Head of Cross Innovation Hub)
Panel: Markus Durstewitz (Senior Director Innovation at Airbus), Inga Wellmann (Head of the Arts and Creative Industries Department at the Ministry of Culture and Media), Lorraine Suxdorf (Human Impact Designer & Curator) and others

What if materials themselves were the driving force behind innovation? What if resource awareness networked industries?

In her talk, Lea Theres Lahr-Thiele presents her self-developed COUNTERFORM-DESIGN METHOD and shows how creative materials research can set mindsets and processes in motion - across all industries. After all, anyone who starts to think in terms of materials rather than function or efficiency will discover new forms of business, design and opportunities for co-creation. An invitation to all sectors to combine design and sustainability in a new way.

Speaker: Lea Theres Lahr-Thiele

The award-winning Hamburg-based zero waste couture designer develops sustainable textile composés and collections in the high-end luxury sector. Her work focuses on innovative design methods with the aim of revitalising discarded materials and preserving traditional craftsmanship techniques.

The future is uncertain - and yet we have to actively shape it. Jonas Voigt shows how design futuring as a creative process helps to design future scenarios that visualise challenges and opportunities. A lecture on the importance of speculative design in a complex, constantly changing world.

Speaker: Jonas Voigt

Jonas Voigt currently practices and implements design strategy and research in venture building and digital transformation at Etribes in Hamburg. He is an alumni of the Mellon Sawyer Seminar on Imaginative Mobilities and the Design Realities Studio at the New School in New York. Jonas has taught Integrated Design, Strategic Design and Management at Parsons School for Design Strategies and is currently a lecturer at Design Dessau and HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd. He is also involved in the founding of Grey Noise Studio and The Complicity.

Change is never easy - especially when people leave, workplaces are digitised, projects or companies come to an end. But what if we didn't just tick these moments off, but instead consciously shaped them?

Anemone Zeim brings creative methods from grief counselling to the business world. With heart, attitude and a pinch of humour, she shows how saying goodbye can not only be painful, but also powerful and clarifying. Because those who let go well create space for something new. An impulse for all those who not only want to manage change, but really want to accompany it - honestly, humanely and with vision.

Speaker: Anemone Zeim

Anemone Zeim is a grief and process counsellor, communication designer and creative entrepreneur who has received a federal award. With her Deep Impact Transformation Lab Vergiss Mein Nie, she designs new ways of dealing with farewell and change - for people, companies and our culture of mourning. Her aim is to create spaces in which grief can be experienced honestly, individually and without fear.

The Creative Boost looks at the role of design as a systemic lever of the circular economy. Why longevity is not always sustainable, upcycling does not automatically make things better - and why circular design does not aim to eliminate consumption, but to create better business models. A lecture for everyone who wants impact instead of wishful thinking.

Speakers: Sebastian Mends-Cole and Gerrit Kuhn

Sebastian Mends-Cole and Gerrit Kuhn are from BFGF Design Studios and co-founders of the Circular Design Hub Hamburg

Good usability and accessibility determine whether people use a service or not. Even today, 10% of the population have a recognised disability - and by 2030, a third of Germans will be over 60 years old. But nobody wants to be stigmatised by special solutions.

Consultant and designer Mathias Knigge's solution: "Design for all" - a concept that offers convenience and attractive added value while creating barrier-free access, whether digital services, forms or public spaces. The masterclass will show how barriers can be avoided and more satisfaction created for everyone - not through special solutions, but through smart, universal design.

Speaker: Mathias Knigge

Mathias Knigge has been developing inclusive and cross-generational solutions in the spirit of Design for All / Universal Design for over 20 years. As early as 2013, he was a visiting professor at the Berlin University of the Arts and is committed to preparing the next generation for the topics of demographic change, design for all and universal design. As chairman of the EDAD (Design for All - Germany e.V.) competence network, Mathias Knigge is responsible for establishing and disseminating the topic at national and international level.

The Cross Innovation Day takes place in the Oberhafenquartier in Hamburg - a former goods station on the waterfront that has made a name for itself as a vibrant creative centre. The keynotes, panels, impulses, masterclasses and exhibition are spread across two halls and several studios. There is plenty of space for networking in the large garden on the Oberhafen Canal - including food from the Hobenköök restaurant, drinks and relaxed DJ sounds in the evening.

Address:

Stockmeyer Straße 41-43, 20457 Hamburg