Aug 15, 2026
Circular Design Challenge 2026
The Circular Design Challenge 2026 once again invites master’s-level students to work together over five days to develop new ideas for a circular and sustainable future. Working in interdisciplinary teams, you’ll tackle your own topics or specific Circular Design Challenges in intensive design sprints—from the initial idea to a physical prototype.
The focus is on hands-on, iterative work, workshop activities, and prototyping, as well as collaboration with experts from design, academia, and industry. Accompanying sessions and collaborative formats provide insights into current perspectives and methods in circular design.
Whether it’s a product, service, or system: Bring your ideas, experiment, test, and refine—and shape solutions for tomorrow.
We are pleased to welcome the following experts:
- Prof. Dr. Christina Dornack for the Chair of Waste Management and Circular Economy (TU Dresden),
- Dipl.-Designer Peter Post on circular design (Circular Experience),
- Dr. Manuel Bickel on design and behavior in sustainable consumption (Wuppertal Institute),
- Dr. Matthias Damert on sustainability analysis and climate protection (Plant Values),
- Prof. Dr. Christoph Scope on sustainability assessment (Dresden University of Applied Sciences).
Further details to follow.
Key Facts
When? September 28–October 2, 2026
Where? TU Dresden campus
Cost? Participation in the workshops and meals during the workshops are free of charge; attendees can take advantage of a block of rooms at a hostel in the trendy Dresden-Neustadt district free of charge (including breakfast) from Sunday, September 27, through Friday, October 2. Additional individual accommodations may also be arranged upon request.
Scope: Five days = 3 ECTS (see below for information on certificates and recognition).
Application deadline: September 6, 2026.
© TUD/TD
© TUD/TD
© TUD/TD
Application
You can now apply without obligation to participate in the Circular Design Challenge 2026. The deadline is September 6, 2026. Simply send a short letter of motivation via email to cdc@tu-dresden.de. If you already have your own idea or topic in mind, feel free to include a brief outline of it in your email. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by email at nikolas.neumann@tu-dresden.de.
Partners
CampusConnectED, ZiLL, the Chair of Waste Management and Circular Economy, among others,
co-funded by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education
Certificate and Credit
For successful participation in the SDG Campus Circular Design Challenge, you will receive a certificate from TU Dresden worth 3 ECTS credits.
The competencies you are certified to have acquired (in the sense of a microcredential) can, under certain conditions, be recognized as part of your degree program (e.g., in elective courses, free study components, key competencies, or similar—and under certain circumstances, even as part of your major’s curriculum). The university where you are currently regularly enrolled—or where you wish to have the credits recognized—is responsible for this recognition.
Students at TU Dresden in the Industrial Design track (Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering and Management degree programs) can incorporate their participation in the Circular Design Challenge—including the continued development and evaluation of their proposed solution—into a regular course module (5/6 or 11 credit points) during the winter semester of 2026/27.
© Technisches Design
Nikolas Neumann M. Sc.
Team-Lead, Research Associate
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