During my internship at the Hans Sauer Foundation, I was able to immerse myself in project work for six months. Under the title “social design lab”, the foundation aims to promote social transformation. Using social design methods and interdisciplinary teams from social science, design and other disciplines, they work on different topics concerning the societal transformation. Various approaches to solutions are developed together with actors from different social backgrounds, research and practice, and above all with the citizens affected. The diverse topics of the projects are grouped under the areas of ‘social housing’, ‘transformative cities’ and ‘circular society’. As for myself I was able to accompany the project “Circular Westend”, which deals with the establishment of circular society principles and practices in the urban space. In the city, coexistence and over all consumption are becoming more concentrated, and with it supply problems, environmental pollution and dependence on the economic system emerge. Due to its density, the city also offers good conditions for the integration of material loops and social infrastructures. The aim is to establish a circular society, meaning a society which acts sustainably and recognizes the value of materialistic and immaterial resources and preserves its value.
