Closing event of the "Sustainable innovation management" research project
At https://nachhaltiges-innovationsmanagement.de/ companies can find exciting company case studies, innovation management methods and knowledge for sustainability-oriented innovation. At the closing event at the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Mobility on January 19, 2026, the Institute for Management and Innovation (IMI) of the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society and renowned companies showed how appropriate solutions can be designed.
The information event "Services for tomorrow - sustainable implementation" took place on January 19, 2026 at the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Mobility Rhineland-Palatinate (MKUEM) in Mainz as the closing event of the applied research project "Sustainable Innovation Management".
The project, which began in May 2024, was carried out by the university-affiliated Institute for Management and Innovation (IMI) and funded by the MKUEM. The project was also supported by the Rhineland-Palatinate Innovation Agency and the Rhineland-Palatinate EffNet® efficiency network.
The final event focused on the question of how companies - especially SMEs - can systematically integrate sustainability into their innovation activities in order to develop future-proof products, processes and business models.
After words of welcome from State Secretary Michael Hauer from the Ministry of Climate Protection (MKUEM) and Dr. Martin Hummrich from the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Economic Affairs (MWVLW), those responsible at IMI - represented by project manager Philipp Tachkov, project employee Eileen Basler and Institute Director Prof. Dr. Rainer Völker - presented the key results of the research project. At the heart of the project is the free information platform https://nachhaltiges-innovationsmanagement.de/, which is aimed in particular at SMEs. The web portal offers structured access to specific company case studies of successful, sustainability-oriented innovation projects, practical innovation methods and a "practical model of sustainable innovation management", which provides orientation along classic innovation management elements. The case studies show best practices of companies - from SMEs and corporations - and illustrate how sustainability can be used as a strategic driver for innovation and competitiveness. The content can be filtered and enables users to access relevant approaches quickly and in line with their needs. The offer is constantly being expanded.
"Sustainable innovation management is one of the key responses to current challenges such as climate change, dwindling resources and rapid technological developments, for example in the field of artificial intelligence. It is crucial for a necessary paradigm shift and combines long-term economic success with ecological and social responsibility," said State Secretary for Climate Protection Michael Hauer. "The aim of sustainable innovation management is to develop and support forward-looking business models through our Rhineland-Palatinate industrial and medium-sized companies and our skilled trades businesses. The platform created together with our corporate partners and Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences for the practice-oriented implementation of specific company examples offers very concrete support in this regard," continued Hauer, who also brought relevant personal experience in the field of "Business Model Innovation" to the event.
Another highlight of the event was the keynote speeches from business practice. Representatives from four companies that actively contributed to the research project as practice partners gave insights into their innovation work at the interface of sustainability and profitability:
Dr. Jens Findeisen, Head of Development at KÜBLER GmbH Energiesparende Hallenheizungen from Ludwigshafen, spoke about the differences and potential savings when heating large halls compared to classic residential construction, the historical development of the company and its products, as well as the specific innovation activities and internal company structures that enable innovation at KÜBLER GmbH. He also showed how KÜBLER GmbH is breaking new ground with its latest innovation, the FUTURA hall heating system. This can be operated with electricity, gas or hydrogen and integrates the hall lighting at the same time.
Anja Rohr, Head of ESG Excellence at WEPA Hygieneprodukte GmbH, based in Mainz, explained the problems associated with the use of virgin fibers in hygiene paper and reported on WEPA's innovative recycled hygiene paper made from disposed cardboard, which is available as a recycled raw material due to the increasing global online trade. In addition, she gave the audience further interesting insights into other innovation opportunities that WEPA is currently pursuing, such as in the areas of alternative raw materials (e.g. Paludi, Miscanthus) or the extended material use of paper sludge in the field of furniture and exhibition stand construction.
Christoph Sepp, Product Manager Pure Water by Zahnen at Zahnen Technik GmbH, Arzfeld, explained which solutions are provided for industrial water treatment (e.g. in sewage treatment plants) and highlighted the importance of the sustainability-oriented vision ("Because everyone has the right to clean water") for corporate management, culture and the associated innovation activities. He also provided exciting insights into specific innovation methods used and the resulting solutions, such as the development of a technology for the fourth purification stage, which removes various trace substances (e.g. drug residues) from the treated water.
Daniel Spang, Innovation Expert at Corporate Innovation at RENOLIT SE, Worms, provided an insight into the company's strategic elements and innovation work. He emphasized the importance of a systematic approach (e.g. using the stage-gate process) in order to develop future-proof, sustainability-oriented solutions that can survive on the market. In this context, he spoke about specific sustainable innovations such as the development and market launch of a bio-based PVC film and gave an outlook on the innovation pipeline.
The exciting contributions clearly illustrated how sustainable innovations are successfully implemented, what skills companies need for this and what external and internal factors need to be taken into account.
The MKUEM hopes that the web portal will be used extensively, especially by SMEs. "The examples in the portal show that many companies in Rhineland-Palatinate are already dealing with the combination of innovation and sustainability and do not see sustainability as a regulatory burden, but rather as an instrument for shaping innovations in such a way as to ensure their competitiveness," say the MKUEM consultants who accompanied the project.
The Institute for Management and Innovation (IMI) at Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society (HWG) has been working successfully with renowned corporate partners and public institutions as an application-oriented business research and transfer institution for over 20 years. Since 2017, it has bundled university expertise in the areas of strategic management, innovation and sustainability management as well as business development.
Link to the web portal: https://nachhaltiges-innovationsmanagement.de/
Specialist contact:
Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society
Institute for Management and Innovation (IMI)
Dipl.-Kfm. Philipp Tachkov
Email: philipp.tachkov@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
Tel. 0621/5203-259
