Startup Grants 2023
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Project: Spür Nach – Contemporary Awareness-Raising on the Topic of Sexuality
“Spür Nach – What Does Sexuality Mean to You?” is a project developed in 2022 as a thesis by Dessau design students Vanessa Enigk and Wencke Hamann. Not only did it win first place in the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences Design Award, but it also impressed the jury when the university awarded its first startup grant.
The startup project invites participants to take time to reflect on their own sexuality in its entirety. Inspiration comes from an exhibition and a reflection game, the “Impulse Set”: Both components offer multifaceted content on the topic of holistic sexuality, challenge participants to reflect, and illustrate the diversity of perspectives different people hold on the subject.
Since the summer of 2023, thanks to financial support from the grant, 300 copies of the “Impuls-Set” have been printed and durable, versatile exhibition modules have been produced, which are already being used successfully.
The first “Spür Nach” exhibition in November 2023 in Dessau impressed parents, teachers, and educational professionals alike. School classes also took advantage of the opportunity to visit the exhibition at the Zoberberg Youth Club. A second exhibition took place at the Dessau Design Show on January 27, 2024. Plans are already underway for a third exhibition at the “mitmach.lokal” community center in Dessau (Kavalierstraße 37–39).
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Project: PH80 – Innovative Bicycle Racks Made in Dessau
The “PH80” project is a further development of a student study project undertaken in connection with the redesign of Johannisstraße in Dessau. The goal is to produce an innovative bike rack that allows for secure locking with just a few components, provides stable support, is gentle on the bike, and blends better into the cityscape thanks to its good aesthetic appearance.
The prototype, designed by Hendrik Quastenberg—a trained mechatronics engineer and student in the Department of Design—will be developed in close collaboration with the City of Dessau and ADFC Dessau. The grant covers, among other things, the costs of purchasing materials and tools, as well as the costs of filing for intellectual property rights.
