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Author: Holger Holland

  • World Cleanup Day 2026 at BCBT

    World Cleanup Day 2026 at BCBT

    On 18 September 2026, two days before the official World Cleanup Day, the World Cleanup Institute and BCBT students set out from the BCBT campus at CIC Berlin for a cleanup in and around Görlitzer Park.

    Participants of World Cleanup Day 2026 at BCBT with the World Cleanup Day banner in the CIC Berlin courtyard

    In numbers

    25 participants · around 50 kg of waste collected · 10:00 to 12:00, starting from CIC Berlin, Hof 1

    Two participants with litter pickers and pink World Cleanup Day bags
    A volunteer collecting a discarded bicycle lock
    A volunteer collecting litter from a hedge

    Thank you

    To the BCBT students and to CIC Berlin for their energy and participation, and to Melitta for contributing the waste bags.

    Handing out gloves and litter pickers before the cleanup
    Participants with full bags back at CIC Berlin

    Anyone can register a cleanup for World Cleanup Day at worldcleanupday.de.

    Photos: World Cleanup Institute

    World Cleanup Day received the UN SDG Action Award 2023 (category Mobilization) and has been an official UN international day on 20 September since the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 78/122 on 8 December 2023. In Germany it is organised by Let’s Do It Germany e.V.: worldcleanupday.de.

  • We Create Future Stage #3: Brain over Capital, with Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin

    We Create Future Stage #3: Brain over Capital, with Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin

    On 18 June 2026, We Create Future Stage #3 brought founders, students and researchers together at Venture Café Berlin in CIC Berlin. The theme: A Different Way of Entrepreneurship: Brain over Capital, Purpose over Profit.

    Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin on stage: “Brain over Capital”

    Brain over Capital: Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin

    The first conversation of the evening belonged to Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin, founder of the Stiftung Entrepreneurship and of the Teekampagne, in conversation with Holger Holland. His thesis: the concept, not capital, is the real starting point of a venture. Faltin’s approach “Kopf schlägt Kapital” has been part of teaching at BCBT from the start, and a classroom at BCBT bears his name.

    Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin speaking at Venture Café Berlin
    Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin
    Holger Holland opening the evening: “Both put something above the money”
    Holger Holland: “Both put something above the money”

    Purpose over Profit

    In the second conversation, Maria Ida Palmieri, Director of Growth & Operations at Zukunft.Gründen, asked what a venture is really for. Moderation: Dr. Valdrin Dervishaj.

    Conversation “Purpose over Profit” with Maria Ida Palmieri, moderated by Dr. Valdrin Dervishaj
    Audience at We Create Future Stage #3

    Startup Mentor Stage

    Three teams pitched in the Hot Seat: Melina Vanessa Mann (Harvested Berlin), Maloth Surender Naik and Samanth Kumar (Open Certification Platform) and Hack Lab (Travelling U). Their certificates were signed by Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin, Dr. Valdrin Dervishaj and Hon.-Prof. Holger Holland.

    Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin signing the pitch certificates at BCBT
    Dr. Valdrin Dervishaj signing certificates, Holger Holland in the background
    Speakers, pitchers and hosts on stage after We Create Future Stage #3
    Holger Holland and Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin walking through CIC Berlin
    Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin with BCBT students and team at Venture Café Berlin
    Group photo with speakers, pitchers and guests at Venture Café Berlin

    Thanks to WCD ambassador Daniela Schwerdt and to the team of campus internship students who organised the evening.

    Photos: Anasteisha Ruzhanska and LuckyCaptures

    Next: We Create Future Stage #4 on 22 October 2026 at CIC Berlin.

    From the stage to the shore: Faltin at the cleanup

    Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin (left) and Holger Holland, Director of the WCI, at the World Cleanup Day cleanup at Plötzensee, Berlin

    Prof. Dr. Günter Faltin also joined the World Cleanup Day cleanup at Plötzensee in Berlin, here with WCI Director Holger Holland (right). The photo links entrepreneurship and impact in practice. World Cleanup Day in Germany: worldcleanupday.de.

  • We Create Future Stage #2: Startup Mentor Stage, Intelligence in the Loop

    We Create Future Stage #2: Startup Mentor Stage, Intelligence in the Loop

    On Thursday, 21 May 2026, We Create Future Stage #2 took place, the first edition in the Startup Mentor Stage format at Venture Café Berlin, Lohmühlenstraße 65. The topic: Intelligence in the Loop: Humans, AI and the Future of the Circular Economy, under the line From Local Connection to Systemic Transformation.

    Audience at We Create Future Stage #2, Venture Café Berlin

    Not a panel, a founder support stage

    The format was built around the Hot Seat. Founders had 60 seconds per pitch and three steps: say it, name your pain point, get the mentors’ response. Instead of a discussion among experts, the evening put concrete problems of early-stage teams on stage.

    The mentors

    The mentors of the Startup Mentor Stage on the sofa
    Holger Holland introducing the mentors at Venture Café Berlin
    • Daniela Felder, co-founder of FELDER FELDER and Future Fashion Concepts, expert in circular fashion and regenerative design
    • Holger Holland, co-founder of BCBT and director of the World Cleanup Institute
    • Mali M Baum, founder of WLounge, startup investor and venture-building expert
    Faith Mlambo of Chicko Cakes pitching in the Hot Seat
    Faith Mlambo (Chicko Cakes) in the Hot Seat
    A team in We Create Future shirts pitching in the Hot Seat
    A student team pitching in the Hot Seat

    Programme

    17:00 networking and open doors · 17:30 stage · 18:30 Q&A. In the We Create Future Spotlight, founders could also apply for a pitch at the Tech Awards.

    The evening was initiated by the World Cleanup Institute, organised by BCBT with CIC Berlin and WLounge as partners.

    Holger Holland in conversation with guests in the Venture Café courtyard

    Photos: Venture Café Berlin / @contentmakerberlin

    Stage #3 followed on 18 June 2026 at Venture Café Berlin. Stage #4 takes place on 22 October 2026 at CIC Berlin: Intelligence in the Loop. The series began with a kick-off panel on circular fashion on 29 January 2026.