Project overview

The project team aims to inspire those interested in starting a business, as well as existing founders, to embrace sustainability, encourage them to rethink their approach, and support start-up projects that contribute to ecological transformation.

Particular attention is being paid to knowledge transfer and cooperation between science and the start-up scene.

During the project period, targeted offerings in the field of ecological transformation will be implemented for the start-up scene, for example:

Raising awareness and motivation for ecologically sustainable start-ups with the help of best practice examples and information transfer
Interactive knowledge transfer by experts from science and industry for (potential) ecologically sustainable start-ups
Networking events on the ecological transformation of start-up ideas and projects.
In addition to WESt, the project partners are Technologieförderung Münster GmbH, Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft für den Kreis Borken mbH, Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Kreis Coesfeld mbH, gfw – Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftsförderung im Kreis Warendorf mbH, IHK Nord Westfalen, Handwerkskammer Münster, and FH Münster. The lead partner is Münsterland e.V.

Other supporters include the University of Münster, the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences, and TAFH Münster GmbH.

The project is funded by the EU's ERDF program and has a total budget of €1.26 million. It will run until February 28, 2027.

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The DigiFaBs Digital Change Agents for Food and Beverage SMEs project is funded by the EU Erasmus Partnerships for Innovation Alliances and coordinated by Münster University of Applied Sciences. The project brings together a consortium of 14 partners from 7 European regions. These include five higher education institutions, two vocational training institutions, four SMEs, one regional public institution, one social partner, and one NGO, all working to advance the food & beverage sector. The food and beverage industry is the largest manufacturing sector in the European Union.

In the food and beverage industry, more and more companies are turning to new technologies and taking advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalization. However, this poses major challenges for many small and medium-sized enterprises. This is where the new EU project comes in: DigiFABS – Responsible Dynamic Digital Change Agents for Food And Beverage SMEs. The aim of the project is to promote digital skills, resilience, and innovation competencies in SMEs in the food and beverage industry. WESt is a partner in this EU project, which is coordinated across Europe by Münster University of Applied Sciences.

Over the next three years, the project partners will work to develop an innovative program to promote the level of digitalization in companies in the food and beverage industry. At the heart of the project is close cooperation between universities and companies. The project measures include a summer school for students, a boot camp for teachers and companies, and a challenge. The first boot camps and subsequent challenge are planned for the second half of 2025. WESt's task is to encourage regional companies from the food and beverage industry to participate in the boot camps and the subsequent challenge. This will provide small and medium-sized companies from the Steinfurt district in particular with valuable impetus in the area of digital transformation. In addition, there are plans to establish a European network of DigiFABS hubs, which will continue to exist after the DigiFaBs project has been completed.

Learn more DigiFABS on LinkedIn DigiFABS on Instagram

Teaching students at an early age that they can tackle and solve social challenges through entrepreneurial action is an important investment in the future. This should motivate them to take action themselves and bring about positive change in their environment.

We want to raise awareness of social entrepreneurship among schoolchildren in the Steinfurt district, get them excited about innovative, sustainable, and social business models at an early age, and teach them the skills and knowledge they need to implement their own ideas and projects. The project is thus intended to fill an important gap in the curriculum.

In the long term, "Zukunft unternehmen!" also contributes to the recruitment of skilled workers and the further development of the local start-up ecosystem. Cooperation with regional companies, start-ups, and initiatives is intended to promote practical application and exchange with the business community.

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The abbreviation "ESG" stands for "Environmental, Social and Governance." These three pillars are used to assess the sustainability and ethical impact of a company or organization.

• "Environment" refers to the way a company interacts with the natural environment, including its practices regarding environmental protection, resource use, and climate change.

• "Social" refers to the company's relationships with its employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities in which it operates. This includes issues such as workers' rights, social justice, and community contributions.

• "Governance" encompasses the internal systems, practices, and policies that determine how a company is managed and controlled. This includes corporate ethics, transparency, business practices, and shareholder rights, among other things.

At the EU level and in Germany, the ESG concept is embedded in several legal frameworks (including the EU Taxonomy Regulation, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), and German Sustainability Code (DNK)).

Companies that implement ESG practices benefit from numerous advantages in addition to legal and regulatory compliance:

• improved access to financing in the long term;

• Market positioning and competitive advantage;

• Strengthening of the brand and customer trust;

• Employee motivation and retention;

• Operational efficiency (e.g., through energy savings, reduced resource consumption, or waste reduction).

Planned activities and key results:

1. Development of the ESG manager profile and an ESG curriculum;

2. Development and piloting of a vocational training course on ESG transformation for SMEs;

3. Development of a simulation game (app) to improve the skills and abilities of company managers in the field of ESG;

4. Creation of a policy handbook with recommendations for policymakers to promote ESG practices and further disseminate the ESGM profile at EU level.

Note: This project is funded with support from the European Union.

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With its new "Resilient Regions" initiative, the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development, and Construction (BMWSB) is supporting rural areas in increasing their resilience to crisis events. Against the backdrop of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Russia's war of aggression, new challenges are emerging for risk prevention and the adaptability of a region. The "Resilient Regions" initiative is helping a total of 11 selected regions across Germany to develop and implement strategies to strengthen their resilience.

The focus of the areas varies greatly and is based on local conditions. The results of the model projects will then be evaluated and made available to other regions.

With its project "Economic Resilience in the District of Steinfurt (WiReSt)," the district of Steinfurt belongs to the elite circle of funded areas. Global risks and local short-term events such as strikes, traffic jams, or closures can lead to crises in the supply chain. Material procurement then suddenly becomes a problem and sales markets collapse overnight. In such situations, companies are required to make ad hoc decisions. Sustainability aspects must be taken into account in this process. The shortage of skilled workers also exacerbates the situation.

Small and medium-sized enterprises therefore face major challenges in view of fragile supply chains. In everyday life, they often lack the time and transparency to deal with long value chains in detail.

WESt is carrying out the "WiReSt" project in cooperation with Münster University of Applied Sciences. The plan is to develop an early warning system in the form of a digital platform. Furthermore, options for action for corporate adaptation strategies are to be generated and new areas of economic development established.

The goal is to increase the adaptability of the local economy and enable effective crisis prevention.

Being selected as a model region is a real opportunity for the district of Steinfurt and local companies to achieve sustainable stability and economic strength, setting an example for other regions. 

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The district of Steinfurt is highly attractive to companies in the logistics sector due to its location and favorable socioeconomic conditions. This is clearly evident in the form of rising demand for space from freight forwarders and logistics service providers. However, these plans to establish or expand logistics operations rarely receive positive feedback from politicians and administrators. The high consumption of space, the emissions associated with transport, and a low job density compared to other sectors of the economy are arguments against these companies.

Nevertheless, the logistics industry fulfills public service functions and is essential for the functioning of other sectors. Against this backdrop, the question arises as to how a sustainable settlement policy for logistics uses can be implemented that also coordinates and balances the different interests of the municipalities involved. And this is exactly where Logist.Plus comes in: How can the interests of the municipalities be reconciled with the space requirements of the logistics industry and sustainability goals?

In a network of eight partner institutions from science, local authorities, and business, the Logist.Plus project is developing innovative instruments, methods, and processes to reduce soil sealing and land use competition. In the second year of the project, particular emphasis was placed on discussing the current situation in the municipalities.

"The numerous municipal interviews and workshops that we conducted to collect data and use for analysis clearly show that there is a prevailing problem in the Steinfurt district: many commercial space requests and too little space. This is where we come in with Logist.Plus and want to develop tailor-made solutions," says the responsible WESt employee. The solutions could then be characterized by cooperation in regional networks, multifunctional and resource-saving land use, or ecological optimization of site selection, use, and design.

As part of the project, a guide for logistics companies was also created, which provides design recommendations for the sustainable development of commercial space.

Action guide for logistics companies Design recommendations for sustainable commercial space development

Learn more Osnabrück/Steinfurt Logistics Working Group

The current funding project will close the last fiber optic gaps in Emsdetten and ensure the provision of fiber optic connections to homes and businesses (FTTH / Fiber to the Home). Federal funding is provided on the basis of the funding guideline "Funding to support the gigabit expansion of telecommunications networks in the Federal Republic of Germany" and the state guideline on co-financing the federal program of October 18, 2023. All addresses that are not reliably supplied with a download speed of at least 100 Mbit/s are eligible for funding under these guidelines.

The milestones:

August 17, 2021 - Completion of market research to determine the area: Identification of 305 addresses with a download speed of < 100 Mbit/s

January 5, 2022 – Initial application submitted to the federal government

June 13, 2022 – Preliminary grant notification from the federal government

August 3, 2022 – Start of the tender for telecommunications providers

November 24, 2022 - Approval of early start of measures by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia

December 8, 2022 – Commissioning of Stadtwerke Emsdetten

03/02/2023 - Notification of early start of construction without loss of funding

March 20, 2023 - Start of construction work

April 24, 2023 – Final application submitted to the federal government

December 8, 2023 – Final funding decision by the federal government and finalization of the co-financing application to the state

January 22, 2024 – Final co-financing decision by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia

September 30, 2024 – Expected completion of construction work / project completion

The current project progress, an availability check, information on the services offered, and the terms and conditions for end customers can be found on the project homepage of the service provider TKRZ.