Let’s talk Greenovation– the Anniversary Edition

After a warm welcome by Gerd Walker, Audi’s Head of Production and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Audi Environmental Foundation, and Managing Director Rüdiger Recknagel, Anton Poll and Michael Hügel took the guests on a journey to the foundation’s beginnings. They have known the foundation from the very beginning and showed in a very personal way which projects and initiatives started it all and which milestones have significantly shaped the foundation’s development since 2009.

The scientific impulse for the evening was provided by time expert Jonas Geissler and astrophysicist Harald Lesch with a keynote on their book “It’s All a Matter of Time.” Geissler opened with an emotional introduction to the topic of time and explained how our modern understanding of time influences our daily lives. Lesch followed with a compelling lecture on the dangers of our “nonstop society” for nature and humans. His message left a deep impression on all attendees: Time is running out, and we must act now.

In the subsequent panel talk, project partners Leonhard Steinacker from TU Munich, Paul Joseph from PH Heidelberg, Prodip Chatterjee from Nunam, and Marie Schreiber from Wilderness International presented their projects. Moderated by Antonia Scheurlen and commented on by Jonas Geissler, the discussion offered exciting insights into the various initiatives, their impact, and visions. The experts presented different exhibits, making their work tangible for the audience. Particularly impressive was the expedition backpack of Marie Schreiber, which she takes on her expeditions with Wilderness International in Peru and Canada.

At the end of the evening, Rüdiger Recknagel presented a new funding project with the Bavarian Association for Bird and Nature Conservation (LBV). This involves the development of a “listening box,” an innovative device for identifying and recording bird songs. This bioacoustic monitoring project will be actively supported by trainees from the Audi site in Ingolstadt.

This anniversary edition of Let’s talk Greenovation in Ingolstadt was a valuable and moving evening for us, impressively underscoring the importance of time in the interplay of nature and commitment to environmental protection. We look forward to many more foundation years full of sustainable projects and shared successes with our project partners.