The first Innovation Talk in 2022 was held by Richard Stechow, Circular Economy Lead and Managing Innovation Consultant at BMI Lab, a spin-off from the University of St. Gallen. As part of his work, he helped design the Circular Navigator methodology for the systematic development of business models for the circular economy and advises companies across all industries on the generation and implementation of business models. In addition, Mr. Stechow coaches various start-ups in the context of business model development, e.g. at the Fraunhofer Institute, at the Helmholtz Center for Information Security, and in the Circular Together Accelerator Program of the Impact Hub.

At the beginning, the participants had to imagine the specifics of the world in the year 2050. Then, the concepts of Circular Economy and circular ecosystems were discussed and the double S-curve was presented to explain disruptive business models. Underpinned by many practical examples, the talk covered the reasons for the development of sustainable and circular business models, successful business model patterns and the related success factors. With the Circular Navigator methodology developed at the University of St. Gallen as a basis, special attention was paid to the implications for companies, the obstacles to be expected, the role of digitization as well as practical solutions. Finally, there was a mutual discussion on how o implement the many interesting concepts and recommendations in practice.