“K‑WIR“ Bachelor thesis awarded with iphi­Genia Gender Design Award and iF Design Student Award

In mid-June 2023, Celina Grund­mann and Lasse Mieruch, graduates of Univer­sity of Applied Sciences Schwä­bisch Gmünd, received the ​“iphi­Genia Gender Design Award“ in the ​“Voli­tion“ cate­gory for their Bache­lor’s thesis ​“K‑WIR – A Cross­media Consul­ting Concept and Prac­tical Toolkit“. Among 50 natio­nally and inter­na­tio­nally submitted projects, a total of five works were awarded. The award ceremony took place at MAKK, Museum of Applied Arts Cologne. A further success: ​“K‑WIR“ was also awarded with the iF Design Student Award 2023. 

Diffe­rent gender iden­ti­ties and the asso­ciated sexual diver­sity are diffi­cult to be correctly addressed in school and lear­ning envi­ron­ments – both for teachers and students. Celina Grund­mann and Lasse Mieruch (Univer­sity of Applied Sciences Schwä­bisch Gmünd, HfG) want to change that and are focu­sing on raising aware­ness among pros­pec­tive teachers with their project ​“K‑WIR“. The result of their bachelor thesis is a compre­hen­sive consul­ting concept and a prac­tical toolkit. It receives the Gender Design Award in the cate­gory ​„Voli­tion“ for its, accor­ding to the jury, appre­cia­tive, mature, and holi­stic approach and the very good and prac­ti­cable result. ​“K‑WIR“ includes a poster series, stickers for various uses, a know­ledge game, and a website with aware­ness tools and know-how for teachers on the topics of gender iden­tity and gender diver­sity in ever­yday school life. 

Jury praises ​“outstan­ding commu­ni­ca­tion design“

Celina Grund­mann and Lasse Mieruch were able to convince the jury of the Gender Design Award on many levels of the design process – from topic rese­arch to imple­men­ta­tion and the design quality of the concept: ​“Sound rese­arch through appre­cia­tive parti­ci­pa­tion of the target groups by means of sensi­tively desi­gned surveys, quali­ta­tive inter­views, and testing of proto­types led to a compre­hen­sive cross-media multi-level media­tion concept. From a commu­ni­ca­tion design perspec­tive, ​„K‑WIR“ is also outstan­ding,“ said the jury. At HfG, the bachelor’s thesis of Celina Grund­mann and Lasse Mieruch was super­vised by Linda Hintz and Prof. Marc Guntow in the commu­ni­ca­tion design department. 

The Gender Design Award in the cate­gory ​“Voli­tion“ was awarded three times in Cologne (in addi­tion to the award for the HfG graduates to compe­ti­tion parti­ci­pants from Taiwan, the Nether­lands, and Switz­er­land). Awards in the cate­go­ries ​„Evolu­tion“ (to a project from Switz­er­land) and ​„Revo­lu­tion“ (to a project from Argen­tina) rounded off the compe­ti­tion. The jury consisted of Prof. Tom Bieling, Prof. Dr. Uta Brandes, Prof. Griselda Flesler, Claudia Herling, and Julia Pierzina.

“K‑WIR“ also wins iF Design Student Award 2023

A further success story for Celina Grund­mann and Lasse Mieruch: ​“K‑WIR“ was also awarded with the iF Design Student Award 2023 in the cate­gory ​“gender equa­lity“. ​“The project takes an imagi­na­tive and effec­tive approach to raising aware­ness of gender-based discri­mi­na­tion in schools,“ the jury stressed. 

“We are very honored to receive this award. It is great to see that the need for gender-sensi­tive teaching spaces is gaining greater atten­tion. We would like to thank ever­yone who supported us, espe­ci­ally the queer students who shared their expe­ri­ences with us,“ Celina and Lasse said.