Sustainability Award for Fabian Fottner

In his bachelor's thesis "Growth without risk - effectively protecting young forest plants by developing a new protection system", supervised by Professor Bernhard Rothbucher, Fabian Fottner deals with the question of how young forest plants can be protected in the initial growth phase without having to resort to the plastic growth covers currently in use. His work aims to develop a growth sleeve protection system that is practical, cost-effective, and ecologically sustainable. With the cover developed as part of his work, he has succeeded in every respect.

The bachelor's thesis has a remarkable depth of detail. Fottner takes a holistic approach to sustainability and considers ecological as well as social and economic aspects of sustainability. In addition, he does not remain at the theoretical and abstract level, but deals with the entire development process: from the initial idea through several design trials to prototype construction. He then tests promising models on young trees that are around two years old. He uses the results of these practical tests to further modify his product. The entire process is accompanied by interviews with experts from the forestry industry: in the early phase, to discuss which conditions and properties are decisive for the users of the growing envelopes. These include aspects such as practicality, weight, installation, and product price. The prototype is then put up for discussion and expert interviews are used to generate assessments of its use, particularly about possible interactions between flora, fauna, and the material used.

Fabian Fottner's bachelor's thesis makes a significant contribution to the constructive handling of the microplastic problem in forests. With the system he has proposed, there is no need to do without the growth cover that is so important for the reforestation of young trees. The growing envelope is also suitable for different tree species and thus supports reforestation in the form of mixed forests, which are known to be more resistant and resilient to rapidly changing climatic conditions than monoculture forests and are playing an increasingly important role in forestry.