The aim of the workshop, led by Professor Andreas Klasen and British colleagues, was to provide students with experimental learning experiences through the methods of "Design Thinking" and "Design Sprint" as part of a "Global Business Project" event. "Design Thinking" is an agile method that leads to innovative problem solving and the development of new ideas. The participants go through a generic process in the course of which numerous concepts are developed and discarded. The subsequent design sprint helps in the innovation process to develop ideas into a prototype for a specific product or service.

Offenburg University of Applied Sciences and the renowned Northumbria University have been working closely together for about two years, among other things within the framework of student exchange. Graduates of the Faculty of Business Administration and Industrial Engineering also have an excellent opportunity to conduct research in an international context thanks to the joint doctoral program. Doctoral students are supervised jointly by professors from Newcastle and Offenburg. Three doctoral students are already active in the program, among them Michael Stopfkuchen, who also supported the workshop in Great Britain.