vunk - Institute for Consumer Research and Sustainable Consumption
Research for the future society:
,,user-oriented design of technology, economy and law on the basis of consensual fundamental values while balancing conflicting legitimate interests."
The Institute for Consumer Research and Sustainable Consumption (vunk) at Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences bundles the university's interdisciplinary research activities on issues of the future society. It offers a platform for applied research in the field of consumer, user and sustainability research. It facilitates transfer as well as exchange and cooperation with and also in relation to government agencies, civil society, business, media and politics.
The work of vunk refers to the research, co-design and support of a society of the future, its technology, economy and legal framework. This is done with the aim of balancing the diverse interests. On the basis of this balance of interests is formed by basic values on whose validity a society of the future can agree across the board; e.g. fundamental rights. The vunk focuses its research on the user and his or her relationship to products, business models and (digital) goods.
The results of research at vunk are regularly fed back into teaching at the university. Above all, however, they are also introduced into the scientific, social and political discourse.
The competence center is characterized by a particularly broad and well-founded interdisciplinarity. Thus, legal scholars, business economists and economists, scientists from the fields of market and opinion research, technology, psychology, quantitative methods as well as design sciences participate in the competence center.
DIGITALISATION AND IT
The research focus of the subject group "Digitalisation and IT" is how to protect people in a digitalised, entirely networked world and how to promote and ensure transparency, self-determination and participation ... learn more
SUSTAINABILITY
The Sustainability Division conducts interdisciplinary research - including economic, technical, legal, psychological and ethical perspectives - on issues of sustainable products and product development, sustainable business, sustainable consumption and sustainable societies ... learn more
CONSUMER LAW
The expert group deals with issues of legal policy discussion, design and implementation of rules for the protection of special interests of private end users and comparable groups ... learn more
CONSUMER DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Ensuring that consumers' rights are not just written down on paper but are actually enforced is a particular challenge for consumer protection. Consumer arbitration boards, for example, offer a low-threshold way to enforce one's rights. The expert group deals with these and other forms of consumer dispute resolution ... learn more
APPRENTICESHIP
The Teaching Division is concerned with linking research with teaching, novel teaching and outreach concepts, and the transfer of research findings to higher education and society, including consumer and user education and awareness ... learn more
VALUES
The research group is concerned with the question of how a balance of different interests can be achieved in consumer and user research and to what extent social and other value decisions play a role in this ... learn more
TEAM
HEAD OF VUNK
Prof. Dr. Tobias Brönneke
Head of vunk
Professor of Economic Administrative Law with European References
E-mail: tobias.broenneke@hs-pforzheim.de
Prof. Dr. Steffen Kroschwald, LL.M.
Head of vunk
Professor of European and International Business Law
E-mail: steffen.kroschwald@hs-pforzheim.de
SECRETARIAT
Marta Kast
Room number W2.4.24
Telephone number: +49 7231 / 28-6018
sekretariat.vunk@hs-pforzheim.de
EMPLOYEES
Zina Al-Washash, LL.M.
Room W2.4.33
Tel: +49 7231 / 28-6493
zina.al-washash(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de
Ben Knappe, LL.B.
Room G2.4.01
Tel: +49 7231 / 28-8019
ben.knappe(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de
Kim Wolfinger
Room G2.4.01
Tel: +49 7231 / 28-6018
kim.wolfinger(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de
Lukas Waidelich, M.Sc.
Tel: +49 7231 / 28-6131
lukas.waidelich(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de
STUDENT ASSISTANTS
Vanessa Schweikert, LL.B.
Annalena Secci, LL.B.
Luisa Merx
MEMBERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
Prof. Dr. Hanno Beck (VWL especially economic policy)
Prof. Dr. Margarita Bidler (Customer Insights & Data Analytics)
Prof. Dr. Tobias Brönneke (Economic administrative law with European references)
Prof. Dr. Felix Buchmann (Business Law and Data Protection Officer)
Prof. Dr. Svenja Buckstegge (Business Law)
Prof. Dr. Thomas Cleff (Quantitative Business Administration with Statistics and Operations Research)
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Föhl (Psychological Market Research)
Prof. Dr. Simone Harriehausen (Private Business Law)
Prof. Dr. Peter Heidrich (Electrical Equipment and Electrical Machinery Construction)
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Jautz (Private Business Law and Rector)
Prof. Sibylle Klose (Fashion)
Prof. Dr. Steffen Kroschwald (European and International Business Law)
Prof. Dr. Martin Leroch (Economics and Business Ethics)
Prof. Dr. Yasmin Merz (Digital Marketing and Digital Media)
Prof. Gabriele Naderer (Market psychology and buyer behavior)
Prof. Dr. Frank Niemann (Information transmission, transmission methods, communication systems and networks and Prorector)
Prof. Dr. Ralph Schmitt (Private commercial law with focus on general civil and commercial law)
Prof. Dr. Anja Spilski (Chair of Marketing Communication and Marketing)
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Volkert (Economics)
Prof. Dr. Andreas Willburger (Private Business Law with focus on International Business Law)
The head of vunk Professor Dr. Tobias Brönneke and Professor Dr. Steffen Kroschwald, with some members of the vunk in summer 2023: Professor Dr. Christa Wehner (vunk research fellow), Professor Gabriele Naderer (consumer psychology), Rector Professor Dr. Ulrich Jautz, Vice-Rector Professor Dr. Frank Niemann, Dean Professor Dr. Thomas Cleff and Professor Dr. Felix Buchmann (specialist lawyer for IT law and copyright and media law). Photo: Axel Grehl
We regularly collaborate with other institutes on an interdisciplinary basis, for example with the INEC (including Prof. Dr. Mario Schmidt, Prof. Dr. Tobias Viere, Prof. Dr. Jörg Woidasky) or the IOS3 (including Prof. Dr. Thomas Schuster) and thus live interdisciplinarity as part of the vunk DNA not only internally, but also in cooperation with the other university institutes.
RESEARCH FELLOWS
Prof. Brönneke (right) is glad about the new appointment of the research fellow Prof. Voss (left).
ADVISORY BOARD
The advisory board of the vunk is composed of persons associated with the vunk who are outstandingly active or renowned in science, society, administration or politics in the subject areas of the vunk. The advisory board advises the vunk and its management on strategic issues and supports the networking of the vunk in government, science, business and civil society.
- Prof. Dr. Carsten Becker
Director at the German Federal Cartel Office and honorary professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz - Felix Braun
Board member of the Federal Universal Conciliation Body Zentrum für Schlichtung e.V. - Stefan Ebelt
UBA association project WeWaWi and board member ReUse e. V. Berlin - Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Grimm
University of Koblenz and Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT - Jutta Gurkmann
Head of Consumer Policy Division, Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) - Prof. Dr. Peter Kenning
Deputy Chairman of the German Advisory Council on Consumer Policy (GCEE) Chairman of the German Advisory Council on Consumer Affairs (SVRV) and member of the coordinating body of the Federal Network for Consumer Research at the BMJV - Prof. Dr. Tobias Keber
State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Baden-Württemberg (LfDI BW) - Jean-Marc Noël
Founder and CEO of Trusted Shops SE - Ursula Pachl
Head of Collective Redress bei noyb - Hubertus Primus
Former board member of Stiftung Warentest (StiWa) - Prof. Dr. Lucia Reisch
Head of the El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics and Policy at the University of Cambridge - Prof. Dr. Sabine Schlacke
Managing Director of the Institute for Energy, Environmental and Maritime Law (IfEUS) - Dr. Norbert Lurz
Head of Consumer Policy Division, Ministry of Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection BW
KIVEDU
Artificial Intelligent Consumer Enforcement (2023-2025): In this project, an AI-based system is to be developed that, in the field of so-called "private enforcement", enables, among other things, injunction creditors to secure their rights and the enforcement of their claims in an automated manner... learn more
INFOTEILHABE
Information and participation through user ratings: Status Quo & Development Potentials - Resilient and Valuable Consumer Information through Smart Consumer* Role Empowerment in User Ratings (2021-2023)... learn more
SMART CITY, SMART REGION...SMART SOCIETY) (2022)
Digitisation for and with people: Digital participation and self-determination - on the way to a digital society in Pforzheim and the Northern Black Forest. A project of the scientific center for consumer research and sustainable consumption, vunk, of Pforzheim University together with the office for public librarianship of the Regional Council Karlsruhe and other libraries in the Northern Black Forest for the nationwide Digitaltag 2022... learn more
NACHHALTIG MODULAR
… learn more
ALBLENDLEARN
… learn more
The vunk series "Forschung für die Zukunftsgesellschaft” (“Research for the Future Society") publishes scientific contributions of vunk, its members and contributors and outstanding works of students. With its publication series vunk makes its core mission – conducting research user-oriented design of technology, economy and law on the basis of consensual fundamental values while balancing conflicting legitimate interests – visible to the public and scientific community.
"Research for the Future Society" is part of the series Beiträge der Hochschule Pforzheim (Contributions of Pforzheim University).
vunk - Institute for Consumer Research and Sustainable Consumption
Tiefenbronner street 65
75175 Pforzheim
Head of vunk:
Employees:
Lukas Waidelich
Telephone number: +49 7231 / 28-6131
lukas.waidelich@hs-pforzheim.de
Zina Al-Washash, LL.B.
Telephone number: +49 7231 / 28-6131
lukas.waidelich@hs-pforzheim.de
Secretariat:
Marta Kast, Room number W 2.4.24
Telephone: +49 7231 / 28-6018
sekretariat.vunk(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de
Are you interested in the vunk-Spruch - The quarterly newsletter from the Institute for Consumer Research and Sustainable Consumption? Then please let us know at sekretariat.vunk(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de.
Prof. Steffen Kroschwald (left) and Prof. Dr. Brönneke (right)
