From empty space to learning lab:  first-year students showcase innovative ideas

On Thursday, 4 December, the ‘Winter Campus’ will open at the Columbus Centre in Bremerhaven: an open experimental space on the former ‘Depot’ retail space of the municipal housing association STÄWOG. At the Winter Campus, first-year students of the Bremerhaven bachelor's programme in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Leadership will offer space for regional products, student start-up projects, art, creative formats and citizens' ideas. Bremerhaven is thus setting another example for innovative urban development: instead of lamenting vacant properties, the future is being shaped here together! 

From empty space to learning lab

While many city centres struggle to attract visitors and tenants, the Springflut Bremerhaven project – STÄWOG's pop-up store initiative to combat commercial vacancy – shows how bold and innovative concepts can work: ‘Over 130 pop-up stores, 21 reactivated commercial spaces and 17 permanent leases speak for themselves. We are pioneers in alternative usage concepts, and imitation is expressly desired and recommended,’ emphasises project manager Anne Claire Bunte, adding: ‘Cooperation with Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences is particularly important to us. Young people are an important target group for us and provide us with helpful insights for sustainable urban development. In addition, working with the students is extremely inspiring. We learn a lot with and from each other!’

Students in their first semester at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences are delighted with this creative freedom. The ‘Winter Campus’ is more than just a temporary use. It is a publicly visible learning laboratory where students test products and gather direct feedback from their customers. ‘We are not opening with a finished product, but with an open space. The empty space is an invitation to Bremerhaven to get actively involved,’ says Vincent Zimmer, team coach in the Start-up, Innovation, Leadership (GIF) programme at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences.

Eight student projects are getting off the ground

A special feature of the Start-up, Innovation, Leadership degree programme, which is unique in Germany, is that students get started on their own projects right away: the students, who have only been studying at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences for just under five weeks and have now created the ‘Winter Campus’, are enthusiastic about the opportunity to use the retail space for a variety of winter business ideas and offers. This enables learning by doing and experience-based learning, both of which are central components of the degree programme. Theory is thus transformed into experience, and direct feedback from visitors enables important reflection. Now the first-year students are getting active in the heart of Bremerhaven and actively implementing their ideas at TAB eG, Germany's largest student cooperative:

- Wat to kieken – Pop-up store for regional products and unique gift ideas

- Santa's Cookies – Food trend meets region: trendy cookies in cooperation with local cafés

- Art at the Columbus Centre – Exhibition area with painted sails and flags for cultural encounters

- Weserstitch – Personalised textiles in real time: live embroidery on site

- Creative Monks – Sustainable mystery boxes and gift ideas for the Christmas season

- Christmas Haven – Regional gift boxes with products from Bremerhaven and the surrounding area

- Quiz by the Sea – Regular quiz evenings for all generations

- Zeitraum – Sustainable fashion and second-hand clothing 

A place for encounters and innovation

The ‘Winter Campus’ serves as a meeting place for students, initiatives, senior citizens, artists, traders and citizens who are looking for a winter atmosphere and want to contribute ideas. The official opening, including pitch sessions where students present their ideas and gather feedback, will take place on 4 December 2025 at 1 p.m.

About TAB eG and the Start-up, Innovation and Leadership degree programme

With over 150 active members, TAB eG is Germany's largest student cooperative and implements over 50 projects annually. The Bachelor's degree programme in Start-up, Innovation and Leadership is considered one of the most progressive, project-oriented learning models in Germany.