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FROM KNOWING TO GETTING THINGS DONE.
Founded 2021 in Vienna
Thinkubator is a social business: impact comes before profit. Our work is carried by two legally separate entities - a non profit association and a company.
The association does research and education: independent, evidence based and not for profit. The company guides organisations on their way to a circular economy and runs corporate education programmes.
WHY WE DO THIS
A climate neutral circular economy in Europe by 2050.
Everything we do today is measured against one question: does it bring that goal closer?
We close the knowledge action gap - the distance between what we already know about sustainability and what actually gets done.
To do that we combine research, education and consulting in formats that work in the everyday reality of companies, schools and start-ups.
Thinkubator in five minutes
Alex, Basti and Felix explain how we work, what we believe in and how knowledge turns into action.
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Watch it directly on YouTube insteadWE CLOSE THE KNOWLEDGE-ACTION GAP FOR A CLIMATE-NEUTRAL CIRCULAR ECONOMY.
Thinkubator is a social business. This means we work impact-first on solving societal problems, through non-profit work as well as through a business model. That is why Thinkubator consists of two legal entities: a non-profit association and a company.
Researches and educates, independent, evidence-based, not for profit.
Advises organisations on their way to a circular economy and sustainable business models, and runs corporate education programmes.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT
A small core team from research, business and education - complemented by fellows, students and a network of experts.
Alongside the team, an advisory board from science and industry and our partners carry the projects with us.
Advisory board and partners
WHAT WE HAVE MOVED
Once a year we put our work on the table: which projects ran, how many people we reached and where we fell short of our own expectations.
The 2021-2026 impact report brings together five years of research, education and consulting - 20,495 impact hours, 157 education formats and 4,190 people reached.
Impact report 2021-2026
Five years of turning knowledge into action: figures, method and lessons at a glance.
PDF, 51 MBFROM 2021 TO 2050
Thinkubator grew out of a thesis and one very concrete question: why does so much circular economy knowledge stay locked inside studies?
Since then the question has turned into an organisation - with a clear target year.
- 012021
Founded in Vienna
Thinkubator starts as a non-profit association with the goal of putting circular economy knowledge into practice.
- 022022
First research projects
Feasibility studies and consortia on critical raw materials and plastics cycles.
- 032022
Circular Innovation Fellowship
Our first own education format: international fellows work on real company challenges.
- 042023
Education scales up
School workshops and the apprentice sustainability challenge reach hundreds of young people.
- 052025
sustainable solutions OG
A dedicated commercial entity is founded alongside the association for consulting mandates.
- 062025
Funded projects in series
Several publicly funded research projects run in parallel and the project volume grows significantly.
- 072050
Climate-neutral circular economy
The target year we measure every project against: resources in cycles, emissions at net zero.
IMPACT PER FIELD
Selected key figures from the impact report - per field of knowledge and with the entity delivering it.
- 13.3 M
- Cumulative volume of all research projects we take part in, incl. partner shares (not our own budget)
- 50+
- Research partners from 8 countries
- 4
- Published whitepapers and studies
- 20,495
- Impact hours: participants times format duration
- 157
- Education formats since 2021
- 4,190
- People reached, repeat participation removed
- 32
- Commissioned projects for companies and public bodies
- 145
- Resource saving measures developed
- 3
- Core levers: design, business model, financing
Source: impact report 2021-2026
Learn more about our impact in detail.
Our impactMOMENTS THAT STAYED WITH US
The start in 2021
Climate Launchpad in Austria
CIFE - we did it!
THINKUBATOR IN THE MEDIA
WE ARE IN IT. UNTIL 2050.
The circular economy is not a project with an end date but a transition across decades. We have committed to walking that path until 2050.
For that we are looking for partners, funders and companies that do not want to wait for the perfect moment.