New project proposals – REcampER

We are planning new project proposal. The aim of the project is to demonstrate that there is a possibility to renovate an old trailer with a very low budget so that even a low-income  population could afford it. The project will be divided into a theoretical part (designing of the camper and publishing a guide) and a practical part where we will actually renovate one.

New intern, Hang from Vietnam

Dober dan! Moi! Hi! Xin chào! My name is Hang Nguyen, 20 years old, from Vietnam, a new intern at Institute mOBILNO to go. I am  currently studying Energy and Environmental Engineering bachelor’s degree at Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), Finland. I like orange color, cooking different cuisines from different cultures, experiencing new aspects of life. Some of my favorite writers include Haruki Murakami and Margaret Mitchell. Even though I study engineering, I like accounting and I am not so into doing laboratory work… During my studying in Finland, I involved in several projects, varying from environmental industries, digital media and business to refugee projects. Like one of my friends saying: ‘Every person is a book that you have to read every chapter of it!’, I am pretty sure mine is not yet finished. Let just say that destiny pulls me over Slovenia and to David’s company. One very dawn day as any other usual winter day in Finland, I found a job advertisement of an intern position from Institute mOBILNO to go. As you can guess, I applied immediately and here I am now, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I did not even do any literature research about Slovenia before […]

The lost son returns

It has been two years ago that I did my Erasmus internship in Koper. Back then I helped David (who is, by the way, still the coolest boss I ever had), to develop passive greenhouses. Well, a lot has changed since. It was at Institute mOBILNO to go that I first encountered dry toilets, and I immediately liked this idea. After the lovely summer of 2016 which I spent in Koper it was time to decide for a research topic for my final thesis. From the first second it was clear to me that it has to be about toilets, one way or the other. I ended up researching and writing about the acceptance of alternative sanitation in Austria. My dream is that one day people will understand that “normal” toilets are not the future! However last summer I graduated from my course at the University of Applied Sciences in Salzburg. Because I like David’s line of work and strongly agree with his ideas and thoughts I finally decided to once more travel to Koper for work. Oh boy, a lot has changed here. But that was only to expect, the young company grew two years older. More experienced and […]

Ioanna, our new intern

Hello everyone!!! My name is Ioanna and I am from Cyprus. I graduated Mechanical Engineering in the University of Cyprus and during the last year of my studies I decided that I wanted to find a job abroad where I would be able to practice engineering and have the experience of living alone in a different country. The internship at Institute mOBILNO to go and KAKIS was the best opportunity for me as the position was a challenge for me. My internship started in October and until now I have a great time here in the beautiful Koper. Koper is a wonderful city, the sea, the port and the town center are wonderful, and you always have something to do. Mr.David is a very nice boss and the tasks he gives me are very interested and challenging and I enjoy working for him. Besides work I already managed to do some trips during the weekends, Italy is only half hour away! I also attended a trip to Serbia where I met other students and I had a great time. Ljubljana the capital of Slovenia is only an hour away and is a magnificent city.My conclusion so far is that I […]

Fadli – intern from Germany

My name is Fadli. I am Currently finishing my master in Agriculture Science Resources Management in University of Bonn, Germany. I have grown an interest on ecological sanitation and circular economy since I start my master thesis on similar topic. I am writing my master thesis on nutrient recovery from human waste for agriculture resources. I work with David in Institute mOBILNO to go and KAKIS ltd as a part of EIT Climate-KIC’s Pioneers into Practice (PiP). Pioneers into Practice is mobility programme which challenge sustainability professional to step outside their comfort zone and look at things differently. During my study I involved in several scientific project, however I always wanted to start my own business in sustainability. Thus, PiP connect me with David and his company. During my placement we developed the prototype of human waste composting. I provide insight from biological process while David work on engineering part. I also joined some business meeting with KAKIS prospective customer. The most exciting part is to step out from my shoes as academia and change perspective as an entrepreneur. During this placement, we also developed a business idea on recovering human waste in to fertilizer. And I am really excited to […]

Principles of circular economy

Every little effort today is a big step for tomorrow From my early childhood, I always wanted to live more sustainable. I always prefer to take a bicycle or going on foot if possible. For over a decade, I am vegetarian and I am trying to buy as much local food as possible. Of course, I prefer the vegetables from my father’s garden. That’s why I would like to produce my own organic and bio food in the future. Like most people of my age, I have no experience and no time. So, with the help of many Erasmus students and partners, I have started developing The smart greenhouse houzGREENhouse, a fully automated greenhouse with robotic hands, controlled with artificial intelligence, fed with organic fertilizers and grown with natural sunlight. I applied to a business idea competition Podjetna Primorska 2017 and I won as the best idea in category Navigator. In the last couple of months, I have been working to reduce the amount of waste I produce in my home. I am buying cleaning powders and soap with the refill option. I came to the shop with my own bottle that I refill. Every Saturday, my dear and me, […]

How to win twice at Podjetna primorska

Podjetna primorska is a competition for business ideas in Koper, Slovenia. It is organized by a local incubator Univerzitetni inkubator primorske. The competition assembles all startups, students and people willing to compete with business ideas. There are three categories: students (Rektorjeva nagrada), groups without entrepreneur experience (Optimist) and experienced entrepreneurs (Navigator). Our institute participated last two years in the Navigator category and both years we won the first prize. In this blog, I will explain how we did it and what was crucial for us. Podjetna primorska 2016 prototyping sustainable sanitation Last year we applied the Solar biological dry toilet. It’s a concept of a dry toilet that doesn’t use any water or chemicals. It has its own urine and feces treatment system. It takes the help of the sun to process urine and to fasten the process of decomposition of feces. At the end, it can reuse all the waste as a valuable resource as fertilizer or biomass. For the first time in a business competition, we were very dedicated to win it. We asked the organizers what are the main criteria for gaining the first prize. First of all, you have to have an innovative idea or something […]