We are at a critical point in human history. We have created an earth-wide economic system that uses resources and creates pollution at an unprecedented speed. Six of nine planetary boundaries are transgressed1, while millions of people fall short on life essentials2 and social injustice is increasing. The density of crisis is rising, while we seem to be caught in our self-created system and struggle to fight path dependencies.

The UN 2030 Agenda proposes 17 global goals for building a more just and sustainable future2. They are an urgent call to action. Action that moves beyond established thinking, structures and systems to solve the most urgent societal problems.

It is our mission at HOLII to support and incubate start up teams that address these problems through (1) developing and scaling sustainable alternatives, (2) changing mindsets and collective behaviour, (3) re-thinking the way we do business, and/or (4) collectively working towards changing industries and systems.

We work with impact entrepreneurs to drive their initial venture development. More specifically, we empower and support university members (students, employees, doctoral candidates and alumna) in the Hamburg metropolitan region to build holistically sustainable organizations that contribute to the societal sustainability transformation.

1 https://helmholtz-klima.de/en/planetary-boundaries

2 https://doughnuteconomics.org/about-doughnut-economics

3 https://sdgs.un.org/goals