Student innovator 2022

The award as Student Innovator of the Year at Luleå University of Technology goes to Sofie Zätterqvist who is behind "Don't Be An Asshole Brewery", a creative concept for non-alcoholic beer with the aim of challenging, educating and engaging young people around gender and (in)equality. The research prize goes to Professor Jonas Hedlund for an innovation with the potential to become an important piece of the green transition puzzle.

It started as a degree project in the Bachelor of Graphic Design program, and developed into a concept of a microbrewery called Don't be an asshole brewery. With the help of non-alcoholic beer and smart graphic design, Sofie Zätterqvist wants to work with gender equality issues.

- "I've wanted to work on gender equality issues for a long time, starting during the Black Lives Matter movement. Then I realized that it is the privileged group that needs to stand up against racism, in the same way men need to stand up against the sexist culture, says Sofie Zätterqvist and continues.

Above all, it is young male students she wants to reach out to. The individual has a great impact and if young men can see that they can influence people around them, they can influence the entire culture at Luleå University of Technology, she says.

- Many people probably think they are not sexist, and they are certainly not openly sexist. But much is in the language, do you speak up, how do you react when someone tries to force alcohol on someone? How do you talk about someone you went home with one night?

A lot of energy has been put into everything from target group thinking and purpose to packaging and interesting names for the drinks. The non-alcoholic brews have been given names such as Male Gaze, White Fragility and Våffelstigen to both inform and highlight problems that Sofie Zätterqvist has experienced on campus, but also address larger issues that are highly topical in the gender discussion.

- The packaging itself has conversation cards on the bottom, such as What does strength look like to you? On the inside there is a board game, everything should contribute to gender thinking and users should learn about all the terms that the jars have, she says.

The plug is over but more ideas are brewing

Sofie Zätterqvist has big visions for the future and plans to realize the concept. She is now in talks with a local brewery and is looking for financiers to see how big it can get. After the New Year, she hopes to work on it full-time.

- "I haven't digested it yet, it feels like all my dreams are coming true. It's been difficult to process it, but it's like all the pieces are starting to fall into place," says Sofie Zätterqvist.