The Sustainability Office will decide their prioritization and ensure their effective implementation to the fullest extent possible.
Studies and Teaching
- Developing a criteria checklist to assess the sustainability of study programs
- Designing and preparing student project databases to enable further treatment of the topics, including for Service Learning, among others.
- Horstmann and Rucker-Gramm teaching concept: “Components of tomorrow –graduates of tomorrow”
- Concept design of reusable lectures, including at the inter-university level.
- Promoting digitization.
- Less paper in the teaching setting: in the interests of sustainability, advances in digitization are being integrated into teaching and studies with immediate effect.
- A broad spectrum of definitions for sustainability and implementation options for the various disciplines in accordance with the SDGs is placed at the teaching staff’s disposal and further developed on a continuous basis.
- Enhancement of examination regulation changes: Enacting framework regulations
Research
- Determination or specification of carbon footprint of research activities. Conversely, University research projects with a “high” carbon footprint will not be approved or funded internally.
- Developing assessment checklist for measuring the CO2consumption of each research project and weighing the tradeoff between degradation and benefits associated with the projects
- Developing/providing a tool for determining the carbon footprint of research projects (with researcher support)
- Translators: scientific findings must be made actively accessible to the general public via working papers, films or other creative means of communication.
Continuing Education and Transfer
- Evaluating and expanding Continuing Education programs for compliance with sustainability aspects.
- Developing criteria checklist for sustainability in Continuing Education.
Institutionalization
- Applying for funding for the Green Office and preparing plans for establishment.
- Developing guidelines as reference. Incorporating “sustainability” item into meeting agendas along the lines of “What contributions have I made towards sustainability since our last meeting”, including agenda item feedback to the Green Office. Systematically introducing and integrating student ideas and suggestions for sustainability into the study setting
University Operation and Campus Development
- Commissioning cleaning contractors for, e.g., waste separation
- Green Office has to research standards
- Sustainable workplace fit-out smartly combines working from home with face-to-face courses, covers workplace furnishings and energy consumption, as well as procuring technical equipment and office supplies, etc.
- > Working from home to obviate the need to commute by car; using bicycles and public transport
- Establishing assessment criteria for university vehicles, as well as for travel options on business trips and Continuing Education programs; eliminating parking subsidization for internal combustion cars (except for those relying on car travel)
- Examining leasing concepts such as job bikes to incentivize staff to ride their bicycles
- Reinforced by sustainable workplace design, establishing and main-taining a family-friendly work culture and providing adequate exercise and sport opportunities for study and work
- Upgrading sheltered and secure bicycle parking facilities
- Strengthening exchanges of experience, creating a project-related benefits review plan, platform of current projects, centralizing and/or bundling recurring work processes
- Dashboard
- Embedding sustainability in HR development
- Appraisal and funding of opportunities for green power generation on campus Dispensing with CO2compensation payments as they are but a “get-out-of-jail-free” card and degradation occurs nevertheless.
Studies and Teaching
- M.A. European Green Deal mapped to interdisciplinary areas (incl. social work)
- “Life Cycle Thinking” is supported by formal and informal teaching and learning processes embedded in the curriculum, as are ancillary qualifications for sustainable cross-disciplinary studies. Additionally, study programs specializing in sustainability are being developed and accredited.
- Considering developing a practice-based interdisciplinary study program on climate impact adaptation & regenerative transformation.
- Considering developing a Green Social Work study program (Faculty of Social Work).
- Considering offering the large variety of courses through a joint study program on sustainability/regen. transformation (Studium Generale !SG).
- Practice-based projects, combined teaching and research projects.
Research
- Criteria for evaluating research projects on sustainability
- Granting awards
- “Sustainability sciences” PhD center
- Institute for sustainable (& regenerative) development (interdisciplinary)
- IFOFO program on sustainability research/funding criteria
Institutionalization
- PR strategy using podcasts, lectures, interviews covering diverse activities and perspectives of University members (students, staff, professors)
Continuing Education and Transfer
- PhD Center
- Sustainability certification for professionals in the various segments of the job market (post-qualification, specialization for professionals) rounds out the course offerings.
University Operation and Campus Development
- Launch of further campus greening by 2021 at the latest. Vertical and green roofs, unsealing soils, tree planting to support micro-climate
- RConserving resources, reducing environmental impact, saving energy, recycling
- Canteen: environmentally friendly meals starting in 2021
- Guidelines and criteria for University partnerships: sustainability check for all partners, suppliers
- Enhancing biodiversity on campus (regeneration of micro-climate), e.g., also setting up beehives on campus
- Sustainability for people on campus: green experience, exercise zones, relaxation areas
- Outdoor learning spaces and low-threshold exercise programs
- Relaxation areas and cooling/shady spots for students and staff
- Concept design for implementing campus greening in planned new buildings
- Mobility strategy Analyzing and reducing business travel footprint
- Minimizing number of cars on campus (gamification); creating incentives and raisingthe parking fee
- Retrofitting existing buildings with measuring technology to better capture energy consumption and user behavior
- Studies on summer heat insulation for non-residential buildings (climate impact adaptation)
- Findings from research projects and experimental laboratories are incorporated into building operation and management.
- Sustainable replanning for Buildings 7 and 8 in particular (e.g., German Association for Sustainable Building [DGNB]).
Studies and Teaching
- Green Deal: It is necessary to balance compatibility of Green Deal with effective sustainability strategies and initiatives. Is it true that sustainability must “pay off”? Are economic and business administration notions of economic growth still viable in view of the climate emergency?
- Goal card concept of the 17 SDGs: assigning goal cards to projects devoted to one of the goals; “card collecting” incentive.
- Integrating sustainability topics into the curricula through University-internal guideline with ECTS.
- Establishing an experimental faculty in which so inclined teaching staff can experiment with SDG themes. The rest of the world can sit back and watch the outcome: This can act as a magnetizing force for others! Structural support would be important nevertheless. Taking the first step and leading the way! (Paths are forged by striking out on them.)
- PraxiSDG module: Establishing corporate sustainability and reflecting on its impact on students. Can be implemented in all four faculties.
- Scaling up the number of service-learning courses, e.g. by means of incentives (reduced teaching load, incentive bonus, as possible goal-setting element).
- Cross-faculty implementation of Service Learning in examination regulations
- Social commitment and willingness to engage in Service Learning as criterion for new appointments, possibility of making compulsory 1 SWS Service Learning per semester/year.
- Establishing a Social Intelligence Office (concept lying on the shelf), enabling students to work collectively with citizens and pupils on social (micro-)projects with corresponding infrastructure (urban showcase sites for enhanced public visibility).
- Students develop games for communicating real-world problems on a micro-societal level. This is done on an interdisciplinary basis. It is working tremendously, far better than anyone would have thought. Discourse method is firmly embedded within our University and upgraded on a regular basis – across all faculties, including transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary variants. This particularly entails that our teaching staff familiarize themselves with the discourse method so as to pass it on to our students. This would be a key prerequisite for ensuring sustainable social cohesion.
- Publishing the University’s mission statement on our website.
- Developing UAS didactics that is practice-based and action-oriented and that prepares skills for making an impact at the societal level while building up existing strengths.
- Embedding SDGs in curricula and teaching methods. This also entails ensuring that all members and affiliated groups receive proper instruction and training, that they are empowered to promote democracy, fairness and equal opportunities as fundamental and necessary preconditions of sustainably sound social institutions and that they are committed to maintaining a sustainable relationship with nature and the environment, as befitting their profession.
- Prior to accreditation, curricula are assessed for compliance with sustainability aspects. Existing curricula of our current study programs are being realigned towards sustainability with immediate effect (SDGs as theme, sustainable pedagogics). To this end, discussions are conducted not only by individual teaching staff/study program heads with the Review Board but with teaching staff from other faculties as well (argumentative support).
- Cross-departmental organization not only of research but also of curriculum development (networking)
- For example, local eGaming policy, successful model projects are in place, e.g. gamification, simulations for various complex themes without programming
- Sustainability strategy homepage section, including discussion forum (preferably in plain, accessible language)
- Advanced course development: embedding diversity in teaching as cross-sectional topic in much the same way as sustainability and conveying diversity through new ideas (methods, examples, etc.)
- Developing an award scheme for innovative teaching ideas.
- Extracting detailed knowledge on the social commitment of our teaching staff and students (e.g. through next student survey)
- Promotion, support and coordination of social and volunteer initiatives from within the student body
- Social engagement module as potential independent counterpart to !SG so as to make it compulsory for all students.
- Social engagement as potential enrollment requirement and USP
- Establishment and broad accreditation of study-related extracurricular commitment (allocating credit points)
- Debating club: learning to debate respectfully.
Research
- Criteria for research design, job postings, team building, etc., are conspicuously designed to integrate heterogeneous perspectives.
- Finding examples from within our University and enhancing their visibility.
Continuing Education and Transfer
- Internal advanced training
- Designing a publication to feature portraits of professors who take a particularly strong stand on sustainability.
- Campus as debating venue and meeting point for sustainability actions is on its way to becoming a collaborative platform inviting civil society to join the sustainability movement.
University Operation and Campus Development
- The Association of Student Affairs [Studentenwerk] offers services geared towards sustainability while using environmentally friendly and fairtrade products and suppliers.
- Campus as debating venue and meeting point for sustainability actions is on its way to becoming a collaborative platform inviting civil society to join the sustainability movement.
- Stronger campus greening initiatives for this purpose: creating a culture of well-being. Making use of seating areas beneath existing trees. Wall and roof greening (reviewed by Green Office)
- Using carbon footprint calculator to universally demonstrate impacts.
- Introducing test criteria for cooperations geared towards sustainability
- Activation by generating participation; developing an award scheme for outstanding idea implementation, e.g., replacing PET bottles with sustainable beverage bottles
- Creating an incentive system, e.g., for bicyclists, pedestrian commuters and members of the University using public transport Why do we have subsidized underground parking spaces but no showers/changing areas for bicyclists?!
Studies and Teaching
- Four cross-disciplinary professorships (1/Fac.) for sustainability
- Wuppertal Institute model: “Target knowledge, system knowledge and transformation knowledge”
- Participation in real-world laboratories, including in teaching projects
Research
- Small-scale experiments are conducted in real-world laboratories on campus, and these findings are implemented in the University’s own operation.
Institutionalisierung
- Creating pit stops/continuous integration opportunities “One University – One Book“ initiative, e. g., with “Rethinking Our World” (Maja Göpel)
University Operation and Campus Development
- Connecting to district heating grid
- Fairtrade University
- Sourcing green energy; also waste separation in the future
- University pact: making grants available for sustainable measures – may be applied for
University Operation and Campus Development
- Trees for graduates. Possibility of sending out a message for the ongoing climate debate, with Frankfurt UAS planting/ donating one tree for every successfully completed university degree. Here for instance: https://www.greenforestfund.de
This enables us to position ourselves sustainably while raising sustainability awareness among our graduates. Funding through donations or cooperation with relevant organisations - CO2-compensation for business trips (modes of transport; compensation payments for flights); budgetable