Clustering, discussing, sorting – a diverse group of students, university staff, city administrators, professors, public service representatives, and many others worked across disciplines to develop impactful and feasible measures.
We – The Future Living – organized and moderated the Transformation Workshop, helped structure the process, contributed our own expertise, and brought in the experiences of 40 other universities from across Germany through a facilitated exchange.
A wide pool of knowledge and experience was distilled into a comprehensive sustainability strategy, broken down into 91 concrete measures across the following clusters:
- Buildings & Energy
- Travel & Mobility
- Biodiversity & Land Use
- Procurement, Waste & Circularity
- Collaboration & Joint Climate Action
Beyond the usual suspects in greenhouse gas accounting – energy and heating – business travel is a major contributor to emissions. That makes this cluster especially powerful when it comes to identifying leverage points for reduction. Possible pathways include digitizing travel expense reporting with integrated guidance on eco-friendly travel options and simplifying documentation requirements.
What’s clear: making a climate-friendly university a lasting reality requires at least one dedicated sustainability officer with a strong institutional mandate – someone who can foster collaboration and drive progress. Effective documentation, communication, planning, and inter-university cooperation all depend on committed coordinators.
We captured and shared the many voices and perspectives of our panellists* and workshop participants. Find them here.
*Prof. Dr. Nicole Wrage-Mönnig (Rostock University), Yvette Hartmann (RSAG Public Transport), Uwe Hempfling (City Administration) und Sven Olson (IHK zu Rostock)
