Making sustainability measurable and systematically anchoring it

UW/H is sending out a clear signal for sustainability and has set out to be certified in accordance with the "ZNU Standard driving sustainable change". The standard can be used across all sectors - however, we are the first university to use it as a management tool in the future and are thus taking on a pioneering role in the university landscape!

What does the certification mean?

Since the establishment of the Networking Office 2020, the topic of sustainability at UW/H has continued to develop and has become part of the university's DNA. In the beginning, we mainly worked on the "low hanging fruits" - e.g. by switching to green electricity and recycled paper. Since 2021, we have been summarizing the individual measures in a sustainability strategy, the Sustainable Development Roadmap. In the roadmap, all areas of UW/H have defined the measures with which they contribute to socio-ecological development. The first sustainability report and climate protection concept followed in 2024.

All of this serves as the basis for the introduction of the ZNU standard - we are now taking the next logical step: this will further systematize the topic of sustainability at our university and make it measurable. The standard is an integrated management system; it provides a clear structure for defining key sustainability issues with central objectives and measures. In future, we will use various indicators to evaluate each year where we are making progress and where improvements are needed.

What has happened so far?

Since August 2024, we have defined our key sustainability topics in several workshops with university members from different status groups. The following questions were the guiding principles:

• Stakeholder analysis: What expectations do students, employees, sponsors and other stakeholder groups have of UW/H with regard to sustainability?
• Inside-out analysis: What impact do our university activities have on the environment, society and the economy?
• Outside-in analysis: What financial risks and opportunities arise from the changes in the environment, economy and society?

The results of these analyses were incorporated into a materiality matrix. Particular emphasis was placed on the quality of teaching and research as well as climate protection as key fields of action.

Where do we go from here?

We are now developing specific goals and measures based on these key topics. We are building on existing concepts such as the university development plan, the climate protection concept and the Sustainable Development Roadmap and anchoring the ZNU standard as a central management system.

The introduction of the standard is accompanied by requirements in the areas of sustainable corporate governance, social, environmental and economic issues. An internal audit in March and an external audit at the end of May will check whether we meet these requirements. Following the external audit, which will be carried out by TÜV Rheinland Cert, we will be the first university to be certified in accordance with the ZNU standard.