Sustainability at the UW/H

The UW/H has committed itself to sustainability in its basic regulations, and the UW/H mission statement also formulates the central motive ofbeing able to"shape changes in society in a sustainable and fair manner".

The Sustainability Networking Office is essential for this development. It is committed to the socio-ecological transformation of UW/H by

• enabling, supporting and initiating change,
• jointly implementing and reminding people of measures, and
• advising and networking on sustainability issues.

Sustainability affects both campus operations (including mobility, energy and building management and procurement) and the university's core areas of teaching, research and transfer. The student-run initiative lab works together with the Sustainability Networking Office and acts as the UW/H's student sustainability office.

The Networking Office is the point of contact for all sustainability issues. If you have any questions, project or cooperation ideas regarding the socio-ecological transformation of the UW/H, please contact the networking office!

Decentralized sustainability strategy and approach

The Sustainable Development Roadmap, UW/H's decentralized sustainability strategy, is a key milestone for a sustainable and fair university. In the roadmap, all departments, the WittenLab.Zukunftslabor Studium fundamentale and administrative departments have defined the goals and measures with which they contribute to the socio-ecological development of UW/H in their respective areas. This comprehensive catalog, which was created in June 2021, emphasizes the perspectives for action and is therefore a living document that is constantly changing, especially when individual measures have been successfully implemented or new ones are added. The Sustainable Development Roadmap is public to the university and can be sent to you if you are interested.

In addition to this decentrally derived strategy, measures for a socio-ecological UW/H are also integrated into appropriate processes (e.g. university development plan, curriculum planning and evaluation, etc.) so that sustainability becomes an integral part of the university's DNA.

Climate protection concept for the entire UW/H

In order to achieve a targeted and sensible reduction in greenhouse gas emissions at UW/H, the Sustainability Networking Office has drawn up a climate protection concept in close cooperation with other internal and external stakeholders.

The climate protection concept contains a_{CO2 balance sheet} that shows the impact of UW/H's operations. This includes, for example, the areas of buildings, energy, mobility, procurement and disposal. At the heart of the climate protection concept is an action plan with realistic and feasible steps for reducing greenhouse gas emissions - for example, the construction of an air heat pump or waste management.

The creation of the climate protection concept was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection in connection with the National Climate Protection Initiative. The final concept can be downloaded here as a PDF file:

Field trial: organic, regional and healthy food on campus

The "Field Trial" project aims to combine the bio-regional added value of agricultural producers in the Pferdebachtal valley in Witten with aspects of health promotion and sustainable communal catering at the UW/H. Not only the university community, but also the immediate neighborhood will be involved in the resulting field of experience. The project is funded by the Software AG Foundation.

In addition, in cooperation with the Entwicklungsgesellschaft für ganzheitliche Bildung e. V. and the Hochschulwerk, a wide range of events, hands-on activities and courses will be set up to encourage us to try out and reflect on our eating habits.

Helping to shape the food transition