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EMAS at the University of Kassel - Ecological Agricultural Sciences goes Environmental Management
With the European environmental management system EMAS, an instrument has been developed by the European Union that offers management methods for compliance with the environmental regulations applicable to the organization and for continuous improvement of environmental performance, and verifies their success with an environmental audit.
The primary objective of the project at the University of Kassel is to initially test the EMAS environmental management system at the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences, including the Hessian State Domain Frankenhausen, in order to establish long-term structures for the sustainable development of the department and to test existing structures. Due to its specialization in ecological issues, the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences has long held an outstanding position in the German and international university landscape. By conducting the pilot study, the department aims to additionally strengthen its positioning, systematically identify further potential for improvement, and thus make and influence processes more sustainable overall.
So far, five workshops have been held over the course of a year. The aim was first to identify ecological improvement potential in the operational fields of action and to formulate concrete measures. Thus, with the involvement of all department members, an initial list of over 80 possible measures for improving environmental performance was drawn up. These include, for example, switching to LED lighting and motion detectors, more renewable energy generation at the department, investment measures to promote sustainable mobility, or taking sustainability criteria into account in procurement. In a next step, these measures will be evaluated in terms of effort, possible obstacles, required financial resources, and their acceptance, and thus concretized in an initial package of measures. In addition, the main environmental aspects were determined and weak points and need for action were identified. In parallel, the first draft version of the environmental policy has also been prepared, which is to be presented to the departmental council in April 2021. These are supplementary guidelines that provide the framework for defining concrete environmental goals, and are based on the key environmental aspects and weak points. The preparation of the environmental statement is then the last project step for the time being. It has not yet been decided to what extent an assessment by an external expert will be carried out.
The process is accompanied by the EMAS project team, represented by the Pro-Dean of Faculty 11, Prof. Christian Herzig and the departmental officer, Dr. Christin Schipmann-Schwarze, as well as the coordination office for integrated sustainability management in the company, Georg Mösbauer and Nadine Chrubasik.
Contact
Integrated sustainability management in operations
Department V - Construction, Technology, Real Estate
Group VC - Occupational Safety and Environmental Protection
Georg Mösbauer, Tel: 3811
Nadine Chrubasik, Tel: 2519