Sustainability concept and mission statement

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The sustainability concept for the University of Kassel describes the structures of the sustainability organization, the sustainability strategy and development goals as well as the measures and activities with which this development, with the participation of all university employees, is to be managed with the necessary transparency and visibility.

The sustainability concept

Governance structures
Steering committee for sustainable operation & Campus
Sustainability guidelines in the company
Fields of action of the Green Office
Participation, public relations and communication
Download sustainability concept

The sustainability concept

Tasks of the Steering Committee for Sustainable Operations & Campus

As a place of teaching and science with a focus on environmental and sustainability issues, the University of Kassel wants to take on a special role model function. It is therefore particularly important for it to develop itself step by step in line with the goals it has set itself, in order to be a thought leader and model for social change.---

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Governance structures

The governance structures form an important basis for the sustainability process of the University of Kassel, which encompasses all core areas of the university in research, teaching, knowledge transfer and operations. The further development and implementation of the sustainability strategy is the responsibility of the Presidential Board. It discusses fundamental issues with the Senate, the University Council and together with the deans.

With the three central organizational units Kassel Institute for Sustainability, UniKasselTransfer and the Green Office for the core areas of research, teaching, knowledge transfer and operations, new structures and concepts capable of taking action are available for the environment and sustainability, in order to be able to drive forward comprehensive sustainability development at all levels.

Steering committee for sustainable operation & Campus

With the Steering Committee for Sustainable Operations & Campus , a controlled sustainability process is initiated that continuously identifies potential for improvement and initiates the development, testing and ultimately the implementation of measures to improve environmental sustainability in the operational fields of action.

Sustainability mission statement in the company

The sustainability mission statement for the company creates a binding framework for everyone and thus a requirement for participation and was introduced with a Presidium resolution.

The sustainability mission statement with the environment-related guidelines and principles for action as well as overall objectives forms the long-term basis and framework for sustainability-related action. The mission statement creates a binding framework for all and thus a requirement for participation and was introduced by a resolution of the Executive Board:

Download sustainability mission statement

Overview Sustainability Guidelines:

Sustainable development as a collaborative cross-cutting issue.
Participation and involvement of all university members
User sensitization through information and communication
Saving energy and acting in a climate-friendly manner
Protection of natural resources and biodiversity by reducing environmental pollution
Promotion of sustainable mobility concepts
Procurement according to ecological, sustainable and fair aspects
Resource-efficient construction and environmentally friendly renovations
Sustainable campus life

Fields of action Green Office

The gradual sustainable development of the university will take place along four thematic clusters. Environmentally relevant fields of action have been grouped into four clusters, each of which is to be regarded as a university development area.
The Green Office wants to take on the optimization and more sustainable orientation of the fields of action and involve all university stakeholders in the process, for which it offers participatory participation formats in the form of idea workshops. In this way, students and employees have the opportunity to contribute to the university's sustainability process with topic-related suggestions for improvement and ideas.

More Infos

Topic cluster

The gradual sustainable development of the university will take place along the four thematic clusters:

"Go:Green" (1)
focuses on information and participation of all university stakeholders.
"Green:Campus" (2)
advocates for a more sustainable campus life, focusing on issues related to the quality of stay and quality of life on campus.
"Green:University" (3)
addresses all issues related to university operations, its equipment and protective measures.
"Green:Energy" (4)
is dedicated to the topic of energy and resource management, against the background of saving greenhouse gas emissions and structural, technical or organizational energy efficiency measures.

No influence is exerted on the areas of research, teaching and transfer at this point; independent structures exist here in each case.

Participation - idea workshops

With the format of the idea workshops, a participation format is offered from the development of ideas to the conception, planning and realization of measures in the four topic clusters Go:Green (participation), Green:Campus (campus life), Green:University (university operations) and Green:Energy (energy).

Idea workshops

Communication

Through ongoing sustainability communication, which is considered an important part of the overall process, the awareness and attention of university members to the sustainable development of the university should be raised and sensitized to the issues of sustainability.