Sustainability strategy
The sustainability strategy was developed between 2016 and 2018 in a participatory process and adopted by the Senate in February 2018. The OVGU implements its commitment to sustainability in a continuous and transparent process that involves the university public.
Sustainability Strategy 2018
Strategy development
Even when the Sustainability Office was founded and the agenda for the first years was decided, it was clear that the development of the university in terms of ecological, economic and social sustainability cannot be decided and implemented by a single body. It is necessary to develop measures that are supported by all members of the university. We consider the possibility of participation to be crucial for this.
In order to include all perspectives and to clarify questions and conflicts in advance, the Sustainability Office invited the stakeholder groups (students, employees from service, administration and personnel, scientific employees, professors) to four workshops between February and November 2016. Individual visions of a sustainable OVGU were asked and ideas for implementing these visions were collected. The expertise of the different groups was incorporated into the first draft of the strategy paper and was supplemented by insights from best practice examples of other universities as well as the consultation with the scientific advisory board of the Sustainability Office.
On June 22, 2017, the Sustainability Office hosted a conference that was the culmination of the participation process to date. Around 50 members of the university from a wide range of areas accepted the invitation: Representatives of the departments, scientific employees of different disciplines, professors and students. There was a concentrated working atmosphere that allowed for a critical discussion of the strategy paper. There was a lot of discussion about definitions and terms, and the content went into detail, as one would expect in a university setting. The dedicated collaboration of all conference participants made it possible to improve the language and content of the strategy paper.
The content of the second draft is divided into eight sections, each of which contains guidelines, overall goals and detailed goals: 1) Culture of Sustainability, 2 & 3) Operations (Resources & Energy), 4) Operations (Campus as Living Space), 5) Teaching, 6) Research, 7) Social Engagement and Transfer, 8) Strategy. It contains concrete goals such as climate neutrality of OVGU, regular networking formats for researchers, and evaluation and monitoring of sustainability-related activities of the university. At the conference, it became apparent that the strategy paper presented still has room for improvement, e.g. with regard to campus design and electromobility. In cooperation with the scientific advisory board, the strategy paper was revised according to the results from the conference.
Before it came to a decision in the Senate, the draft was adjusted by a group of Senate members. In February 2018, the strategy was unanimously adopted.