Sustainability Think Tank

WG Research: pursues the goal of advancing sustainability research at the university. It is therefore dedicated to the question “what” should be researched, e.g. conducting more research on environmental issues and promoting interdisciplinary studies that focus on sustainable practices.

WG Research Operations: The aim is to make research operations more sustainable. Accordingly, it raises the question “how” research should be conducted. It's about how labs (or working groups) can become more sustainable. 

WG Teaching: is dedicated to the task of developing proposals on how transformative skills for sustainability in the sense of the SDGs can be anchored as a cross-cutting topic in Heidelberg University's understanding of education.

WG Operations: develops measures on how the university can become a sustainable (learning) place and reduce its environmental impacts resulting from its day-to-day activities (e.g. energy consumption, waste management, water usage, and transportation). 

WG Transfer/Communication: is dedicated to the question of how communication can be further developed internally and externally with regard to sustainable topics and how sustainability transfer activities can be expanded.

The STT management would like to thank the members of the STT for their active participation! This was the most important prerequisite for a successful participatory process. In the period between November 2023 and December 2024, around 80 members from various status groups at Heidelberg University (administration, academia and student body) were involved in the STT. Of these, around 40 people took part in the working groups and contributed and discussed their ideas. 

The sustainability strategy paper is currently being reviewed by the Rectorate. For this reason, no working group meetings are taking place at the moment. Further information will follow as soon as the STT management has received feedback from the Rectorate.