Leuphana presents seventh sustainability report

2022-07-04 Lüneburg. Only a few of the more than 500 universities in the German-speaking world have documented their own development from the point of view of sustainability. Leuphana University Lüneburg is now presenting its seventh sustainability report. On 60 pages, it reflects the consistent further development of the sustainability concept in all areas of the university and provides comprehensive figures, data and facts on the topics of research, education, society and region as well as campus operations. Leuphana is considered a role model in sustainability issues. It has already received several awards for its innovative environmental management.

Photovoltaic systems on the roofs, city bikes at the entrances, charging stations for electric cars or organic food in the refectory: it quickly becomes clear to campus visitors that Leuphana has put sustainability at the top of its agenda. Less obvious are projects such as the "climate-neutral campus", energy supply through green electricity or the voluntary environmental management system according to EMAS. However, they are just as much a part of the university's comprehensive sustainability concept as relevant study programmes and research projects.

Leuphana has the first and so far only sustainability faculty in the German-speaking world. The university offers ten study programmes on the topic of sustainability in the College, Graduate and Professional School. All Bachelor students deal with sustainability issues in their first semester at the university. During an annual conference week, they present their work results to the public. Most recently, the topic was the question of a new social contract.

Leuphana's commitment to sustainability always has an impact beyond the campus: together with the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg, the university was successful in the "City of the Future 2030+" competition organised by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Currently, the visions for a sustainable city in 2030 developed by students, scientists and practitioners are being tested in practice and scientifically examined in 15 so-called real experiments.

Leuphana has been certified according to the European environmental management system EMAS since 2000, has been climate-neutral on its own since 2014, has been recognised as a family-friendly university since 2013 and received the award as a Fairtrade University in 2016. In 2016, Leuphana was the first university to submit its declaration of conformity for the sustainability report to the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) and received a positive audit result. The report is also based on the ISCN/GULF Sustainable Campus Charter.

The sustainability report and a magazine on the sustainability report, which uses interesting and illustrative examples to show how sustainability is lived at the university, are available on the internet at www.leuphana.de/en/university/history/sustainable.html