HochNiNa
HochNiNa
The Sustainability Network of Lower Saxony's Universities (HochNiNa) was established in 2018 with the aim of promoting dialogue and cooperation between those responsible for sustainability at universities in Lower Saxony. It aims to give them a common voice in order to expand sustainability at the state's universities.
In addition to operational issues such as energy saving, mobility or waste, sustainability at universities also includes teaching, research, transfer and co-operation, as well as the structures and processes required for sustainability at a university and reporting.
Due to their different structures and resources, universities in Lower Saxony have set very different priorities and developed very different approaches to "sustainability and universities" in recent years. The network aims to benefit from this diversity of expertise and ideas and offer a platform for dialogue on specific issues. It also serves as a source of new inspiration and opportunities to reflect on one's own work.
The network works in several thematic working groups.
The next annual conference will take place in Braunschweig in 2025, organised by the Green Office of the Technische Universität Braunschweig.
Member universities
The participating universities are currently:
- Technical University Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig
- Braunschweig University of Fine Arts
- Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences
- Georg-August University Göttingen
- Leibniz University Hanover
- Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts
- Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
- University of Veretinary Medicine
- University of Hildesheim
- Leuphana University Lüneburg
- Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg
- University of Osnabrück
- University of Vechta
- Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences
- Clausthal University of Technology
- Jade University of Applied Sciences
The network is open to all universities in Lower Saxony.
Contact persons
Coordination team of the network
- Anna Krämer, Universität Oldenburg
- Katalin Kuse, Universität Hildesheim
- Marco Lange, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
The coordination team is elected at the annual network meeting for a term of 2 years.
Third-party funded project COUNTS
Since August 2023, the HochNiNa network has been implementing the project "COUNTS - Standardisation, further development and communication of greenhouse gas emissions from universities in Lower Saxony". The aim of the three-year project, which is funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment, is to enable, simplify and standardise greenhouse gas accounting for universities in Lower Saxony.
Report on the 2023 network meeting in Oldenburg
The 2023 network meeting took place on the 19th and 20th in Oldenburg and was jointly organised by the University of Oldenburg and the Jade University of Applied Sciences. The meeting brought together 15 sustainability and climate protection officers from 12 universities in Lower Saxony. During two lively, labour-intensive days, the next goals and steps of the network were discussed and further cooperation was structured in the form of working groups on specific topics and project content.
On Wednesday 19 April, the network representatives were welcomed by Prof. Dr Ralph Bruder, President of the University of Oldenburg, together with Mr Stahlmann, Vice President for Finance and Administration. "As universities, we have a special responsibility when it comes to the ecologically sustainable use of resources and climate protection. We are called upon to contribute to solving this global problem with our research - and at the same time, of course, we see it as our duty to minimise our own emissions," said Bruder.
The University of Oldenburg is represented in the network's coordination team by climate protection manager Anna Sarah Krämer.
(Image copyright: University of Oldenburg)
