International Women's Day 2022
Equal opportunities and sustainability - a social task and also a university mission?

"The empowerment and participation of women and girls has a leverage effect on economic growth and development and is not only equitable, but also indispensable in economic and social terms"(Agenda 2030). What was anchored here in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals with regard to the three major sectors - ecology, economy and social affairs - is increasingly also reaching universities. Digitalisation and educational issues, environmental protection and economic compatibility and, last but not least, day-to-day administrative activities - to name just a few of the fields of research and action at a university today - often come into contact with sustainability issues. These are often located between the poles of resource efficiency and social justice, both of which also touch on the cross-cutting issue of equal opportunities.

On the occasion of this year's International Women's Day, perspectives and opportunities for networking both cross-cutting issues in the various university fields of action were presented and discussed. Prof Dr Ralph Bruder, President of the University of Oldenburg, gave the welcoming address.