To support the university’s efforts in the field of sustainability, representatives from all six Schools have established a new academic centre: the “Centre for Transformations and Sustainable Futures” (TRUST@UOL). Its purpose is to promote interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches and foster mutual exchange.
The aim is to pool activities and create synergies in order to continue the successful work of the COAST - Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research, which was founded back in 2004. The new centre places particular emphasis on a modern organisational structure. Ongoing research projects, teaching modules and co-operations will be further developed, and new projects initiated.
“We are pooling approaches and resources in environment-oriented research and teaching and emphasising the university’s focus on sustainability both nationally and internationally,” said Centre Director and Professor of Business Informatics Jorge Marx Gómez at the official opening of the new centre. “TRUST@UOL provides a networking platform for inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration amongst researchers and with numerous stakeholders from society.”
Sustainability as a cross-cutting theme
In the areas of research, teaching and knowledge transfer, the approximately 70 founding members aim to jointly advance various sustainability projects. The centre’s thematic priorities include, for example, issues relating to the environmentally friendly use of ecosystems, resilience and health, education for sustainable development, and the sustainable transformation of capital markets and organisations.
The focus is also on schools: after all, around 38 per cent of the university’s students are training to become teachers (as of the 2024/25 winter semester). “It is very important to us to raise awareness among trainee teachers of issues relating to the environment and sustainability, and to show them how they can bring this knowledge into the classroom,” says Ines Oldenburg, Deputy Director of the Centre and Research Director at the Institute of Educational Sciences. Research projects are also being planned that focus on the mental health and resilience strategies of children and young people in the face of current global challenges such as climate change and digitalisation. International research projects are also in the pipeline, for example with Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha (South Africa).
“At the University of Oldenburg, there are already many building blocks within the various research disciplines, and the COAST centre has carried out valuable work in this area over the past few years,” emphasises Marx Gómez. With TRUST@UOL, the university is taking the next steps towards presenting and communicating concrete solutions derived from research to society in the interests of sustainability. “New members are always welcome and can play an active role in the centre,” says Malena Ripken, Managing Director of TRUST@UOL.
