Advancing sustainability and climate protection at universities together, intensifying dialogue and cooperation: That is the goal of the Sustainability Network of Lower Saxony's Universities (HochNiNa).
Last week, the members of the HochNiNa network, which was founded in 2018, met in Oldenburg, first on the premises of the university and on the second day at Jade University of Applied Sciences. A total of 16 universities in Lower Saxony belong to the network, which was founded in 2018.
"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, we naturally see it as our duty to keep our own emissions as low as possible. It is not for nothing that the University of Oldenburg has set itself the ambitious goal of being climate-neutral by 2030," explained University President Prof Dr Ralph Bruder at the opening of the conference.
One result of the previous network meeting in 2022 is currently about to be implemented: the universities had decided to submit a joint project proposal to the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment in order to achieve a standardised greenhouse gas balance. This project is now underway - as soon as it is finally approved, a member of staff will start work at the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research (COAST) at the University of Oldenburg in the summer and work for the entire network from there.
The topic of sustainability at universities touches on the areas of teaching, research, transfer and co-operation. In addition, there are the structures and processes that are necessary for sustainable management at a university, as well as operational topics such as energy saving, mobility and waste management. Due to their different structures and resources, universities in Lower Saxony have focussed on different aspects of sustainability in recent years and developed their own approaches. The network would like to benefit from this diversity of expertise and ideas and offer a platform for exchange. Anna Krämer, Climate Protection Manager at the University of Oldenburg, was also elected to the coordination team created for this purpose at the conference.
