Latest news
Latest news
Admission notifications for the new SEM class of 2026/27 have been sent out
The admissions committee met on 17 July and offers of admission have now been sent out to prospective new SEM students. We look forward to welcoming the new class of students, who will begin their SEM programme in the 2026/27 winter semester. The examination regulations have been amended in specific areas for the coming winter semester, meaning that students now have a wide range of new supplementary modules for selection. In addition, the new compulsory module ‘Plural Perspectives on Economics and Corporate Sustainability’ will be offered in the first semester.
The SEM | WCM | NÖK student body is becoming the FS Sustainability
From today, our student body (FS) and our Student Council (FSR) will operate under the names FS Sustainability and FSR Sustainability. This is in response to the reorganisation and renaming of the Water and Coastal Management (WCM) programme to Sustainable Marine and Coastal Management. At the same time, we are laying the groundwork – including through our name – to incorporate a new degree programme into our student body in the near future. With the new name, we are highlighting what unites our three current degree programmes: sustainability.
Apart from the names and the updated logo, however, everything else remains the same. We will continue to be here for you as the FSR to answer any questions and help with any problems, and we’ll organise the odd event where we can all get together. Plans are currently underway for Orientation Week, when we’ll once again be welcoming our new first-year students. You can find more information on our first-year students’ subpage.
Best wishes and good luck with all your upcoming written exams, presentations and assignments!
Your FSR Sustainability
"Impact & Insights - Sustainability in the job" #7
To kick off the summer semester, we are delighted to welcome SEM alumna Nele Feldkamp and Jule Hüneke on 19 May 2026. Both work as community and event managers at the German Climate Foundation. There, they are primarily responsible for the YES! Young Economic Solutions project, a school competition for economically sustainable solutions run in collaboration with researchers from across Germany. More broadly, the foundation is committed to climate education and dialogue both at home and abroad.
No registration is required – we look forward to seeing you there! If you’d like to stay up to date, please feel free to sign up for the relevant event https://elearning.uni-oldenburg.de/dispatch.php/course/overview?cid=519e648534b15879ca1c07068103f9d2 on Stud.IP.
"Impact & Insights - Sustainability at work" is entering its final round for this semester!
As the last highlight of this semester, we welcomed Johann Tölle to our discussion and networking format "Impact & Insights - Sustainability at Work" on 8 January 2026. Johann Tölle is Junior ESG Manager at Builtech Holding GmbH, a group of over 30 trade companies operating in the technical building services sector (TGA, in particular electrical engineering, HVAC and building envelope) in the DACH region and Sweden. As part of the three-person ESG team, Johann Tölle provided exciting insights into his expertise - particularly in group-wide GHG accounting, sustainability reporting, diversity measures and circular economy approaches.
With this successful conclusion, we look forward to welcoming you again next semester!
"Impact & Insights - Sustainability in the job" #5
On 27 November 2025, we welcomed SEM alumna Annika Strehl to our discussion and networking format "Impact & Insights - Sustainability on the Job". Annika works as Junior Sustainability Manager at Bültel Worldwide Fashion Group GmbH & Co. KG and was able to successfully give us an insight into what sustainability looks like in a fashion group. The Bültel Group produces and sells clothing, shoes and other fashion products worldwide.
The event was rounded off with an open discussion and Q&A session.
Stay up to date and register on Stud.IP for the event 2.12.050 Impact & Insights - Sustainability at work.
Sophie Berg and Hendrik Wolter win the teaching prize
Sophie Berg and Hendrik Wolter were once again honoured with the 2025 Teaching Award for their course: "Decisions under uncertainty: making the dilemmas of sustainability tangible in a playful way". The innovative concept combines serious games with reflective discussions and teaches students complex decision-making processes and important soft skills - with lasting success.
Here, the award winners introduce themselves and their event:
"Impact & Insights - Sustainability on the job" enters its second round!
The discussion and networking series “Impact & Insights – Sustainability at Work” is launching a new series for the 2025/26 winter semester to great acclaim. Our aim is to make sustainability in the workplace a tangible and real experience through direct dialogue between students and industry experts.
To mark the start of the semester, we are delighted to welcome Cathrin Westermann as our advisor on 23 October 2025. She brings a wealth of experience to the table: as a former sustainability consultant for banks and companies in the agri-food industry, she is familiar with the challenges facing a wide range of economic sectors. Today, she works as a sustainability advisor at Alterric, a joint venture between EWE AG and the Aloys Wobben Foundation. With over 2,400 megawatts of installed capacity in its own portfolio, Alterric is one of the largest onshore green electricity producers in Central Europe. Ms Westermann will provide fascinating insights into her work and discuss the preparation of the company’s first sustainability report.
The event will conclude with an open discussion and Q&A session.
Stay up to date and sign up on Stud.IP for the event 2.12.050 Impact & Insights – Sustainability at Work.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Summer Semester 2025 Wrap-up
Before we kick off the next semester with O-Week, new faces and fresh energy, we’d like to take a brief look back at the past few months. After all, the 2025 summer semester really did have a lot to offer. It all kicked off, as is our tradition, with RO Week. Coming together, catching up and taking part in various activities (from litter-picking to games nights) – the perfect way to get the semester off to a good start.
In May, Jakob and Jasna set off for the Federal Conference of Student and Faculty Representatives in Bayreuth. There, they met other student bodies from all over Germany, shared experiences and took part in various workshops.
A real highlight was our student council trip to the Lebensgarten Steyerberg. The mix of nature, community and fascinating insights into alternative ways of living and working inspired us all and sparked plenty of discussion.
At the end of June, we held our FSR team-building event, where we got together for various games and a picnic on the Dobbenwiesen.
There was plenty of sport too: 1. FC SEM/WCM/NÖK secured a fantastic second place in the Uniliga. Congratulations to everyone who took to the pitch!
We rounded off the semester with our summer party, before some of us headed abroad or, having finished their studies, moved to another city to work. Or simply off to the Apple Tree Garden Festival, where we were once again well represented with two camps of current members and alumni, and didn’t let the mud and rain spoil our fun.
We’re looking forward to seeing what the new semester has in store for us.
Hands on NachDenkstatt: Sustainability you can touch - A review and outlook
While politicians and society wrestle over climate targets and transformation, the NachDenkstatt 2024 showed how change begins in a very practical way. From 1 to 3 November, the University of Oldenburg offered space for discussions, ideas and tangible approaches to the ecological handprint - the positive counterpart to the footprint - under the motto "Hands On". Instead of just reducing one's own consumption, the aim here is to actively initiate positive changes through conscious action.
From 1 to 3 November 2024, the University of Oldenburg was all about sustainable transformation. Under the motto "Hands On", the NachDenkstatt 2024 invited students, experts and interested parties to not only discuss sustainability, but to experience it in practice. The centrepiece was the ecological handprint - the positive counterpart to the well-known ecological footprint.
In three workshops, each with two alternatives on offer, participants were able to analyse different aspects of sustainable action. The spectrum ranged from personal areas of life to global issues.
- Hands on - The concept of the ecological handprint introduced the idea of how individual and collective action can measurably contribute to positive effects.
- Hamster wheel or good life - what are you working for? examined the transformation of the world of work towards a post-growth society and discussed how meaningful work can be organised within planetary boundaries.
- The workshop Less becomes More scrutinised current building and housing concepts and looked for sustainable alternatives in architecture and urban planning.
- Regional supply chains scrutinised the food market and examined what "regional" really means and where supposed proximity also harbours pitfalls.
- Besser miteinander reden provided participants with tools for constructive dialogue - from family celebrations to social debate.
- Finally,After Work looked at the role of work itself and asked about life models beyond the classic logic of employment.
The workshops made it clear that sustainable action offers many starting points - from the choice of workplace and the use of language to questions of construction and consumption.
As in previous years, numerous students from the Sustainability Economics & Management degree programme were once again involved in the event - whether in event logistics, content preparation or catering for the guests. Some SEM students also took part in this 11th NachDenkstatt, which once emerged from the SEM degree programme.
While the NachDenkstatt 2024 left the participants with new ideas and tangible strategies, our team is already looking ahead: planning for 2025 is underway. Anyone who would like to take part in exciting workshops or contribute their own ideas is welcome to do so. After all, the NachDenkstatt thrives on joint design - and on the fact that many people lend a hand to create something great.
Of course, you can also simply be there as a participant when the NachDenkstatt opens its doors again on 24 and 25 October 2025, this time under the overarching theme of "Space for Inclusion".
Information on tickets and workshops will soon be available on the website(www.nachdenkstatt.de/) on Instagram (@nachdenkstatt) and LinkedIn.
Practical experience - On an excursion to Copenhagen and Hiddensee
As part of the SEM & WCM degree programme, it is always possible to take part in excursions and thus gain insights into practice. In the following, we would like to share a few impressions that students were able to gather on excursions to Copenhagen and Hiddensee as part of two modules.
Excursion "Sustainable urban development" to Copenhagen from 3 to 7 March 2025
In March, students from the WCM and SEM degree programmes set off to Copenhagen with Prof. Ingo Mose as part of the "Urban development, water management and climate crisis" module to get to know the Danish capital better.
One of the highlights was a visit to the Danish Museum of Architecture. The current trends in Scandinavian architecture, which combine sustainability and functional design, were exhibited there. Dealing with the consequences of climate change is also central to this. This raises the question of what architecture should look like when sea levels rise.
In general, however, Copenhagen also faces other challenges. The Skybrudsplan was therefore developed to protect against heavy rain and flooding.
Everywhere in the city there are drainage channels to well-networked underground facilities for draining water, parks can serve as retention areas and streets are built in such a way that they function like rivers/pipelines in an emergency. Copenhagen has already found interesting solutions here that can certainly be transferred to other cities.
The guided tour of CopenHill, the modern ski facility on a power station, was just as impressive. Of course, a bike tour through Copenhagen and over the rooftops of the city was not to be missed.
In between, there were coffee breaks with cardamom croissants. In the evening, there were beers, games and knitting sessions in the hostel bar.
Excursion "Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft National Park" to Hiddensee from 7 to 11 April 2025
Another excursion we would like to report on here took place as part of the Nature Conservation in Practice module, which consists of a seminar and an excursion.
"In spring, we went to the Baltic Sea island of Hiddensee. This is part of the Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft National Park, so we were able to see for ourselves how tourism and nature conservation go together. We had various meetings, for example with a national park ranger or the honorary mayor and the spa director of Hiddensee. We learnt how the island came into being and how it is still changing today, both in terms of nature and form as well as culturally.
We were accommodated in the Biological Station of the University of Greifswald, which we were then able to support with a work assignment. In cooperation with the head of the Biological Station, we picked up the Rootslayer (a tool that combines a shovel and a saw) and set about removing invasive plants and small trees from the heathland in order to preserve it.
In addition to the work, there was plenty of time for games evenings and excursions (by bike) around the island. We hiked to both lighthouses, visited the local history museum and the national park centre. Of course we had an ice cream or fun drink on the beach in the afternoon - and a sea buckthorn spritzer is a must on the island (even if, as we learnt, the sea buckthorn on the island is now affected by disease and is becoming rare).
All in all, we can look back on an exciting week with lots of different insights, including island talk (of which we were also a little part ourselves). We would also like to apologise once again to the island kiosk for the excessive consumption of bananas."
