Climate protection at universities: Freiberg starts groundbreaking project!

Climate protection at universities: Freiberg starts groundbreaking project!

In 2025, the “Future Forum for Climate-Friendly Universities (ZKH)” project began its work to promote sustainability at universities in Germany. The TU Bergakademie Freiberg has prepared a comprehensive status report on its status in terms of sustainability and climate protection. This report covers several areas of activity such as governance, teaching, research, transfer as well as campus and operations, and shows that the university is classified as a “resource university”. The aim of the project is to develop a climate protection concept during the duration of the project, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10%, reports TU Freiberg.

The TU has already identified potential for improvement in the areas of governance and campus operations. An internal team has designed a catalog of measures, which was developed in collaboration with various stakeholders and through a digital idea box. This platform enables members of the university to actively participate in the development of measures to improve sustainability. A planned face-to-face workshop in Freiberg is intended to represent the highlight of this development of measures.

Participation and cooperation

In addition to the efforts of the TU Freiberg, an interim conference will take place in Eberswalde on September 13, 2024, bringing together experts and students from twelve universities in Germany. The conference will address the topic of “climate protection at universities” and will provide a platform for creating a comprehensive status report that will serve as a basis for future climate protection concepts such as this Future Forum explained.

The project aims to put most of the over 400 universities in Germany, which have so far only marginally prioritized climate protection, on a faster course. The focus is on a participatory process to promote the inclusion of all status groups, including students, university management and regional actors. Universities should not only reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, but also implement long-term, comprehensive climate protection concepts.

Measures and structures

Another important aspect of the project is the creation of a “ZkH knowledge pool”, which is designed as a wiki and offers universities an overview of sustainable transformation approaches. Digital expert input is also provided, which includes open events on various topics such as “student participation” and “building management”. These inputs are accessible to anyone interested.

The project will run for three years, from August 1st, 2023 to July 31st, 2026. It is funded by Zukunft - Umwelt - Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH and is supported by an independent advisory committee that holds regular meetings to evaluate and advise on the project measures. Through the planned activities, the ZKH is not only aiming for formal adjustments, but also a comprehensive embedding of sustainability in the university, as in the recommendations for action University of Bremen indicated. The aim is to create a sustainable future for educational institutions in Germany.