Networking

Networks and Initiatives

The picture shows four people in conversation. The people are smiling. One person is holding a note in their hand.
Martin Braun

DG HochN

In order to promote a more sustainable development of society and a more sustainable development of all universities, RWTH has joined the German Society for Sustainability at Higher Education Institutions (DG HochN).

This offers RWTH the opportunity to network with other active universities throughout Germany and to work together to develop a more sustainable university landscape and drive the transformation forward.

DG HochN supports universities that are committed to sustainable development and want to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals through science and practical application. It acts as a platform for universities to encourage dialogue and the sharing of sustainability expertise. The aim is to connect as many German higher education institutions as possible so they can all learn from one another and benefit from the experiences others have gained on sustainability issues.

16 Universities for Sustainability – Humboldtn

Humboldtn is a sustainability initiative that was formed by NRW universities in 2021. The initiative aims to drive efforts to make intergenerational responsibility, sustainability, and sustainable behavior an integral part of research, teaching and learning, administration, and infrastructure. RWTH Aachen University is one of the 16 universities in North Rhine-Westphalia that are part of the initiative.

Learn more

The picture shows the kick-off event of the Humboldt N initiative. Many people are standing in a large hall and talking to each other. Posters are scattered around the room.
Kick-off event of the Humboldt Initiative
WWU (Thomas Mohn)

IDEA League

The IDEA League is a strategic alliance of leading European universities of science and technology. Since its founding in 1999, the IDEA League has promoted collaboration between these universities through joint degree programs, research initiatives, strategy papers, and quality management initiatives. RWTH is actively engaged in achieving a sustainable campus as part of the IDEA League working group on “Climate and Sustainability”.

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UNISIMS

RWTH is one of the universities participating in the UNISIMS pilot project (University Sustainability Indicator Monitoring System) funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) to assess how sustainable different universities are. RWTH leverages its expertise to help develop performance indicators for the five university-specific fields of action – teaching and learning, research, knowledge transfer, operations, and governance.

The aim of the project is to develop a standardized web-based benchmark system for sustainability assessment at universities in a participatory process. Standardization is intended to make the continuous improvement process within the universities measurable and thus controllable.

 

Further Information
Networks for Sustainability at RWTH
Website of the DG HochN
Humboldtn Website