Sustainable Development

This report is the first comprehensive record of all activities relating to sustainability – whether in teaching, research, operations, governance, or knowledge transfer. In preparing this report, the University’s sustainability-related activities and measures were recorded and topics for further development were identified.
The current status quo forms the basis for the continual and strategic development towards a more sustainable RWTH.

The Sustainability and University Governance staff unit has been established as a central hub for all questions and issues relating to sustainability at RWTH. It has a coordinating function and works with other departments and partners on promoting and improving the sustainable development of the University. All members of the University community thus have a central point of contact and can individually participate in sustainability developments and initiatives.

One milestone of this process was the participatory development and adoption of the RWTH Sustainability Mission Statement by the Senate. Within this mission statement, the entire University commits to embedding the topic of sustainability within the University in its three dimensions of environment, economy, and society, to strategically align its behavior toward the achievement of this goal, and to develop specific plans for a sustainable University in the form of a sustainability roadmap:

Our aim is to develop a vision for a sustainable RWTH through a participatory process, to create and implement a roadmap with concrete goals for RWTH, and to continuously review and develop these goals. In order to establish RWTH as a driving force for sustainable development in society, we have aligned our development goals with national as well as international frameworks that are based on the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

RWTH Sustainability Mission Statement

RWTH has made the first steps towards strengthening its efforts to create a more sustainable institution and thus to contribute to a more sustainable society. Together, the University will not only be able to build a sustainable future for itself, but also to make a contribution to a worthwhile future for the next generations.
This section of the report will discuss, in particular, opportunities for participation, objectives, incentive systems and processes to ensure the quality of results.

The Rectorate Delegates for Sustainability: Professor Aaron Praktiknjo, Professor Niklas von der Aßen, Professor Kathrin Greiff in front of a glass wall. Professor Praktiknjo in a blue suit with white shirt and light blue tie, Professor von der Aßen in a blue suit with white shirt and light blue tie, Professor Greiff in a dark blue sheath dress and black blazer. They smile into the camera. — The three rectorate delegates for sustainability at RWTH Aachen University. From left: Aaron Praktiknjo, Niklas von der Aßen, Kathrin Greiff

Sustainable development is becoming increasingly important in light of the growing challenges brought about by the climate crisis, resource shortages, and social inequalities. Current events are dramatically showing us the limits of our planet and the need to transform our social lives. Sustainability means responsibly using the environmental, economic, and social resources available to us so we can leave behind a world fit for future generations. This affects all areas of our lives and our economic activity, and is therefore the responsibility of society as a whole. Universities in particular have a special role to play as drivers of the sustainable transformation of our society – they educate future decision-makers, generate knowledge for and with societal actors and stakeholders, and serve as pioneering role models regionally, nationally, and internationally. As the largest technical university in Germany, RWTH is committed to acting in a sustainable manner with this responsibility in mind.

We are pleased to be able to support and shape the sustainable transformation of RWTH as the Rector's Delegates for Sustainability. Not only can we provide a variety of input on the topic based on our various professional backgrounds – we think that working in a team is essential for this topic in particular. It is only by working with you as members of the University and by considering as many perspectives as possible that we will be able to build a sustainable future.

RWTH intends to achieve this with the help of the GreenTeams that we manage and that were set up in 2021: Participation is open to all members of the University, and we would like to extend a heart-felt invitation to everyone to take part. We want to work together to develop a roadmap that sets out measures and projects that promote the strategic development toward an RWTH that is holistically sustainable in the areas of research, teaching, operations, and governance. In our pursuit of this goal, we will be expanding on the joint understanding and awareness that we, as a University, have formulated in the Sustainability Mission Statement. By connecting different disciplines and taking interdisciplinary approaches, we as a University can be pioneers on the journey towards a sustainable transformation of our society even beyond the walls of the University.

Together, we will be able to transform RWTH into a sustainable university for future generations, and we look forward to discussing this with you, hearing your ideas, and collaborating with you in pursuit of this goal.

Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat.	Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing.	Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Wirt.Ing.
Kathrin Greiff	Aaron Praktiknjo	Niklas von der Aßen
Department of Anthropogenic Material Cycles	Chair for Energy Systems Economics	Junior Professor for Sustainable Life Cycles in Energy, Chemical and Process Engineering

The circle diagram represents internal (inner dark blue circle) and external stakeholders (outer light blue ring) of universities. Integrated are persons (black font) and institutions (white font). Three white arrows connect the inner and outer part "Learning", top center, "Communication", bot-tom right, "Exchange", bottom left. Internal. Persons: University leadership, administrative staff, researchers, faculty, students, sustainability experts. Institutions: Senate, university council, staff council, faculties, institutes, stu-dent representatives/parliaments. Externally. Individuals: Future students and staff, alumni, civil society. Institutions: Non-university research institutions, research funding institutions, ministries, politics, conference of university/state rectors/ministers of education, Council for Sustainable Development, German UNESCO Commissi-on, United Nations, other universities, networks, think tanks, foundations, media, companies, non-governmental organizations. — Stakeholders of Universities I Source: Own representation based on Vogt, M., Lützke-Spatz, L. and Weber, C.F. (2018). Chapter: Understanding Sustainability in Education for Sustainable Development (esd) in University Teaching. BMBF Project "Sustainability at Universities: Develop – Network – Report (HOCHN)", Munich.

Participation and transparency are guiding principles for the sustainability processes at RWTH, with the aim of giving as many university members as possible the chance to participate.
Alongside communications (central sustainability inbox, social media channel, newsletter), the Sustainability and University Governance Staff Unit offers a range of different opportunities for members to have discussions and share their ideas. The objective here is to network the wide range of sustainability projects and initiatives and to establish a continual dialogue so that organizations, groups, and individuals can complement one another with their respective work on sustainability and thus create synergistic effects.

Various participatory formats have been established for the integration of these synergies into the development of a sustainability strategy as well as into concrete sustainability activities. In addition to the aforementioned Sustainability Round Table (see , which makes meetings between the Sustainability and University Governance Staff Unit and student sustainability initiatives more permanent, the following programs are designed to promote networking, participation, and collaborations among all members of the University:

Sustainability Sessions have been held on a weekly basis since November 2020, making it possible to contact the Sustainability and University Governance Staff Unit directly, to find out information, and/or to discuss any relevant issues.

To initiate the University-wide participatory process, the Rectorate invited representatives from all representative groups to the first Sustainability at RWTH workshop in March 2021. The over 100 participants included the student representatives in the Senate, AStA representatives, the Representative Council for Staff with Disabilities, the staff councils, professors, academic staff, as well as members of the Central University Administration. SWOT analyses were performed and objectives formulated in relation to sustainability at RWTH in four parallel working groups: Research – Science, Teaching – Learning, Operations, and Society – Internationalization – Social Affairs. The results were recorded in the summary of the workshop (PDF).

The working groups were then turned into the three permanent GreenTeams: Teaching and Learning, Research, and Operations in order to take into account the expertise and impetus from the entire University during the development of a roadmap and to ensure a participatory sustainability process. Headed up by the Rector's Delegates for Sustainability, the GreenTeams are open to all university members. They meet once per semester, while the project-related working groups meet on a more regular basis.

The adoption of the Sustainability Mission Statement was also the result of a participatory consultation and voting process in which all university members could submit their ideas as well as any suggestions for changes in an open consultation process. Before it was passed in the Senate, all university members received the revised mission statement draft to enable an open discussion.

The high value placed on the participatory options and transparency not only aims to ensure that all University members have an opportunity to get involved, but is also intended to increase the extent to which we identify with RWTH as our place of teaching, learning, and working. All ideas that develop the University and make it more sustainable in terms of teaching, research, knowledge transfer, operations, and/or governance are welcome.

The graphic also consists of 5 rectangular boxes, each connected to the next box by dark blue ar-rows on both sides. On the left, one third wide, over the whole height medium blue box, dark blue heading in the box - overlapping control. Below, 5 light blue boxes, from the top: Management, Analysis, Orientation, Awareness, Transfer. The two right thirds are filled with boxes in three levels. At the top are two boxes. On the left, coordi-nation and design: Sustainability and University Governance Office, AStA Sustainability and Student Engagement Office, Rectorate Sustainability Officer. Right: University management. Middle middle blue box Networking with two boxes inside. General coordination, topic-related coor-dination. Bottom middle blue box with five headings and assigned operational approaches. External actors, research, teaching, operations, students. — Stakeholders, Tasks, and Measures in the Design of the Sustainability Process I Source: Own representation based on Bormann, I.; Rieckmann, M.; Bauer, M.; Kummer, B.; Niedlich, S.; Doneliene, M.; Jaeger, L.; Rietzke, D. (2020): Sustainability Governance at Universities. BMBF project "Sustainability at Universities: Develop – Network – Report (HOCHN)", Berlin and Vechta.

The goal of an internal RWTH sustainability process is to jointly develop and coordinate a sustainability roadmap with measurable objectives for the University. Existing individual objectives and (planned) measures are to be integrated into this roadmap in order to ensure our transition toward a more sustainable university thanks to the valuable input from all University groups.
To date, individual objectives have been formulated in various contexts for individual areas, with some taking the form of cross-university objectives. The following table shows a selection of these sustainability-related objectives.

Topic		Objectives	Timescale	Source
Governance		To review existing strategies for alignment with the Sustainability Mission Statement; to integrate the aspect of ‘sustainability’ if not yet explicitly addressed	Medium-term	University members Consultation of Sustainability Mission Statement
		To develop a sustainability roadmap	Medium-term	Sustainability Mission Statement
		To develop and implement integrated solutions for a more sustainable RWTH in all spheres of action	Ongoing	Sustainability workshop
		To strategically use (international) partnerships in order to work on topics relating to sustainability	Ongoing
		To create (meeting) spaces for sharing ideas; a forum for people to ask questions	Medium-term
		To develop RWTH’s sustainability objectives and communicate these with transparency	Short-term, Ongoing
		To increase awareness for the topic of sustainability in all areas	Ongoing
		To establish sustainability skills and the recognition of sustainability as a cross-cutting task among students, managers, and staff	Ongoing
Research		To make research more sustainable, to embed the topic of sustainability in all faculties and Profile Areas, to take it into consideration in research projects, and to provide solutions for a sustainable transformation of our society	Long-term, Ongoing	Sustainability Mission Statement
		To recognize one’s own contributions to/activities relating to sustainability (SDGs matrix/projects)	Short-term	Sustainability workshop
		To independently apply the findings of one’s own research to the topic of sustainability where possible	Medium-term, Ongoing	Sustainability workshop
Teaching – Learning		To embed the topic of sustainability in all degree programs	Long-term, Ongoing	Sustainability Mission Statement
		To place a stronger focus on the ability of students and teaching staff to drive forward the development of solutions through innovative ideas	Long-term, Ongoing	Sustainability Mission Statement
		To develop a phased plan that - Controls the integration of sustainability in the curricula - Incorporates sustainability perspectives in all courses	Medium-term, Ongoing	Sustainability workshop
		To work towards embedding “Future Skills” in the degree programs (core elective section, e.g. 10-15 CP)	Medium-term	Sustainability workshop
		To integrate the aspect of ‘sustainability’ in the online degree program descriptions	Medium-term	Int. project
		To guarantee at least 75% of the students who start a degree program graduate from it	Long-term	Teaching concept – Students at the Focus Of Excellence
	Digitalization	To supplement courses with virtual formats (where appropriate) and to make it easier for students to also acquire skills outside of regular studies; to integrate virtual teaching into the teaching-learning culture with the aim of systematically increasing the quality of teaching	by 2023	Digitalization strategy for teaching
	Digitalization	To make it possible for final theses to be submitted in a virtual format	Medium-term	Working group for the virtual submission of final theses
Operations	Greenhouse gases, resources	To reduce the consumption of environmental resources in the pursuit of climate neutrality by 2030, based on a comprehensive carbon footprint analysis	Ongoing	Sustainability Mission Statement
	Culture	To actively work toward a responsible and inclusive co-existence	Ongoing	Sustainability Mission Statement
	Energy	To convert purchased energy to sustainable energy sources	By 2030	Sustainability workshop
	Grounds maintenance	To create additional green spaces and promote biodiversity on campus	Short-term, Ongoing
	Collaborations	To increase collaborations with Studierendenwerk, particularly with food and housing	Short-term, Ongoing
	Health	To provide measures that promote and ensure physical and mental wellbeing	Ongoing
	Mobility	To collaborate with the City of Aachen to develop guidelines for targeted and responsible mobility	Medium-term
	Mobility	To gradually convert the vehicle fleet to more sustainable vehicle types (in particular grounds maintenance, mail delivery, city driving)	Medium-term	Rectorate decision regarding sustainability
	Mobility	To create protected parking areas for (valuable) bicycles	Kurz- bis mittelfristig	Mobility working group
		To encourage the provision of charging options to cover the needs of electric vehicle and electromobility by upgrading the charging infrastructure	Short-term, Ongoing
		To reduce or replace mobility within the University (e.g. trips by car)	Short-term
	Construction, energy	To achieve CO2 savings of at least 20% by investing in energy supply infrastructure, systems technology, and the building shell in the next 8 years	Medium-term	Agreement for more environmentally friendly public buildings in Aachen
		Renovation rate of at least 2% per year (of net floor space) by 2030	Medium-term
		To create an action plan to improve energy efficiency as part of maintenance work	Short-to-medium-term
		To implement measures designed to influence user behavior, e.g. conserving energy at the workplace	Short-term, Ongoing
	Energy	To monitor and record all energy flows	Ongoing	Annual energy report
		To install an energy management system	Short-term, Ongoing
		To make prognoses and create decision-making tools as well as energy and emission reports	Ongoing
		To initiate local energy analyses in buildings with high energy consumption values and to drive forward the implementation of energy-saving measures	Short-term, Ongoing
		To monitor the RWTH supply networks and buildings	Medium-term, Ongoing
		To create energy usage certificates to inform and motivate users	Medium-term
		To adapt energy use in line with requirements and to carry out expansion planning for the energy supply	Ongoing
		To develop a cost accounting system	Medium-term
	Procurement	To change as many processes as possible from paper to virtual formats, e.g. by designing a virtual version of the order slip	Medium-term, Ongoing	Sustainable Procurement leaflet
		To include and record sustainability aspects related to the procurement of deliveries and services during market surveys, and to take these aspects into account when creating a description of services to be rendered, such as with regard to the environment, ethics, social issues, workers’ rights, etc.	Short-term, Ongoing	Sustainable Procurement leaflet
		To increase the inclusion of sustainability criteria and certificates in tendering procedures	Short-term	Rectorate decision regarding sustainability
	Disposal	To develop specific waste concepts for individual locations	Medium-term	Disposal working group

Continuous Improvement Process

Sustainability is to be increasingly considered in all spheres of action, processes, and projects at RWTH in the future.

These spheres of action are already addressed in some strategies. The University’s social responsibility, for example, is already embedded in the internationalization strategy and is also taken into account in the current revision of the teaching strategy and teaching process map in the area of teaching and learning. This development must be promoted and implemented as a matter of course across the entire University in order to ensure that sustainability is embedded consciously and continually in accordance with the Sustainability Mission Statement.

Incentive systems can be set up to promote and accelerate this process. One example of these types of measures is the Special Teaching Award for Sustainability, which is discussed in the Teaching – Learning section.

Another central incentive structure is the Sustainability Fund set up by University Management. This budget encourages investments that lead to a sustainable reduction of energy, materials, or water consumption, for example, or investments that are aimed at conservation measures or measures designed to change the habits and behavior of university members.

With the Sustainability Fund, the Rectorate is sending a clear signal as to its priorities while also reinforcing its efforts to make RWTH more sustainable and to develop the University as a future-proof organization.
All University members can submit suggestions individually or as a group (e.g. student initiatives).

The quality of the results of efforts in the area of sustainability is reviewed and developed as part of an ongoing improvement process.
Participation and transparency are to be continually increased to improve the quality of the sustainability process and to allow for an independent evaluation of the quality of the results. This is intended to allow for and encourage critical and open dialog at all times.

The scientific expertise at the University also puts the sustainable development of RWTH to the test, whether in the form of student projects or additional collaborative partnerships. Everyone is encouraged to actively participate and hopefully inspire others beyond the University.