More than just a word: Sustainability

H-BRS supports the socio-economic transformation of society and embeds sustainable thinking and action in all areas.

“We are trying to implement sustainability very broadly at the university – into teaching, research, transfer, the way in which we build and use energy, and also into campus life,” says University President Hartmut Ihne. “We want to support the transformation to an eco-social market economy. That’s why sustainability is more than just a word for us.” In July 2022, the university adopted its sustainability strategy to cement its commitment in all areas.

In the Sustainable Engineering degree programme, for instance, students can continue their education in environmental engineering and renewable energies or earn a sustainability certificate in a supplementary interdisciplinary programme.

Additional degree programmes in sustainability and the establishment of sustainability professorships are in planning.

Research projects revolve around topics such as transport systems for green hydrogen, sustainable mobility and using drones to reforest woodland that has been destroyed. H-BRS places great emphasis on involving the community in its research. “It’s only when you get everyone involved that things can happen,” says Wiltrud Terlau, Professor of Economics, Resilient and Sustainable Development. An example is the “Campus to World” project, which Terlau was involved in. From 2018 to 2022, it strengthened the transfer of knowledge among science, business, communities and civil society.

As part of implementing the sustainability strategy, H-BRS has been conferring an Innovation Award since 2022. It honours projects that strengthen cooperation between science, business and society in the region and beyond. The university itself is also becoming more sustainable. Fairtrade products are available in the cafeteria and dining hall, buildings at the Sankt Augustin campus are outfitted with solar panels and charging stations for e-vehicles have been installed. A particularly ambitious goal is the development of a carbon-neutral campus.

Greener studies: the campus garden

More sustainability and more relaxation – a campus garden, inspired and planned by students, ensures this. Five degree programmes and three departments developed the concept and helped put the plans into place. The result is an oasis of tranquillity and communal gardening. Workshops on sustainable gardening are held regularly. “In our heavily populated landscape, the garden plays an important role as an ecological habitat. With our garden project we want to support the students in shifting to a more sustainable way of eating,” says Iris Groß, Professor of Engineering Mechanics and Director of the Centre for Teaching Development and Innovation.

Innovation meetings

The innovation meetings also facilitate more networking since they support cooperation projects between researchers and companies. The initiator is the Centre for Science and Technology Transfer (ZWT). According to Fabian Tenk, Sustainability Innovation Manager at ZWT, the format has real potential. “In the best case, it will inspire new project ideas and joint research proposals.”

In 2022, the university invited representatives from business and science to the Innovation Meeting Circular Plastics Economy to discuss innovations in the plastic industry, such as using bio- and recycled plastics and addressing energy and resource efficiency. The meeting, which attracted almost 70 participants, had several co-organisers: the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Efficiency Agency NRW, the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg Plastics Initiative and the Troisdorf Plastics Competence Centre. Further meetings on the topic of sustainability are being planned.

Connected Rainland

It was awarded by a UN Decade and co-designed by H-BRS: the project Networked Rainland. Implementation partners are the European Animal Welfare and Nature Conservation Association (ETN), the International Centre for Sustainable Development of H-BRS (IZNE) and the Biological Station RheinSieg-Kreis. The title is a play on words, as some of the areas are “Raine”, the German word for marginal unploughed strips of fields. The project partners are supported by a cooperation of farmers, municipalities and other stakeholders. They want to dedicate suitable areas of municipalities in the Rhineland to insect conservation and develop a model for insect conservation in heavily-used cultivated landscapes to help endangered species. IZNE was involved in developing a concept for dialogue and communication between all stakeholders. “It was not easy to get all stakeholders on board. After all, six municipalities and some farmers are involved,” says IZNE Director Wiltrud Terlau. But it is only through them that the project is practical and promising. Current tasks include sowing areas with seeds and recruiting more farmers for the Networked Rainland.