“Universities and higher education institutions bear a special responsibility for transforming society towards a more sustainable development. They can make a decisive contribution to sustainable development with their research. Most importantly, they also educate and train our society’s decision makers of tomorrow. Not least, this is why they should act as a role model with their own institutional actions on campus by maintaining sustainable operations”, emphasizes Hemmer. In her position as the Chairholder of Geography Didactics that she held since 1991, she had the chance to stand up for this topic in research and teaching in a special committed way. This is especially true in view of the fact that the subject of Geography has a special affinity for sustainability questions due to its focus on the relationships between humans and the environment.
Originally, Professor Hemmer had planned to hold her farewell lecture in April this year. Unfortunately, it had to be postponed in view of the current situation and is now expected to be held in the winter semester. Hemmer says that the corona pandemic also has an effect on the public awareness for the topic of sustainability. Before the corona crisis, the “Fridays for Future” movement increased public awareness for scientific findings on climate change and species extinction. Hopefully, this trend will continue after the corona crisis eases off. The crisis itself also holds a lot of potential for strengthening the transformation towards a more sustainable society.
Ingrid Hemmer’s commitment for sustainability has not only proven successful for the KU – the institution was the first German university to be awarded the EMASplus certificate – but also promoted networking activities between different universities in this field. During her term of office, both the KU and the network “Hochschule und Nachhaltigkeit Bayern”, to which she is a co-initiator, were awarded sustainability prizes by the UNESCO Commission several times. Hemmer was also actively committed to address sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the higher educational landscape throughout Germany. In January this year, the KU hosted an expert conference on the qualification for sustainability in higher education teaching.
A glance at the institution’s new overall sustainability concept also shows how the awareness for sustainability has developed over the past years: While the version that was published in 2010 only comprised the three topic areas of research, teaching and campus management, the new concept that was defined for the period until 2030 contains additional objectives for the areas of governance, transfer and student initiatives & commitment. The concept can be seen as a long-term strategy for increasing the awareness for sustainable development topics among KU employees and students as future decision makers. The concept seeks to provide a comprehensive toolbox for enabling students to shape sustainable development processes. “Structural anchoring of the topic will be enhanced and the fields of research and teaching will receive increased support in working towards implementing sustainable development further. My vision is that in ten years’ time, the KU will have developed a clear distinguishing sustainability profile in research and that KU students do not graduate from this University without having acquired the ability and skills for engaging in sustainable development processes”, says Hemmer.
Further information on the University’s commitment for sustainability is available at www.ku.de/nachhaltigkeit.
Interview with Prof. Dr. Ingrid Hemmer
What is your personal intrinsic motivation and relationship to the topic of sustainability – also in connection with your position as a lecturer for the didactics of geography?
In the 1980s, the topic of forest dieback made me sit up and get active in environmental policy. Later, different encounters have increased my intercultural and global awareness. For me, both fields ended up in the necessity of getting active and standing up for sustainable development. In my position as a lecturer for the didactics of geography, I had the chance to focus on this topic in-depth in research and teaching. In the field of geography, many questions deal with the relationships between humans and the environment in different places around the globe. Therefore, this topic area has a special connection and affinity for sustainable development. Geography education is one of the main spaces of manifestation of Education for Sustainable Development and aims to impart the competence to design our actions in a way that they are socially and environmentally fair. So, it seems reasonable to establish this as a focus area in research and teaching.
The term “sustainability” as such dates back more than 300 years. What value and significance is attributed to the topic in society and politics nowadays? How have the awareness for and identification with sustainability and the concept of sustainability changed over time?
Today, society generally attaches great importance to the topic of sustainable development. Before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, public attention and awareness saw a tremendous increase thanks to the FFF demonstrations and the alarming scientific findings on climate change and loss of biodiversity. Now, all this was overshadowed by the corona issue; but it is very likely that the topic will be back on the agenda once the corona crisis is over. Unfortunately, the topic seems to be less important for politicians – we definitely need more awareness in this field. Often, the topic of sustainability is pushed aside for economic interests. While rhetorically, everyone says that we generally need sustainable development, the objective is de facto not pursued with the required assertiveness.
What is the specific role of universities and higher education institutions in this context?
Universities and higher education institutions bear a special responsibility for transforming society towards a more sustainable development. They can make a decisive contribution to sustainable development with their research practice. Most importantly, they also educate and train our society’s decision makers of tomorrow. Not least, this is why they should act as a role model with their own institutional actions on campus by maintaining sustainable operations.
How would you assess the development at the KU when compared to other universities in Germany?
The KU has set out on its journey to become a more sustainable university in 2010 and has since then followed a whole-institution approach. It has come a long way since and is one of the pioneer sustainability institutions in Germany, together with Leuphana and Nachhaltige Hochschule Eberswalde and a few other institutions.
The first sustainability concept at the KU was adopted in 2010. Ten years later, a new concept was drafted that contains objectives until 2030. What has the KU achieved so far and where do you see the KU in ten years’ time?
The KU has made significant progress on its path towards sustainability. In particular, its sustainability campus management EMASplus and its sustainability reporting is exemplary, a fact that was also confirmed by an external evaluation in 2019. The new concept contains objectives for six fields of action that shall be reached by 2030: Governance, research, teaching, operations, transfer, and student initiatives & commitment. Structural anchoring of the topic will be enhanced and the fields of research and teaching will receive increased support in working towards implementing sustainable development further. My vision is that in ten years’ time, the KU will have developed a clear distinguishing sustainability profile in research and that KU students do not graduate from this University without having acquired the ability and skills for engaging in sustainable development processes.