The Eichstätt Climate Garden is situated in the former Kapuzinergarten. In 2010, there were plans to turn the garden into a public parking lot. Luckily, this fate could be averted. Ever since, the site has been hosting a community garden, the so-called "Kapuzinergarten Eden". This organic garden belonging to the University is farmed by the working group AG Kapuzinergarten Eden cooperatively and self-reliantly. The group consists of KU students and Eichstätt citizens.

In a cooperative project of the Center for Teacher Training of the KU (ZLB), of the Didactics of Biology department. the Climate Garden Eichstätt team and the association "Ackerdemia", future teachers cultivate fields and take care of plants while learning in digital classes, how they might themselves hold such seminars with their future students and teach them basic concepts of nature.

Here you can get to the website of the Kapuzinergarten Eden team!

Since 2019, "Jesuit Worldwide Learning" in cooperation with the KU has offered special online-classes „Learning Facilitator“ for gifted young people in refugee camps and crises zones. Men and women from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Malawi and India are enrolled as KU students. JWL wants to give young people that don't have university access new hope and a career perspective.

Here you can find a flyer on the certificate course "Learning-Facilitator" (in German).

In the course "Service Learning at the Margins - Online teaching in refugee camps worldwide", KU students are encouraged by experienced KU lecturers to take a close look at the contents and didactic presentation of the "Learning Facilitator" program. They then use the content and teaching materials they have created to teach online in that class and evaluate participants according to certain criteria.

In order to tackle the climate crisis, eradicate poverty, hunger and inequality in the world and, in connection with this, fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), universities and colleges also bear a responsibility. They can explore approaches to solutions and empower young people as multipliers to shape a more sustainable future. The project "Senatra - Service Learning und nachhaltige Transformation an Hochschulen" (Senatra - Service Learning and Sustainable Transformation at Universities), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, is investigating the contribution that can be made specifically by linking student engagement with university teaching in order to advance a sustainable transformation. This is a joint project of KU with the University of Vechta, the University of Bremen, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and "netzwerk n".
 
Visit our project page for more information.

In 2011, "KUganda - challenge education in Uganda" was initiated by KU President Gien. KUganda is an educative project of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt that aims at getting students in contact with different education contexts early on in their training. One the one hand, they get a clear view of the global challenge of education justice and on the other hand, the program facilitates joint learning across different cultures. In classrooms in Kampala, students master challenging situations, develop creative problem-solving strategies and develop their personality. The KU's Ugandan partners in turn profit from this change of perspective in intercultural dialogue: Teaching is rethought, teaching and learning concepts are developed and implemented cooperatively. The most important goal, however, is personal development: acting responsibly through global learning.

In a project seminar of the supplementary program Sustainable Development, KU students learn by volunteering with or for external partners, such as the Bavarian Red Cross (BRK), the Malteser relief agendy, Organic Garden, the City of Eichstätt, Weltladen Ingolstadt, Climate Garden Eichstätt, Foodsharing Ingolstadt, Einfach so! or Unverpacktladen Eichstätt. Aim of this seminar is to link learning the academic facts on challenges of sustainable development to civic engagement, thereby acting in accordance with the KU mission statement that wants to build bridges between University and society.

"Personality building & commitment" is a co-curricular additional study program. It addresses students from all faculties. Over a period of roughly three semesters students not only study their major but also do their bit to solve social challenges and take on responsibility for self-organized projects.

We currently offer the following modules:

·        Responsibility and social problem-solving

·        Education for sustainable development (BNE) in society and Church

·        Civic society, democracy and participation

Competencies acquired in these three modules will be certified with a further education certificate. Additionally, each of these modules can also be chosen as part of Studium.Pro.

The KU stands for a scientific and educational culture of responsibility. Educational processes at the KU are shaped by an open, critical and reflective exchange between students and lecturers. In interdisciplinary discourse and cooperation with educational partners in the region, by addressing socially pressing issues in research and teaching, and by fostering personal development, the educational understanding at the KU shall do justice to the individual person as a whole.

Studium.Pro is the platform that helps integrate these elements into our degree programs. The ‘Pro’ in it stands for: Profile and profession, as well as proactive engagement with society. Studium.Pro offers KU students a wide range of opportunities to enrich their studies by deepening their knowledge of their fields of study and broadening their understanding of areas outside of these fields.