HSZG visits MIT in the USA
The "Sustainable Campus Modular System" project was presented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The “Modular System for a Sustainable Campus” project team at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG) responded to the “Call for Papers” for the “3rd World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities (WSSD-U-2016)” by submitting a research paper on the topic: “A Peer-to-Peer Approach to Evaluation and Continual Improvement of Sustainability Management Systems at Higher Education Institutions.”
The symposium takes place every two years and offers researchers, faculty members, and university staff a platform to present new approaches for improving sustainability performance at higher education institutions (HEIs).
To the delight of the entire BNC team, the paper was accepted for presentation by the symposium committee. A delegation consisting of Prof. Dr. Bernd Delakowitz and Andreas Bulcsu, M.A., had the privilege of participating in the conference in Cambridge, USA, from September 14–16, 2016, at the conference initiated by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Walter Leal, where they delivered a presentation and chaired a scientific session.
This provided an opportunity to present the BNC team’s innovative approach to improving external audits through dialogue-based “peer-to-peer” audits at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to an interested audience.
The breathtaking view of the Charles River made the conference room on the 7th floor of the Chang Building a hotspot for 200 guests from 30 countries and invited all participants to discuss together and explore new paths toward sustainability.
The goal of the project—which has been funded by the Saxon Ministry of Science and the Arts since October 2014—is to develop an action-oriented and organization-specific application concept for addressing the tasks and challenges of sustainability management at institutions of higher education (EHB) and to implement it at EHB institutions in the Free State of Saxony and, in subsequent steps, throughout Germany.
In addition to the traditional aspects of sustainability management (economic, social, ecological), the project focuses primarily on the exemplary and transfer functions of higher education institutions. We see this as a key role in addressing the challenges of the 21st century, such as demographic change, climate protection and the energy transition, species conservation and the preservation of biodiversity, inclusion and equal opportunity, migration, and the promotion of lifelong learning—thereby positioning EHB as a “change agent” for society.
To address these developments and requirements, the “modular system” tool has been used to design a modular, participatory, and organization- and institution-specific management system is being designed to provide support through its successful adoption and implementation in the strategic planning and execution of sustainability management at the EHB.