Climate protection is a joint task

The public presentation at the university by the Climate Protection Team, outlining the milestones leading up to our university’s integrated climate protection strategy, was met with great interest and sparked a lively discussion.

This warm and enthusiastic welcome has motivated us even more, and we are confident that, together with all of you, we will achieve our overarching goal of making our university climate-neutral and, in the long term, even climate-positive.

We—Florian Reß and Annekathrin Kluttig—are the new Climate Protection Team at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, led by Ms. Karin Hollstein and Ms. Anke Zenker-Hoffmann. Our task is to develop an integrated climate protection strategy for the HSZG, to embed climate protection as an active, shared responsibility across all areas of the university, and to move a step closer to climate neutrality through initial concrete measures.

Assessment Phase

We are currently in the assessment phase. In this phase, we are determining the extent to which climate protection is already being actively implemented at our university. Greenhouse gas emissions are being specifically recorded in an emissions inventory, and current and planned activities across the individual departments and divisions are being compiled. We are collecting all data on energy consumption, mobility, products and consumables used, as well as on educational content, research projects, and knowledge transfer activities with potential for active climate protection, and we are seeking new ways for recognition and credit in the form of CO₂ equivalents. Furthermore, over the next few days, we will invite the deans, department heads, and staff to engage in a dialogue with us and discuss the current status in the individual areas as well as their personal ideas and expectations.

Next Steps

We will present the results of the assessment—particularly the greenhouse gas inventory—at university-wide engagement events this fall and will discuss and collaboratively develop the first measures and their prioritization together with interested members of the university community.

To address and integrate all stakeholder groups among the university community, a Climate Council will also be established , in which representatives of our internal and external stakeholder groups can support our work, contribute ideas, and have their voices heard. This will ensure that all interests are safeguarded and that optimal measures and approaches can be identified.

The desire for active participation from all university community members was also made clear by the responses to the question Florian Reß posed during his presentation: “To what extent would you like to be informed about future measures and also be involved?” Among others, Ms. Uta Lemke, a student council member, commented: “I would think it would be great if we were regularly informed university-wide about the activities [of the Climate Protection Team], preferably via a short email, perhaps with a link to the website. And if there are things like concept papers or similar documents—if they’re public—it would be good if we could access them. And in general, I think it’s important that we as students be included in the project so that all groups are integrated.”

Making Progress on Climate Protection

In the discussion following the presentation, additional aspects of climate protection were addressed: For example, Prof. Jens Weber believes that the university is already good when it comes to environmental protection, but that its efforts in climate protection still leave much to be desired. He attributes this, among other things, to his experiences with Building Z VI, whose building envelope is no longer state-of-the-art in terms of energy efficiency. For the office and laboratory building currently in the planning stages, he hopes to see concrete arguments based on our greenhouse gas inventory and our climate protection concept. Chancellor Ms. Hollstein confirmed the university’s efforts to specifically influence the planning process with aspects from the climate protection concept, with the goal of building to a standard that exceeds the state of the art wherever possible and thereby serving as a pioneer and influencer. [Note: The university does not own the buildings and therefore has limited influence over their design.]

In addition, further ideas for improved climate protection at our university were shared directly with us: As Mr. Ronny Freudenreich noted in the chat: “What role can digitalization play in this context—or, put another way, what role can thoughtfully designed work-from-home concepts for employees and online learning formats for students play (especially to reduce avoidable travel distances and CO₂-emitting commutes)?” These are, of course, all questions that must—and will—be addressed in the future climate protection plan.

Furthermore, according to Chancellor Hollstein, an incentive system—such as the one already in place at various organizations, including the DAAD—could also be a sensible approach at our university. For example, offering a direct reward for using sustainable modes of transportation for certain trips could be an effective way to reduce emissions from business travel. Ms. Hollstein is confident that we in Zittau and Görlitz can certainly make strides in climate protection and lead the way as pioneers.

Prof. Kollmorgen expressed his gratitude for the input and the public presentation of our project at the university, noting that “we need this to achieve a significant university-wide impact, because, in principle, we need the participation of everyone—not just all status groups, but truly all members of our university community.”

We wholeheartedly agree. Climate protection is a pressing issue that definitely deserves even more attention. However, we can only achieve this together and with your support.

In closing, we would like to once again thank all our colleagues and students who have actively participated so far and will continue to do so, thereby helping to shape our future climate protection plan. We very much look forward to working with all of you in the future!