Sustainability Concept (Whole-Institution Approach) …
315
3.2.5 Action Area ‘Campus Management and Operations’
The topic of sustainability became increasingly relevant within a higher
education context approx. since the 1990s, when legal regulations were introduced
that required universities to fulfill certain employment law and environmental criteria
in its operational practice. Since 1999, validated environmental management systems
such as the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) gained increasing relevance
and determined responsibilities and an allocation of tasks as well as a controlling
system for sustainable processes. Currently, only around 5% of German universities have been awarded the EMAS certificate. The implementation of sustainability
and integration into operational processes at a university comprises many different
fields that are tracked by an environmental management system: Procurement, waste
management, mobility, facility and energy management, controlling, research practice, event management, employment relationships and communication (Technische
Universität Dresden, Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz 2018).
The overall sustainability concept of the KU that was drafted in 2010 already
set out the objective of being awarded the EMAS certificate. The certificate requires
comprehensive preparatory work and staff and financial resources that were provided
by the university management. The KU was able to successfully implement the
process and was awarded its first EMAS certificate in January 2015. In January 2019,
the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt was the only university in Germany to
be awarded the EMASplus certificate. This award also takes into account social and
economic aspects in addition to ecological criteria that play a major role in the EMAS
certification. The EMAS process, which required drafting an annual sustainability
program with approx. 15 objectives, significantly contributed to the improvement of
sustainability at the KU. For example, the institution was able to save large amounts
of energy, all printing and copying stations now use recycled paper, waste separation
was optimized and the procurement process was adapted to take better account of
ecological and social criteria. Needless to say, not all fields have been optimized
yet: the university is currently reviewing the sustainability status of its canteen and
mobility processes. It took a lot of effort of a continuously dedicated environmental
management officer on campus to achieve the above-mentioned successes. In addition, the willingness of different groups within the university to actively participate
and contribute their ideas was and still is of utmost importance for the process.
315
3.2.5 Action Area ‘Campus Management and Operations’
The topic of sustainability became increasingly relevant within a higher
education context approx. since the 1990s, when legal regulations were introduced
that required universities to fulfill certain employment law and environmental criteria
in its operational practice. Since 1999, validated environmental management systems
such as the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) gained increasing relevance
and determined responsibilities and an allocation of tasks as well as a controlling
system for sustainable processes. Currently, only around 5% of German universities have been awarded the EMAS certificate. The implementation of sustainability
and integration into operational processes at a university comprises many different
fields that are tracked by an environmental management system: Procurement, waste
management, mobility, facility and energy management, controlling, research practice, event management, employment relationships and communication (Technische
Universität Dresden, Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz 2018).
The overall sustainability concept of the KU that was drafted in 2010 already
set out the objective of being awarded the EMAS certificate. The certificate requires
comprehensive preparatory work and staff and financial resources that were provided
by the university management. The KU was able to successfully implement the
process and was awarded its first EMAS certificate in January 2015. In January 2019,
the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt was the only university in Germany to
be awarded the EMASplus certificate. This award also takes into account social and
economic aspects in addition to ecological criteria that play a major role in the EMAS
certification. The EMAS process, which required drafting an annual sustainability
program with approx. 15 objectives, significantly contributed to the improvement of
sustainability at the KU. For example, the institution was able to save large amounts
of energy, all printing and copying stations now use recycled paper, waste separation
was optimized and the procurement process was adapted to take better account of
ecological and social criteria. Needless to say, not all fields have been optimized
yet: the university is currently reviewing the sustainability status of its canteen and
mobility processes. It took a lot of effort of a continuously dedicated environmental
management officer on campus to achieve the above-mentioned successes. In addition, the willingness of different groups within the university to actively participate
and contribute their ideas was and still is of utmost importance for the process.