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3.2.6 Action Area ‘Transfer’
The requirements of a higher education institution change over time along
with changes in society that take place very fast. In addition to their core responsibilities of research and teaching, universities also increasingly assume additional tasks
as requested by society (Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde 2018).
These activities are referred to as transfer activities and include interactions between
universities and actors from other fields of society, such as the industry, education
or municipalities. Transfer challenges scientific thinking and offers the opportunity
to advance and deepen science and research. This is a win-win situation because
science and academia can have a stronger impact on society and simultaneously gain
new impulses from practical fields. Transfer can take many different shapes.
At the KU, there has always been a substantial number of researchers who were
successfully engaged in transdisciplinary projects because of their subject specification, amongst others from the fields of Geography, Applied Mathematics, Social
Work, Religious Education and Business and Economics. The projects increasingly involved representatives from external professional practice in all stages of
the projects from planning to implementation and evaluation. Furthermore, the KU
offered teacher training courses in regular intervals. Since 2018, the field of transfer
was strengthened considerably when the university successfully acquired the thirdparty funded project “Mensch in Bewegung” (https://mensch-in-bewegung.info/).
Over a period of five years, the project especially aims to develop ideas for improving
living conditions in fields such as sustainability, social engagement, mobility and
digitalization within the broader region together with the Technische Hochschule
Ingolstadt and in continuous exchange with the general public. The project team has
already hosted a number of interesting events, workshops, social innovation camps
and so-called ‘future workshops’ for different target groups. Furthermore, the KU
supports initiatives in neighboring municipalities that seek to increase their efforts
to become more sustainable.
3.3 A Look Ahead—The New Sustainability Concept
Since 2018, the university’s sustainability team has been revising and updating the
KU’s overall sustainability concept that was published in 2010. The three original
action areas (research, teaching, campus management and operations) have meanwhile been extended by another three fields (governance, transfer and student initiatives and commitment). The new concept was jointly drafted by all members of the
sustainability steering group in which all groups of the university are represented
(see Sect. 3.1). In 2019, the new draft concept was reviewed by external evaluators.
Their feedback and recommendations were subsequently included in the new concept
I. Hemmer and A.-K. Lindau
3.2.6 Action Area ‘Transfer’
The requirements of a higher education institution change over time along
with changes in society that take place very fast. In addition to their core responsibilities of research and teaching, universities also increasingly assume additional tasks
as requested by society (Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde 2018).
These activities are referred to as transfer activities and include interactions between
universities and actors from other fields of society, such as the industry, education
or municipalities. Transfer challenges scientific thinking and offers the opportunity
to advance and deepen science and research. This is a win-win situation because
science and academia can have a stronger impact on society and simultaneously gain
new impulses from practical fields. Transfer can take many different shapes.
At the KU, there has always been a substantial number of researchers who were
successfully engaged in transdisciplinary projects because of their subject specification, amongst others from the fields of Geography, Applied Mathematics, Social
Work, Religious Education and Business and Economics. The projects increasingly involved representatives from external professional practice in all stages of
the projects from planning to implementation and evaluation. Furthermore, the KU
offered teacher training courses in regular intervals. Since 2018, the field of transfer
was strengthened considerably when the university successfully acquired the thirdparty funded project “Mensch in Bewegung” (https://mensch-in-bewegung.info/).
Over a period of five years, the project especially aims to develop ideas for improving
living conditions in fields such as sustainability, social engagement, mobility and
digitalization within the broader region together with the Technische Hochschule
Ingolstadt and in continuous exchange with the general public. The project team has
already hosted a number of interesting events, workshops, social innovation camps
and so-called ‘future workshops’ for different target groups. Furthermore, the KU
supports initiatives in neighboring municipalities that seek to increase their efforts
to become more sustainable.
3.3 A Look Ahead—The New Sustainability Concept
Since 2018, the university’s sustainability team has been revising and updating the
KU’s overall sustainability concept that was published in 2010. The three original
action areas (research, teaching, campus management and operations) have meanwhile been extended by another three fields (governance, transfer and student initiatives and commitment). The new concept was jointly drafted by all members of the
sustainability steering group in which all groups of the university are represented
(see Sect. 3.1). In 2019, the new draft concept was reviewed by external evaluators.
Their feedback and recommendations were subsequently included in the new concept