Sustainability Strategy
The process of developing a university-wide sustainability strategy at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences commenced with the founding of the Sustainability Working Group (AG Nachhaltigkeit) in April 2021. The strategy itself serves to implement the goals set out in the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The working group, led simultaneously by the university’s Vice President for Research, Transfer and Sustainability, Sabine Tischew, and the Head of Administration, Sabine Thalmann - and also in conjunction with departmental and student representatives from across the entire university - aims to initiate a bottom-up process to define essential fields of action as well as reach joint agreements concerning the targets of those actions. In July 2022, the university’s Sustainability Strategy was passed by the Senate of Anhalt University of Applied Sciences.
Sustainability Action Plan
The strategy’s action plan outlines all fields of action including the listing of concrete objectives, strategic measures, and subsequent timelines. The implementation of this plan will be evaluated on a four-year cycle. Additions to the action plan can be made on an annual basis. The action plan will be presented to the university’s Senate for resolution. The dean’s offices of the university’s departments and heads of the central operating units are responsible for implementing the sustainability strategy. The implementation of pilot projects, in both small and large team formats, provides all members of the university with the opportunity to actively participate in the transformation process towards a sustainable university. In addition, these pilot projects will also strengthen interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary collaboration. The Sustainability Working Group (AG Nachhaltigkeit) will play an important coordinating and guiding role in these processes The action plan is currently being discussed at central and departmental levels.
Sustainability Report
Both the planning and implementation phases of action plans are to be documented in an annual sustainability report. As well as increasing the visibility and accessibility of the initiatives and measures put in place, this documentation shall also serve as a basis for participation in the “GreenMetric” ranking of universities, and will also be made available to the university's partner organizations.
External evaluation of the sustainability measures
Anhalt University’s participation in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings since 2019 has provided external validation for the measures implemented towards sustainable development. GreenMetric's assessment approach includes all areas related to the sustainable use and management of resources from infrastructure, energy mix and consumption, through waste treatment, water use, and transportation organization, to finally encompass the integration of sustainability measures within teaching and research. Participation in this ranking process serves as an important incentive for increasing the integration of sustainability in the university’s development plans.
In the 2022 ranking, Anhalt University placed 227th out of a total of 1,050 universities from some 82 different countries.