Sustainability in Higher Education University Network Inter-Universitary University Management Education Outreach
Sustainability4U was awarded the Austrian Sustainability Award 2010 in the category “Communication and Decision Making" for fostering an economic, ecological and social balance.
The lecture “Sustainability4U: Sustainability at the four Graz universities" has been declared “UN Decade Project” by the Austrian UNESCO commission.
“Sustainability4U” is a joint project of the four universities in the city of Graz established in 2009. The initiative tries to bundle the efforts of each university in the field of sustainable development to increase their outcomes. Through linking together the different fields of research and education (University of Graz, University of Technology Graz, Medical University Graz, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz), a holistic approach is guaranteed. A team of at least two persons per university meets regularly to create new projects and adapt existing ones that aim not only towards students but the whole society. In this respect the initiative fosters inter-universitary collaboration as well as it communicates a sustainable message to people.
Austria’s second largest city, Graz, has about 220,000 inhabitants including 40,000 students who are educated at four universities. These are University of Graz, University of Technology Graz, Medical University Graz and University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. Higher education institutions have a crucial role for society as they have the power to influence people’s minds and produce future decision makers and “multiplicators”. In the last few years, the above mentioned universities as well as the city of Graz itself have shown a growing awareness for sustainable development. University of Graz and University of Technology Graz were the first universities in Austria to publish sustainability reports in 2006. Considering the concept of sustainability a holistic approach in various fields of research and education is needed. In this respect cooperation amongst all four universities seems to be a rather appropriate way to make sustainable development possible.
The main objective of “Sustainability4U” is to contribute to sustainable development by linking together universities with different fields of research and education. This cooperation between the four universities in Graz combines multiple expertises and makes it possible to develop more manifold projects at a broader basis. These projects should, on the one hand improve inter-universitary collaboration, and on the other hand raise awareness and create knowledge for sustainable development among society.
In December 2008 the rectors of the four universities in Graz fixed a cooperation amongst their institutions. There was a certain impression that several projects and initiatives existed side by side heading towards similar goals in the field of sustainable development while there was some potential to improve their impact. The idea was to bundle each university’s efforts on sustainability to increase their outcome. A team of at least two people from each university was compounded to develop ideas for joint projects or adapt already existing initiatives by lifting them at an inter-university level. This team consists now of 11 members who meet regularly and have strong support from the universities’ rectors. The common message of the initiative is communicated with the title of the project “Sustainability4U” relating to the four universities as well as through the logo and corporate design that consists of four shades of green. Via the website of Sustainability4U, its idea and activities are presented and communicated to a broad audience. Sustainability4U consciously aims towards communicating its message to a broad audience. This certainly includes students, however the whole society is to be integrated and addressed. The projects that have been developed by the “Sustainability4U” team are open to everybody and try to gain valuable results for society. Thus it is considered especially important to gather feedback by the people in order to be able to observe outcomes and make improvements.
One basic outcome since beginning in 2009 is a more “holistic consciousness” among the four member universities. There is an increasing awareness of being able to reach goals better and faster by working together. This is not only true for the persons in the core team of “Sustainability4U” who meet regularly but also generally spoken trough the perceived image of the initiative. In this respect “Sustainability4U” tries to serve as a role model that might be realized in other cities or countries in a similar way. In early 2010 a mobility study was presented that investigated the behaviour of students and staff of the four universities on their way to university. The conclusions are based on a survey in which 6000 people participated and gives suggestions on how to improve the traffic situation in Graz. In summer term 2010 an open lecture was held (“Sustainability at the 4 Graz universities") that consisted of twelve units each held by a lecturer of one of the four universities dealing with a certain topic of their main field of research and its connection to SD. In 2011 the lecture will be held for the second time already implementing students’ feedback from this year.
Although cooperation between universities often has great benefits there is still potential to establish more of them. Bringing together four universities is quite a challenge as far as logistic and financial aspects are concerned. Having a team that meets regularly on a voluntarily basis can be regarded as innovative as well as the projects that are developed.
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