Karlsruhe Institute of Technology: “National Prize – Education for Sustainable Development” for KIT
At the first presentation of the National Prize – Education for Sustainable Development on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, in Berlin, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) was honored for its large number of sustainability-related educational offers and activities in the category “Learning Locations”. The prize was awarded by the Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Dr. Jens Brandenburg, and President of the German Commission for UNESCO, Professor Maria Böhmer.
Whether the “Karlsruher School of Sustainability”, the accompanying course “Sustainable Development”, the campus garden or the mobile participation laboratory MobiLab: At KIT there are a large number of sustainability-related educational offers and activities. As a place of learning for sustainable thinking and acting, the KIT qualifies young people to contribute to sustainable developments in society, business, and science. This profile was convincing in the competition for the “National Prize – Education for Sustainable Development”, which was awarded for the first time: The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Commission for UNESCO (DUK) honor KIT in the category “Places of Learning”. The prize money of 10,000 euros is to be used to expand the project week “Spring Days of Sustainability at KIT”.
“Only with sustainable thinking and acting can we tackle challenges such as climate change or the long-term and socially just use of natural resources,” says the President of KIT, Professor Holger Hanselka. “KIT integrates education for sustainable development into its teaching and research in order to impart application-oriented knowledge and skills as well as theories and methods. The aim is to strengthen our own actions from the point of view of sustainability. We are very pleased to have been awarded the National Prize – Education for Sustainable Development – and at the same time see it as confirmation on our way.”
Sustainability research at KIT
All eight KIT centers – including “Climate and Environment”, “Energy” and “Humans and Technology” – conduct interdisciplinary research on sustainability issues. Their results contribute to 10 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. The ZAK | The Center for Applied Cultural Studies and General Studies offers all KIT students interdisciplinary courses and enables them to acquire sustainability-related skills in the form of additional qualifications. Other KIT institutions, such as the Academy for Responsible Research, Teaching and Innovation (ARTI), systematically expand awareness of social responsibility. consultation, training, The Karlsruhe Transformation Center for Sustainability and Cultural Change (KAT) also offers process participation and accompanying research for transformation projects outside of science. Through the Center for Teacher Education (ZLB) and the cooperation with the Sinsheim climate arena, student teachers become multipliers for education for sustainable development.
National Prize – Education for Sustainable Development
The National Prize – Education for Sustainable Development is awarded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Commission for UNESCO as part of the UNESCO program “Education for Sustainable Development – Realizing the Global Sustainability Goals”. It recognizes actors who provide education for sustainable Implement development (ESD) qualitatively excellently and in its entire structure and carry it into society. A jury from science, business, public life and civil society voted in the categories “places of learning”, “multipliers”, “educational landscapes” and “newcomers” a total of ten prizewinners, whose commitment will be honored with 10,000 euros each.