University of Bremen receive 1m Euros for sustainability

Jointly developing, testing and anchoring sustainability concepts for research, teaching and operation of the Bremen universities – this is the goal of the state universities in the state of Bremen and the Alfred-Wegener-Institut with “BreGoS – Bremen Goes Sustainable”.
All state universities in the state of Bremen – the University of Bremen, the Bremen University of Applied Sciences (HSB), the University of the Arts (HfK) Bremen and the University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven – will jointly develop and test sustainability initiatives in the areas of biodiversity, mobility and Resource and energy use. The knowledge gained should be anchored in the structures of the universities. The Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) supports BreGoS with input from its own sustainability processes and organizes forums for exchange. Researchers as well as students and employees from administration and technology are involved in the project. Accompanying sociological research assesses the development of the networks and practices that arise in the project. “With ,Bremen Goes Sustainable ‘ our state universities are working together for the first time in a large joint project on the important future topic of sustainability. This is an excellent example of cooperation and networking that can also become a role model for other cities,” says Dr. Claudia Schilling, Senator for Science and Ports.

Public kick-off event on March 13th
Interested parties can find out more about BreGoS at a kick-off event on Monday, March 13, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the House of Science. After greetings from Dr. Claudia Schilling (Senator for Science and Ports), Prof. Dr. Jutta Günther (Rector of the University of Bremen) and Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius (Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute) the work packages of the project will be presented and put up for discussion. Afterwards, representatives of the university management, Enno Nottelmann (State Councilor at the Senator for Climate Protection, Environment, Mobility, Urban Development and Housing Construction) and representatives of Students for Future will discuss on the podium how concepts for sustainable action can be anchored at the universities. The event is public and free of charge.

From cargo bikes to sustainable laboratories – the work packages at a glance
The Bremen universities are cooperating in five work packages:

real labs
At the University of Bremen, the campus itself becomes a research object and laboratory: the participants analyze energy production, transport and consumption in order to design measures for efficient energy use. In the “Biodiversity Hub “, students, building management staff, gardeners, teachers and university management work together on ways to implement a new green space management system to promote biodiversity on campus.

With model projects for a campus development strategy
At the Bremen University of Applied Sciences (HSB), model projects that have already been implemented, such as the Alte Neustadt Bremen model bicycle district and the bicycle repair café that was implemented in this context, are linked up. Students analyze their campus with regard to selected sustainability criteria such as quality of stay, biodiversity and bicycle friendliness. Based on this, projects are created that are developed by the students and implemented personally and evaluated in terms of their effectiveness. The approaches tested as part of these so-called DesignBuild projects are bundled into a holistic campus development strategy.

sharing concepts
The Bremen University of the Arts focuses on sustainable mobility concepts. As a university in the city center, it connects with its surroundings as a competence center. Specifically, a cargo bike sharing system adapted to the district is being developed here. Participants manufacture and test cargo bikes and electric micro-vehicles in their own prototype workshop.

Sustainable laboratory operation
Making work in laboratories more sustainable is the aim of the work package at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. The project team looks at all areas and material flows and determines how and which materials can be used and recycled more efficiently and how waste can be minimized. Sustainability should also play a major role when purchasing materials. Among other things, it is also about social sustainability, for example by purchasing fair trade products.

Sustainability governance , networks and practices
Several times a year, the project participants exchange information about the progress of the project with each other, with specialists and with actors from civil society. These exchange forums, known as “marketplaces”, are organized by the Alfred Wegener Institute in cooperation with the Institute for Communication Studies at the University of Münster. Sustainability governance , networks and practices are researched, evaluated and discussed in all sub-projects. The focus is on the question of which management and control mechanisms are necessary to successfully anchor sustainable action in university operations.

“Start at your own doorstep”
“BreGoS is a joint project that deliberately begins on our own doorstep, i.e. directly on campus. There is a lot to do there in the direction of sustainability. The idea of ​​BreGoS is that the projects tackle this work and at the same time fit into research and teaching. BreGoS should set an example – also with a view to the exchange and networking of the universities with each other,” says Prof. Dr. Jutta Günther, Rector of the University of Bremen.

Prof. Dr. Karin Luckey, Rector of the Bremen University of Applied Sciences: “The Bremen University of Applied Sciences (HSB) is a science-based transformation center. There is practice-oriented research that is closely linked to teaching. Together with partners from science, business, industry and society, we are working on answers to the pressing questions of the time. The issue of sustainability is of fundamental importance. Every third course at the HSB is already dealing with the key issues of climate change, energy, the environment and sustainability. An important competence center is our research cluster “Region in Transition”. The HSB contributes this broad expertise to the BreGoS research project. Because only together can we make our Bremen universities more sustainable and climate-neutral.”

“As part of the cooperation project ‘ Bremen Goes Sustainable ‘, topics of high social significance are tackled jointly by Bremen’s universities and the university. This approach is certainly forward-looking. Within the framework of the project, the focus of the HfK is on issues relating to sustainable mobility and sharing concepts. Approaching these areas from an artistic-scientific perspective offers the potential for a new way of looking at the subject,” says Prof. Dr. Andrea Sick, Vice President for Research / Artistic Development Projects and International Affairs at the Bremen University of the Arts.

Prof. Dr. Rabea Diekmann, Vice President for Research, Transfer and Further Education at Bremerhaven University: “We can only respond to man-made climate change together with innovative concepts and ideas: The networking of Bremen’s universities in the ‘Bremen Goes Sustainable’ project is an important and correct step on climate-neutral teaching and research at our locations. With its contribution “Sustainable Development in Labs”, the Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences shows how laboratories can be operated in a sustainable and resource-saving manner and at the same time meet the highest scientific requirements”.

Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius, Director of the AWI: “We are pleased to be part of BreGoS and to contribute our expertise as well as our hope to make faster progress with the transformation in regional cooperation. The basis will be the ‘Reflection Framework for Research in Social Responsibility’, which was created in the LeNa project of the Helmholtz Association together with the Leibniz Association and the Fraunhofer Society. The marketplace provides information on the sustainability organization of research institutions, which on the one hand is intended to directly support the transformation process of the network partners, but on the other hand will also flow into research.