Wednesday Slot 3International Networks and Sustainability Reporting
27 September 2017, by Tobias Wegener
In the following you find a retrospect of two Wednesday morning sessions (slot 3), one dealing with the potential of international networks and another one covering aspects of sustainability reporting:
| Open Area | Workshop, Presentation, Envisioning Change: Policy, Tools and Training |
Presentation, Poster Opportunities and risks of sustainability reporting and ranking |
Open Area | Workshop Innovation Potential of International Networks |
Workshop Sustainable Universities - A systematic Living Lab approach to combine research, education and campus operations |
|
topic room program (slot 3)
Innovation Potential of International Networks
What can partners from all over the world learn from each other ‒ and how? This was the topic of the workshop led by Katrin Risch, Program Manager ‘University Alliance for Sustainability’ at the Freie Universität Berlin, who explained how they benefit from their network partners: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), University of British Columbia (Canada), St. Petersburg State University (Russia) and Peking University (China).
She described how the network collaborates in teaching, research and management and how it interlinks different researchers: “We see ourselves pretty much as a matchmaking agency!”
Katrin Risch also talked about the good experience the FU Berlin made with their mobility program that enables students to bring home new ideas, contacts and newfound enthusiasm.
However, one of the most important innovation potentials of the network lies in comparing best practice examples and learning from them, for example during the University Alliance for Sustainability’s annual spring campus conference in Berlin.
After her talk, the participants worked on finding the recipe of a successful international sustainability conference ‒ framework, special herbs & flavors, key ingredients and setting the table included.
Opportunities and risks of sustainability reporting and ranking
Prof. Dr. Klaus Hellling and Jenny Eichelhard (both from University of Applied Sciences Trier, Germany) explained the innovative concept of the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld in the poster session “Opportunities and Risks of Sustainability Reporting and Ranking”. At Campus Birkenfeld there are 2,500 students and 289 employees. 59 professors are employed in two disciplines: Environment Economy/Environmental Law and Environmental Planning/Environmental Engineering.
Photos and text: Michaela Haase and Daniela Friedrich