Sustainability at German Universities: The University of Hamburg as a Case Study for Sustainability-Oriented Organizational Development

Abstract

The Center for a Sustainable University at the University of Hamburg, Germany (UHH), is an interdisciplinary institution wherein various university stakeholders work together towards creating a “University for a Sustainable Future”. Thus, it is an example for addressing processes of sustainable development according to the whole institutional approach outlined by the UNESCO’s Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Moreover, the UHH Center for a Sustainable University is a field of application for sustainability-oriented organizational development. In this paper, the UHH Center for a Sustainable University is introduced and serves as a case study: First, a linkage between ESD and innovation processes is drawn and the advantage of organizational development for sustainability as a specific working domain is discussed. Second, barriers for sustainability-orientated transformation at higher education institutions are identified: Different barriers which emerge during the day-to-day business of the Center for a Sustainable University will be examined and deliberated. Finally, particular tools that might help to overcome these barriers are presented. In September 2015 the UN agreed on global goals for sustainable development (United Nations in Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development, 2015), and the UNESCO’s roadmap on education for sustainable development highlights the importance of learning and training for transforming our world in a social responsible and sustainable way (UNESCO in UNESCO roadmap for implementing the global action programme on education for sustainable development, 2014). Obviously, the awareness for sustainability-related topics increases—in society in general as well as in science and at higher education institutions (cf. Leal Filho and Zint in The contribution of social sciences to sustainable development at universities. Springer, Basel, 2016; Lozano et al. in J Clean Prod 108:1–18, 2015; Schneidewind and Singer-Brodowski in Transformative Wissenschaft: Klimawandel im deutschen Wissenschafts- und Hochschulsystem—Transformative Science—Climate Change in the German scientific and university system. Metropolis, Marburg, 2013). Whereas numerous good practice projects and initiatives have been set up and collected that showcase “green campus development” (e.g. Bellantuono et al. in Introducing the Graphical Assessment of Universities’ Sustainable Image (GAUSI) instrument: A marketing tool. Springer, Switzerland, pp. 213–228, 2016; Finlay and Massey in Int J Sustain High Educ 13(2):150–165, 2012; Atherton and Giurco in Int J Sustain High Educ 12(3):269–279, 2011) and the contribution of research and science to various problems that come along with climate change (cf. IPCC in Summary for policymakers. Climate change 2013. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 2013; Costanza et al. in Sustainability or collapse?: An integrated history and future of people on earth. MIT Press in cooperation with Dahlem University Press, Cambridge, 2007) the question of how to institutionalize integrated sustainability-related activities at organizations—and especially at universities as “cultural reference points for their communities” (Paleari et al. in J Technol Transf 40(3):369–379, 2015, p. 369)—is addressed only recently. How can structures for sustainable development at higher education institutions (HEIs) be established that incorporate all stakeholders and that help to engage in sustainability-promoting behavior at all levels? Whole-institution approaches (WIAs) are in demand (UNESCO in UNESCO roadmap for implementing the global action programme on education for sustainable development, 2014), yet theoretical and practical frameworks for fostering sustainability-related motivation and behavior in vocational settings at HEIs are sparse. Systematic methods as well as methodologies that can be used to realize WIAs haven’t been developed and explored sufficiently so far. Drawing from the experience of the Center for a Sustainable University (KNU) at the University of Hamburg (UHH)—one of Germany’s largest Universities with more than 40,000 students and 5000 members of staff (Präsidium der Universität Hamburg 2016)—this paper introduces tools and methods for targeting a whole-institution approach in order to generate and strengthen transformational processes toward sustainability.