Campus projects for climate protection: Focus on nutrition, mobility, energy and waste

The Erasmus+-funded project ‘ATTUNE – Activate the University for Climate Change’ presents its results

In ‘ATTUNE – Activate the University for Climate Change’, staff and students from five European universities are campaigning for climate protection on their campuses. The project, which is funded by the European Union as part of Erasmus+, provides best practices for all universities worldwide. Following the presentation of the project results, which will take place on 10 October from 10.30 a.m. on the university’s premises and online, universities will be able to adopt the tried-and-tested concept, in which 1,700 university members across Europe have already actively participated.

Carlotta is studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Protection. The topic of climate protection is important to her, even if she sometimes has the feeling that she can only achieve so much on her own. At ATTUNE, she is part of a twelve-person group that implements measures for a more climate-friendly university. The University of Hildesheim is one of five universities in Europe at which the ATTUNE programme is being implemented. Thousands of university members across Europe are already involved in the programme. The resulting materials and best practices can be used by other universities around the world.

Clara Wiese from the Green Office coordinates the ATTUNE project for the University of Hildesheim and dares to conduct a thought experiment: ‘What can all universities achieve internationally if they make their own institution more sustainable?’ As an educational institution and research centre, the university is the ideal environment for sustainable development, says Clara Wiese. ‘People from different disciplines come together here and can use their combined knowledge to make an impact both within their own institution and beyond, in line with the whole institution approach.’ Climate change as a global problem requires collective cooperation. This is why the international networking at ATTUNE is a step in the right direction.

Specifically, ATTUNE aims to improve the university in the areas of sustainable nutrition, waste separation and avoidance, mobility, energy and water conservation. In addition to participating in local action teams, the so-called ‘Research Action Teams’, a flexible digital programme is available to all members of the university. The self-reflection questionnaires and handbooks on the aforementioned topics have already been used by around 1,700 members of the five partner universities since the programme was launched. At the University of Hildesheim, there were 130. ‘In the areas of waste and mobility, a significant improvement in the respondents‘ behaviour was observed after the programme was implemented,’ reports Clara Wiese from the evaluation team at the University of Hildesheim. The respondents’ behaviour in the areas of nutrition and energy was very good right from the start, according to their own assessment.

In any case, Carlotta had already found her allies: Together with Kenneth and Lisa, she campaigned as ‘Team Tütchen’ to reduce waste in the canteen. ‘Among other things, you can now stop using salt and pepper sachets and use refillable shakers,’ she reports. After a year of project work, she looks back with gratitude. ‘It was really nice to design something that was actually realised. It wasn’t about collecting credit points, but about actively shaping the campus in a sustainable direction!’ Hong Ngoc, Sarah, Amelie and Laura formed the ‘Local Seasons’ campaign team and designed a year-round calendar for regional and seasonal fruit and vegetables and distributed 500 free copies on campus. Yaren and Rosa from the ‘Bicycle Riders’ campaign team provided information about bicycle use and repair at the campus festival.

In addition to the University of Hildesheim, four other universities from Turkey, Poland, Italy and Spain are also involved in the programme. In Warsaw, for example, students and staff have already set up a ‘food-sharing subject’ and organised a garage flea market in Istanbul.

At the final ATTUNE event on 10 October at the University of Hildesheim and online, media representatives, interested parties and representatives of other universities are invited to find out how the programme can be implemented at universities.

Author:
Elisabeth Schimpf

Date:
2024

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