HOCH-N
Sustainability at higher education institutions—develop, network, report
What can universities contribute to sustainable development in the areas of governance, sustainability reporting, teaching, research, operations, and transfer? How can we develop a common understanding of sustainability and transformation in a university alliance? Sustainability at higher education institutions—develop, network, report (HOCHN), which is dedicated to sustainability at higher education institutions, focuses on these and other questions. The project (project no. 13NKE007A) received funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) from 1 November 2016 to 31 October 2018 and again from 1 November to 31 October 2020. Universität Hamburg coordinates the collaboration.
The overall goal is to foster sustainable development at Germany’s universities. There are 4 sub-objectives:
- to establish a program-based exchange network
- to develop a shared understanding of sustainability
- to foster sustainable university development and formulate measures
- to create guidelines for sustainable university development
The core alliance of 11 universities invites all German universities to join the HOCHN network so they can learn from one another and advance the cause of sustainable development at their institutions together. The Center for a Sustainable University at Universität Hamburg (Prof. Dr. Alexander Bassen, Dr. Claudia T. Schmitt) oversees HOCHN.
Universität Hamburg also contributes to the project management for the networking and sustainability reporting groups. Dr. Claudia T. Schmitt (Universität Hamburg) and Prof. Dr. Georg Müller-Christ (University of Bremen) head the networking group. Universität Hamburg heads the project with Freie Universität Berlin and University of Duisburg-Essen for the first and second phases respectively.