Sustainable Development
Sustainability is promoted and practised at HM. The sustainability strategy embeds sustainability as an whole institution approach across the areas of teaching, transfers, research, operations, governance and student engagement.
The HM encourages student participation and supports the activities of the student representations and student departments. With a network of BNE (Education for Sustainable Development) Representatives in each department the HM focuses on integrating sustainability into teaching.
Team N supports the BNE coordinators and many other stakeholders at the HM by organising and coordinating course formats, workshops and networking events on sustainability.
Our Approach to Sustainability
In 2019, the HM’s university management signed the ‘Memorandum of Understanding of the BayZeN (Bavarian Center for Higher Education and Sustainability)’. In doing so, the HM has officially committed itself to supporting and implementing sustainability across the entire institution.
"As key centres of social self-reflection, universities in Bavaria see themselves as sharing responsibility for the complex processes of transformation towards sustainable development."
“Sustainability is understood here as an ethical principle governing order and action, which is of central importance to the global search for a sustainable social contract for the 21st century. Its focus is on the indivisible responsibility for ensuring, in the long term, ecological sustainability, social justice and economic performance.”
Our structure
Sustainability is embedded at HM as a strategic cross-cutting issue and is oversenn within the university management by the Vice-President for Innovation and Quality in Education.
Through the network of BNE Representatives and Team N, we promote the integration of sustainability into teaching and across the departments. You can find out more about the BNE Representatives here .
Student engagement is also very much alive at HM. Both the Studentisches Green Office (SGO) (a student-led sustainability office), which is affiliated with the university, and the Referat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (RNE) (a student-led department for sustainable development) are committed to promoting participation and a sustainable HM. They maintain close contact with and receive support from Team N. You can find out more on the SGO and RNE websites.
Other stakeholder groups and individuals are also involved in various initiatives across all areas of the university. These initiatives include the ‘Runder Tisch Betrieb’ , ‘Green Campus Pasing’, ‘Urban Gardening’ and many more.
Our strategy
As an academic institution, HM is able and committed to contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and international climate targets. Concrete approaches to tackling climate change and the immense threats it poses to our society are embedded within a broader framework for action that focuses on the challenges facing a sustainable society.
HM treats sustainability as a cross-cutting issue, with specific targets and measures being pursued across all its areas of activity. To this end, HM has developed a comprehensive sustainability strategy through a participatory process involving staff members, lecturers and students; this strategy is guided by the higher education policy framework, in particular the Bavarian Higher Education Innovation Act (BayHIG).
At HM, sustainability is essentially interpreted as the creation of a sustainable living environment.