Page 8 - Sustainability Strategiy 2023 - 2030 | TU Dresden

TU Dresden on the path

to sustainable development

Back in the early 1990s, TU Dresden defined itself as an environmentally conscious institution and
set out on the path to becoming a sustainable university. Initially, committed students founded the
environmental initiative tuuwi, which was – and still is – a key promoter of environmental issues,
particularly in teaching and campus design. With the creation of the Environment Commission in
1991, the adoption of environmental guidelines in 2000, and the introduction of corporate environ-
mental management in accordance with the EU’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) three
years later, strategic decisions were made to institutionalize environmental protection. These are
the responsibility of the Environmental Protection group in the Directorate Facility Management,
and they continue to form an important basis for TUD’s sustainability efforts. In anchoring sustain-
ability at management level in the department of the Vice-Rectorate University Culture, the topic
gained further momentum. In 2020, the Environment Commission was reconstituted and a Green
Office was set up, which is anchored in the Directorate University Culture and acts as a central
point of contact for all those interested in the topic of (ecological) sustainability.

In view of the variety of initiatives and the research strength of TUD in the field of sustainability,
the logical next step was to develop a sustainability strategy for TU Dresden that would apply to
the entire university. In September 2021, a broad-based participatory process was launched, led
by the Environment Commission and the Vice-Rectorate University Culture. All hierarchical levels
of the university and the university committees were invited to participate in developing the goals
and measures of this strategy. Coordination took place with stakeholders from the City and State,
as well as other partners of TU Dresden. Following its unanimous approval by the Senate of TU
Dresden, the strategy was adopted by the Extended University Executive Board in December 2023.

TU Dresden’s Sustainability Strategy addresses six key areas of action at the university in 13 goals.
The corresponding working plan for the years 2024–2030 comprises 80 measures, of which three
priority measures are presented for each field of action in this brochure. The Environment Com-
mission coordinates the implementation and monitoring of all measures alongside the Vice-Rec- Participatory
torate and the Directorate University Culture. Goals and measures are regularly evaluated and design of the
adjusted in line with an agile strategy..
sustainability
strategy by the
TUD community

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