Page 8 - TU Dresden Sustainability Strategy 2023-2030

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 environmental 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 sustainability 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 Commission coordinates the implementation and monitoring of all
measures alongside the Vice-Rectorate and the Directorate University Culture.
Goals and measures are regularly evaluated and adjusted in line with an agile strategy.

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