According to the latest Youth in Germany trend study (2024), the majority of young people aged 14 to 29 are concerned about their future. At the same time, fewer than one in four feel that formal education equips them to contribute to solving sustainability challenges (Institut Futur 2022).

This is where the Sustainable Development competence area comes in. In light of multiple global crises, we aim to empower students from a wide range of disciplines to recognize their individual and collective contributions to a more sustainable society and to respond constructively to current challenges. At the core of our teaching and learning approach is the development of systems thinking, creative thinking, and the ability to initiate change and take action. Our work is guided by current research on key competencies for Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD), (e.g. see Brundiers, Barth et al. 2021).

Course design

In practice, our courses are designed to be highly participatory, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. The centerpiece of all five modules (see diagram) are the project seminars, each with a different thematic focus and objective. The seminars draw on the wide-ranging practical experience of our instructors, particularly in the fields of sustainable organizational consulting, research, and education (see the current course catalogue for examples).

The cross-module framework consists of an introductory session at the beginning of the semester and a concluding session at the end, both organized by the Sustainability & Energy Management Unit. The introductory workshop provides a basic understanding of the complex dynamics behind unsustainable global developments, allows for interest-driven exploration, and offers an initial engagement with interdisciplinary perspectives. In the final session, student teams from all seminars present their project outcomes, receive peer feedback, and gain insights into the sustainable project ideas developed in the other seminars.

Your Path to the Sustainable Development Area

The Sustainable Development competence area is one of eight elective areas within the central General Professional Skills (ABV) courses and is therefore automatically available in Campus Management to most bachelor's students at Freie Universität. If this applies to you, you can apply for a place during the university-wide registration period for limited-capacity courses (two weeks before the start of lectures). If you are not assigned a spot, you may still have the opportunity to attend the first session of your preferred seminar and register during the first two weeks of the semester, provided there are open spots available.

If you do not have access to our modules via Campus Management, please contact us at abv@nachhaltigkeit.fu-berlin.de. Our area is generally open to all bachelor's and master's students at Freie Universität as well as to students from external universities.

For further questions, you can find the most important links and steps summarized here:

• All course offerings are listed in the current course catalogue.
• For all other questions, please contact abv@nachhaltigkeit.fu-berlin.de
  Important: For questions related to your module registration or confirmation in Campus Management, please always include your student ID number, course/seminar number, and the semester in which you have taken or wish to take the course