Beginning with the 2018/2019 winter semester, students at Freie Universität Berlin will be able to choose courses from a new skill area “sustainable development.” The four associated modules “Managing Sustainability”; “Researching Sustainability”; “Designing Sustainability”; and “Communicating Sustainability” will be part of the general professional skills courses (ABV) required for bachelor’s degree programs. These modules relate to the 17 sustainability goals of the United Nations and are based on the teaching and learning concept “education for sustainable development.”

“Sustainability can only succeed if it is consistently geared toward the entire university,” says Dr. Andrea Bör, the provost of Freie Universität Berlin. “All the various fields of activity must be included: teaching and research as well as campus management and knowledge transfer.” The head of the Sustainability and Energy Management Unit, Andreas Wanke, explains that last year 30 percent of all the research projects had relevance for sustainability, and 15 percent of the courses taught. As he said, “Sustainability issues have reached the mainstream of the university. More emphasis will now be placed on increasing sustainability-related topics in the courses being offered.” The new modules for the bachelor’s degree programs were developed by the teaching group in the sustainability steering committee. They will be coordinated by the Unit for Sustainability and Energy Management.