“At a university, sustainability can’t be a peripheral issue”

With the new sustainability strategy, LMU aims to make further progress in this area, enabling it to more closely bundle the numerous research, teaching, transfer and campus operation initiatives that already exist. Professor Ralf Ludwig, the university’s Chief Sustainability Officer, tells us exactly what this means in practice.

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LMU’s new sustainability strategy is due out today. What aspects of university life will it affect?

Almost all of them, essentially. Talk about sustainability and many people immediately think of electricity, heating or waste separation. But our strategy goes far beyond that. It is about the university’s attitude, about research, study and teaching, about campus operations, about social sustainability and about dialogue with society. Sustainability shouldn’t just be a peripheral issue: It should be a consideration that impacts on every LMU decision and process.

What goals is LMU setting itself in research, for example?

On the one hand, we are a university with a strong research profile, so we want to play a part in enabling societies to deal better with the major challenges of our day and to shape the future. This can involve basic research into the energy transition or research into fighting neurodegenerative diseases. Sustainability is a topic for groups across all disciplines. Research into cultural diversity and social change is equally important, for instance. And LMU already has numerous publications related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

On the other hand, research itself needs to become more sustainable – and, for example, to adopt a more considered approach to resources such as energy, materials and work processes. In the spirit of open science, one aspect of this involves making research more transparent and more accessible so that results can be reconstructed and further used by others. In addition, we have to set clear ethical standards – for example in areas of research that are making more and more use of AI.

What strategies does LMU pursue in teaching and study?

Our goal is for students to experience a lasting encounter with this topic during their studies, not just on a random basis in a single seminar. When sustainability is introduced as a new minor subject in the winter semester, all students on bachelor’s degree courses will in future be able to incorporate it in their studies.

LMU has also become the first university in Bavaria to establish “Education for Sustainable Development” as a supplementary subject for trainee teachers. As such, it is assuming a pioneering role in systematically embedding sustainability in the education of future teachers. Rather than treating it solely as a theoretical subject to be learned, students should thus be able to develop the skills they will later need in all kinds of different professions – skills such as good judgment and design capabilities, but also empathy.

Both teaching and learning are aligned with the Inner Development Goals (IDGs), according to which people need not only knowledge, but also inner qualities and skills if they are to deal responsibly with change. Whether students one day work in schools, companies, laboratories or the cultural sphere, sustainability should be something that is ever present in their thinking and actions.

What sustainability goals is LMU setting for its own campus, and what are the key challenges here?

That is a tricky question. We obviously want to set a good example by being more resource-efficient and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, LMU catalogues the use of sustainable means of transport such as buses, trains and bicycles. It has also been using green electricity since 2011.

However, conditions at LMU vary considerably in different areas. In the city center there are historic and, in some cases, listed buildings. They are distinctive features of LMU, but they often make it much more complicated to modernize energy systems or make major structural alterations than it would be on a new campus.

On the other hand, we have modern laboratories and we run a hospital. Here, very resource-intensive work processes create challenges of their own. The use of AI, too, is linked to significant ecological impacts, especially because energy-intensive compute processes, rising demand for electricity and the resources consumed by IT infrastructure all place an added burden on the environment. So, there can be no one-size-fits-all solution for the whole university.

What is the focus of the strategy for social sustainability?

This strategy sees LMU being more deeply involved in thinking about social sustainability. Why? Because sustainable development is not just about making rules or improving technologies. People have to be able to live and work with these changes. That is why we also need to take a closer look at societal consequences, give visibility to conflicts of interest and promote inclusion and participation.

It follows that social sustainability is also about taking people’s health and wellbeing seriously. It’s about taking their development opportunities and the ability to cope with change seriously. A university of all places can do a lot in these areas – especially through education, but also through diversity and equal opportunities.

How can dialogue with the public be reinforced around sustainability?

We want dialogue with the public to play a much more prominent role. That can happen through events conducted in collaboration with the City of Munich, but also by working with companies, NGOs and other partner organizations. It’s about generating knowledge not only within the confines of the university, but also communicating it to the outside world. Conversely, it is also about absorbing ideas and impetus from practitioners. LMU already produces formats – such as newsletters, podcasts and social media offerings – that promote dialogue and participation in the context of sustainability.

One particularly exciting format is what are referred to as living labs. At these labs in local districts, we talk with people, set up focus groups and, together, test the impact of certain changes. For example, we can investigate how adapting the cityscape influences wellbeing, what measures are accepted in everyday life, and where social and ecological issues are interrelated.

Who will implement this strategy at LMU?

LMU has been deeply committed to all kinds of sustainability initiatives for many years. The aim now is for the new strategy to create a clearer structure. That’s why we now have the role of Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), which I am assuming at the present time. Reporting directly to the University Executive Board, the CSO is commissioned to advance sustainability as a topic affecting every aspect of LMU. The CSO is backed by a Sustainability Office, a central unit that organizes and coordinates all operational activities. Here, four further Sustainability Officers respectively oversee Research, Study & Teaching, Transfer, and Campus & Operations.

The Sustainability Office is supported by a Sustainability Committee in which professors, students, non-professorial scientific staff and non-scientific staff are represented. In addition, each faculty has its own Sustainability Officer charged with amplifying the topic within their sphere of influence and both connecting and mobilizing everyone who is involved. Collaboration with the Green Office operated at the Martinsried campus is also important, and further such offices are in the pipeline. Cooperation with the Student Council’s Environmental Office is another key aspect.

How far has LMU as a whole progressed along the road to sustainability?

I would say further than it might appear at first glance. A very large number of initiatives, projects and people are already working on this topic. Since the launch of the LMU Sustainability Fund, support has been provided for numerous projects that address ecological, economic and social sustainability – including such issues as more resource-friendly laboratory operations. Students, too, are heavily involved, especially with regard to the very practical issues surrounding everyday life at the university, where operation, consumption and concrete improvements are the issues at stake.

What does LMU hope the new strategy will achieve in the long term?

The strategy should help ensure that this topic is always taken seriously and continues to experience dynamic development. It is not just about organizing sustainability better at the university, but also actively shaping it. Our goal is to make LMU a place where new insights into sustainability are generated, debated and carried over into society.

LMU’s new sustainability strategy will be published on the LMUgreen website. It outlines the university’s activities in the field of sustainability, spells out LMU’s commitment to sustainable action, and provides guidance and orientation. It shows how everyone who has anything to do with LMU can play a part, and it provides useful information on initiatives, offers of funding and advanced education opportunities. “Shaping sustainability together” – the subtitle of the university’s new strategy – is an invitation that is open to one and all.