For UoC students
You are enrolled at the University of Cologne and would like to help make your University more sustainable? Then you've come to the right place to get an overview of the various initiatives, working groups and opportunities to get involved in sustainability at the University of Cologne. If you are interested in a specific group or if you are looking for more information, please let us know – we will then get you in contact with the responsible persons.
Green Office
The Green Office Cologne is a student initiative that aims to establish a student-run Green Office at the University of Cologne and to support students in their commitment to greater sustainability. In addition, the Green Office is a contact platform for sustainability inquiries from students at the University of Cologne. The initiative meets every second Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in room S90 (Philosophikum) and is always looking for motivated students who would like to work for more sustainability at the University of Cologne.
Instagram: @greenoffice.uzk
Fair University of Cologne
The University of Cologne is committed to sustainability in food production, fair trade relations and working conditions. In May 2018, the UoC received the ‘Fairtrade University’ award for its commitment. Various criteria must be met to receive this title, such as offering fair trade products in the canteens and coffee bars on campus and in meetings. In addition, there are regular events and campaigns by students addressing fair trade. To ensure that the ideas of sustainability and fair trade continue to be promoted in the future, the group is always looking for students who would like to volunteer and make the campus even fairer!
Instagram: @faireunizukoeln
Working Group Research, Teaching & Waste Management
Based on the first Sustainability Forum at the University of Cologne in February 2023, various interdisciplinary working groups have evolved that promote sustainability in coordination with the Sustainability Office and the sustainability strategy for selected areas of the University of Cologne. These include the groups for research, teaching and waste management, which are happy about contributions. If you are interested and need more information, please contact the Sustainability Office at nachhaltigkeit
verw.uni-koeln.de.
CampusGarten
The CampusGarten is a project of the student union AStA of the University of Cologne, and was initiated by students. Everyone can visit the garden – for gardening, discovering, relaxing. Vegetables, herbs and fruit are planted in order to produce food in a climate-neutral, cost-effective and ecological manner. In addition, various workshops on garden topics are offered as well as events to exchange experiences. No prior knowledge is necessary. The group is always happy to welcome new members and you can participate in different areas.
Instagram: @campusgartenkoeln
oikos Cologne
Around thirty active members are committed to introducing a more sustainable and a more plural perspective in management and economics curricula. To this end, they organize lectures and discussions on economic topics to promote critical thinking about current economics and plan events on general topics of sustainability in everyday life (Group currently inactive).
Instagram: @oikoskoeln
Students for Future
(Initiative related to the UoC)
Since 2019, Students for Future (SFF) Cologne has been campaigning for more climate protection, social justice and anti-discrimination in many contexts: at the University of Cologne, in exchange with the City of Cologne, at the state level of North Rhine-Westphalia and in nationwide projects. The group consists of Cologne students from various universities, trainees and other interested people.
Instagram: @studentsforfuture_koeln
A sustainability map of the UoC
A pilot project by students in collaboration with the Sustainability Office and Service Learning provides an overview of student initiatives and programmes relating to sustainability on the University of Cologne campus. The sustainability map shows and locates various projects that are committed to environmental and climate protection as well as social responsibility and invites you to find out more and get involved. Initiatives are welcome to contact the Sustainability Office by e-mail to register
Digital ESD learning units
The Institute of Geography Didactics at the University of Cologne has developed various digital learning units as Open Educational Resources (OER) for higher education. The aim is to qualify prospective teachers and educators to teach ESD-relevant content and issues and to convey them in extracurricular educational settings.
Sustainability Wiki (GER)
Are you looking for practical tips on sustainability in everyday university life or would you like to share helpful information with the university community? The Sustainability Wiki of the Research Group now offers everyone the opportunity to collect practical information on sustainability topics at the University of Cologne and to build up a general knowledge database step by step.
Join now