Sustainable University Management
Through research, teaching and as an employer, the University of Graz has a great influence on society and assumes responsibility for sustainable action in the social, ecological, and economic areas of sustainability. It demonstrates this in its environmental guidelines.
4,300 employees and 31,000 students implicate a great deal of responsibility within the university. Numerous sustainable offers are made available for employees and students, for example in the area of mobility. The university carries out ongoing improvements in the area of building infrastructure in order to reduce energy consumption.
The barrier-free University, promotion of women, diversity management and the promotion of the compatibility of work and family are only a few examples of the social sustainability activities within the university:
- Unikid & Unicare
- Office of the Working Group for Equal Opportunities
- Uniqability meets University (German only)
- KinderUniGraz (German only)
- Books4Life (German only)
- Welcome Center
- Betriebliche Gesundheitsförderung (German only)
- Vertrauensstelle für Konfliktsituationen (German only)
- USI (Universitäts-Sportinstitut) (German only)
- Zentrum Integriert Studieren (German only)
- Dual Career Center
- Refugee Aid Program GEWI (German only)
In order to continuously improve its environmental performance, Graz University has been participating in the environmental programme ÖKOPROFIT (ECOlogical Project for Integrated Environmental Technology) of the City of Graz since 2005 and has been validated with the environmental management system EMAS since 2016. This means that it is committed to continuously improving its environmental performance: in teaching, in terms of energy and resource requirements, investment and construction, procurement, waste, mobility, training, participation and cooperation. The annual environmental statement (German only) provides information on activities, past performance and future goals. The University of Graz also sets an example through its numerous measures to promote equality in terms of gender and diversity and the compatibility of family and career, for which it has received many awards.
The University of Graz is a co-founder and participant in numerous national and international networks on the topic of sustainability, whereby an exchange of sustainability ideas takes place and cooperation is promoted in many areas.
By 2030, the University of Graz aims to significantly reduce all greenhouse gas emissions produced on campus. The university’s goal is to achieve true climate neutrality by 2040 and wants to reduce its emissions by at least two thirds by 2030. Learn more about the Climate Neutral University of Graz.
