Sustainability in focus
Sustainable action has been one of the operational and strategic goals of TU Dortmund University for many years. Sustainability is understood as a joint task in research and teaching, science and administration. This task is coordinated by the newly created Sustainability Office of TU Dortmund University, which supports the existing Sustainability Working Group in the implementation of transparent sustainability communication and the initiation and implementation of sustainable projects. This commitment is now also being taken up by the Department of Business and Economics, which has appointed its first sustainability officer in the person of Professor Christiane Pott.
Professor Pott, only a few faculties at TU Dortmund University have had their own sustainability officer to date. Why do you think it is important to bring the topic from the university administration into the faculties?
Sustainability touches every area of life. Hopefully, everyone is looking for and finding ways to act sustainably in small ways. Whether it's turning off the faucet faster, using reusable products, and more. For the most part, we are automatically focused on the ecological aspect of sustainability. Beyond that, of course, we should also keep the social aspect in mind by getting involved even if we don't expect any personal return. To this end, the European Commission is establishing mechanisms for market participation in order to bring about a kind of circular effect. In simplified terms, you could say that sustainable action is first triggered by regulation, then rewarded so that it pays off. Motivated by the European and in general social debate as well as by the clear signal of the TU Dortmund by establishing a sustainability office, we should also as a department give more space to this important topic. I see myself as an interface between the administration and our department, but I would also like interested students to approach me with ideas.
What would you like to achieve as the department's sustainability officer and how can each individual department member make a meaningful contribution to this important issue?
I would like to raise awareness about sustainability and bring possible projects to the department. For example, we are working in the Sustainability Taskforce on returning technology that is no longer in use, such as stand-alone computers or monitors, to the usage cycle. This is also conceivable for furniture. Even if these measures seem small, they have a signal effect and will hopefully find imitators. I would like to see everyone questioning whether new purchases are necessary. In this context, I consider the use of paper to be often useless and would like to see fewer printouts with a view to saving resources.