Integrating sustainability into studies across all departments and focusing on the topics of climate and the environment - with this goal in mind, students at Fachhochschule Dortmund have initiated and organized the "Studium Oecologicum" seminar series. All members of the UAS, as well as external guest students, are invited to attend.
On a total of eleven public dates, lecturers from Fachhochschule Dortmund will shed light on different aspects of sustainability: What contribution can companies make? What is the potential of digitalization? Does climate-friendly construction work and do balcony power plants help with the energy transition? Is there a psychology of sustainability?
The event starts on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, at the Emil-Figge-Straße campus on the topic of "Environmental protection and sustainability - how has the perspective changed from 1972 to today". It always starts at 3.50 pm.
Dates and topics
Bringing the faculties together
"We can only tackle the challenges of the climate crisis together," says Antonia Alfs. She studies design and is part of the organizational team for the sustainability series. "The Studium Oecologicum is deliberately interdisciplinary. We want to bring students from different faculties together." At the same time, students should be able to contribute their ideas and topics, adds her fellow student Mats Flottmann. "That's why the events don't just consist of a lecture, but also of discussion and exchange." The summer semester's sustainability series runs until the end of June 2023.
"This is also a pilot phase," explains Marcel Franke. The budding social scientist is also part of the organizing team and a member of the General Student Committee (AStA) at Fachhochschule Dortmund. The aim of the project team is to make the Studium Oecologicum permanent and to be able to certify participation with a certificate or offer it as a course achievement with examinations. "In this way, dealing with sustainability issues should be rewarded and not just seen as a leisure activity alongside studying," emphasizes Marcel Franke. The university management and the Sustainability Office support the project.
Deputy Rector Prof. Dr. Tamara Appel praises the commitment of the students: "The Oecologiucm course is a low-threshold offer to work on interdisciplinary topics in the context of sustainability, to jointly develop ideas for solutions and to promote them across departments." Fachhochschule Dortmund will promote the idea of a sustainability course anchored in the curriculum with the students.
The fact that the concept and the pilot project originated from the student body demonstrates the need at the university. "With the pilot project, in which many committed lecturers at Fachhochschule Dortmund are involved, we are underlining the sustainability claim in the education at the university," says Prof. Dr. Tamara Appel. The topics of environment and climate are to be increasingly integrated into practice-oriented teaching.
The student project team of the Studium Oecologicum includes:
Antonia Alfs, Mats Flottmann, Marcel Franke, Nora Hummelsheim and Nele Ochmann.