Sustainability Audit

As part of the pilot project “Sustainability Audit in Higher Education” conducted by the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), Universität Hamburg was selected in 2024 as one of four pilot universities nationwide, together with three other higher education institutions.

The aim of the audit is to:

• support universities in strategically and institutionally embedding sustainability, and
• promote their organisational development through participatory processes.

Universität Hamburg’s Sustainability Transformation

For Universität Hamburg, the audit represented an important milestone in its sustainability transformation. Together with an internal university project group, the Sustainability Office, the HRK team, and external auditors, the university’s progress in sustainable development was systematically analysed and reflected upon across the following areas:

• Governance,
• Research,
• Teaching and Learning,
• Knowledge Transfer, and
• Administration and Operations.

The process identified existing strengths, areas for further development, and concrete recommendations for action to further embed sustainability within the university’s structures.