Sustainability council (student body) (de: AK Nachhaltige Transformation, old: Nachhaltigkeitsrat)

Who are we?

We are students who work towards the socio-ecological transformation at KIT and work closely with the AStA department for social-ecological transformation. For this, we are in direct exchange with, among others, the Vice President for Digitisation and Sustainability, people at KIT infrastructure, sustainability initiatives and student groups at KIT, as well as the student councils and lecturers. In addition, we create awareness on the campus for different topics of sustainability (energy transition, transformation of transport, sustainability in teaching, biodiversity on campus, etc.).

 

How are we organised?

We meet once a week to work on our projects and prepare upcoming events. This meeting is organised by the Department for Social-Ecological Transformation, which reports our work to the AStA Board and Student Parliament. Five of us are also part of the Round Table on Sustainability as student representatives, a discussion platform on sustainable topics with people from all areas of the KIT (infrastructure, administration, teaching and research).

 

What are we doing currently and what are we up to?

We concern ourselves with everything related to sustainability where there is a need for action, e.g. if the planning of an infrastructure project at KIT is about to be completed. Apart from that, we try to bring attention to topics that are not getting enough. Here is a list of things that we are currently working on, have worked on and want to tackle in the future:

Ongoing projects:

  • Sustainable development of transport on and between campuses (e.g. bicycle focused campus)
  • Biosphere at KIT (advancing and bringing attention to already existing concepts)
  • Expansion of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): Development of a position paper with the student councils
  • Studi Solar: we want to expand the renewal of the studi Mensa-PV led by the university group kine e.V. into a self-effective student project by organizing a solar camp. Solar camps provide the opportunity for low-threshold training in photovoltaic construction. With this knowledge, a certain number of student participants will then take part in the construction of the new studi Mensa-PV.
  • Student Repair Café: Repairing is not only more sustainable than buying new, it's also fun! That's why we are organizing a student-run Repair Café with the AKK. Find out more hier

Future projects:

  • Creating guidelines for sustainable event management within the student body
  • Preparation of various open letters on the sustainability strategy (infrastructure planning, mobility, energy transition, etc.)
  • There is still a lot to do and we are looking forward to new ideas!

 

History

The Sustainability Council was created in November 2022 following the Endfossil occupation of the Audimax. The cause for the Endfossil occupation was COP 27 and the inaction of the KIT.

Contact

We meet thursdays 5:30 p.m. in the second AStA container and online. Everyone is welcome to stop by and participate. It’s probably best to write us an email beforehand, as it can happen that we’re only meeting online. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to send us an email: nachhaltigkeitrat@asta-kit.de.

Everybody is welcome to join us!