Our mission statement for academic programs and teaching sets the course: “We empower our students to act sustainably and to take on responsibility in society. We resolve conflicts arising from differing approaches and goals through open, respectful, and constructive dialogue.”
Sustainability in teaching means designing content, methods, and structures in such a way that students are empowered to identify complex problems, reflect on them critically, and independently develop solutions for a sustainable society. This multifaceted process is embedded at various levels, which makes it difficult to measure. On the one hand, quantitative indicators can be used, such as the number of courses related to sustainability or student projects, term papers, and theses on this topic. On the other hand, qualitative methods are needed—for example, within the framework of curriculum workshops—to assess how deeply sustainability is actually integrated into teaching processes.
This highlights a central challenge: sustainability is not a clearly defined discipline, but rather a cross-cutting issue that depends heavily on the commitment of faculty members. Academic freedom in research and teaching also means that motivation, choice of methods, and setting content priorities fall under their responsibility. At the same time, institutional embedding is gaining importance. If sustainability is explicitly named as a cornerstone in faculty strategies or in the teaching mission statement, a framework emerges that supports individual initiatives and provides guidance. Below, we examine this diversity through several examples from different perspectives: At the Faculty of Social Sciences, the social dimension of sustainability—including inclusion, health, and participation—is systematically and vividly integrated into teaching through course offerings and practice-oriented projects. The bachelor’s program in Renewable Energy / Energy Systems Engineering already has sustainability in its name. It combines a solid foundation in engineering with a clear focus on renewable energy systems and is thus seen as a forward-looking extension of traditional engineering education. Large interdisciplinary modules, such as those in the field of architecture, demonstrate how sustainability functions as a cross-cutting task by bringing together ecological, economic, technical, and social factors. Finally, collaborations with external partners, such as the module with the “Forum for Responsibility” foundation, illustrate how sustainability comes to life through lecture series and workshops that draw inspiration from academia, politics, and civil society. Beyond these examples, the exploration of the requirements of sustainable development runs through the entire range of courses. Creating an objectively comparable measurement framework remains a challenge. However, the university’s module database offers a starting point for collecting and processing relevant data within the framework of evaluation and accreditation processes. Work is underway on this as part of the implementation of an Academic Scorecard at htw saar; results are expected in 2026.Read more
