The FH Burgenland Group sees itself as a pioneer and role model for corporate responsibility of knowledge, research and educational institutions in terms of holistic sustainable development. In this sense, the staff unit "Sustainability" was established, which is currently headed by a sustainability officer and supported by an environmental officer.
With the sustainability strategy, it makes a significant contribution to the global sustainability goals of the United Nations(Sustainable Development Goals or "SDGs" for short), the Green Deal of the EU and the cultivation of the common good economy values.
EMAS stands for Eco Management and Auditing Scheme and was introduced by the EU in 1993 to provide companies with an instrument for the continuous improvement of their environmental impact. With the involvement of all employees in the company as well as stakeholders, strategic and organisational foundations were created to determine and evaluate the consumption of resources, water and energy, but also the associated greenhouse gas emissions, the volume of waste and the space required, and to continuously improve these environmental aspects through appropriate measures.
After a comprehensive audit including inspections of the company locations, the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland was awarded the EMAS certificate in March 2022 for the first time.
As a co-founder of the COOP Sustainable Universities, Burgenland University of Applied Sciences has taken on responsibility on the board. The alliance is all about cooperation, exchange and strategic partnerships, the creation and utilisation of synergies and shared resources, as well as joint positioning and visibility for holistic sustainability agendas.
In particular, Burgenland University of Applied Sciences endeavoured to develop, organise and manage the first joint Online Sustainability Day, which was held at Burgenland University of Applied Sciences, as well as the development, organisation and management of the SOAK Biomimicry Summer Academy 2023 - 2025 and hosted the first joint Summer Academy in the Lake Neusiedl region. The second annual congress was also organised at the Burgenland University of Applied Sciences: https://www.nachhaltige-hochschulen.at/jahreskongress-2024/.
The importance of the Alliance's work was already recognised in 2020 with the Austrian Sustainability Award, 3rd place in the category Teaching & Curriculum - a joint course for Bio-inspired Innovation. The Alliance as an institution was then recognised in 2022 with the Austrian Sustainability Award - 2nd place in the Regional Cooperation category.
There are several active members of the alliance at Burgenland University of Applied Sciences, who benefit from the networking and find inspiration for their own academic work and teaching activities, while also helping to achieve the desired impact of the alliance in the educational landscape and in society.
With the Code of Coduct , the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland has made a clear commitment to responsibility, integrity and sustainable business practices. As a common guide, the Code of Conduct describes binding standards for human rights, environmental and climate protection. It applies to all our business partners and is our basis for fair and respectful cooperation, enabling us to jointly create a reliable foundation for a sustainable future.
Getting to Campus, sustainably
Sometimes, public transport schedules and your calendar just do not align, and yet, you still have to get to Eisenstadt or Pinkafeld. For such cases, we are cooperating with Greendrive Mobility to provide our students with a simple solution: carpooling. With the Greendrive app and its connected platform, students can offer and search for carpooling opportunities.
How to?
Simply scan the QR code and download the “Greendrive—Mitfahr-App” in your respective app store. By registering with the code 3660023, you can swiftly create your carpool—and save money! Download from the Google Play Store or Apple Store.
