Development of Sustainability in Aachen University Sports

 

Development of Sustainability in Aachen University Sports

The RWTH Aachen University Sports Center, HSZ for short, provides the members of Aachen’s universities with a wide range of sport and movement offers. It further organises various events throughout the year. As a central institution of RWTH Aachen University, the HSZ is aware of its educational mission and role model function. It views it as its duty to continually examine and develop the sustainability of its program. For the HSZ, sustainability represents a continuous process to be steadily driven forward.

Besides its own conviction to act sustainably, the HSZ also derives its responsibility for sustainable development from its function as a central institution of RWTH Aachen University. RWTH Aachen University is aware of its responsibility towards society and the environment and promotes the subject of sustainability centrally through the Staff Unit: Board of Governors and Strategic Matters. As part of its membership of the German University Sports Association (adh), the HSZ has worked to esablish the subject of sustainability in the umbrella organisation. In this respect, various actors were brought together in a network for sustainability, an adh-seminar on sutainability was organised in February 2019 and an adh sustainability prize was established. Since 2019, the principle of sustainability is established in the statute and mission statement of the adh and are thus guiding for all member institutions including the HSZ. Besides exchanges on a national level, the HSZ is also engaged with its partner universities on the European level.

 

Foundation for Sustainable Development in Aachen University Sports

The 17 sustainable development goals of Agenda 2030 of the United Nations form the basis for the sustainable development of the HSZ.

In 2015, the United Nations agreed and declared 17 global goals for sustainable development, the so-called Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. Through implementation of the goals the international community aims to provide everybody a humane and dignified existence, while securing the natural foundations for life. The SDGs encompass all three dimensions of sustainability – ecology, economics and society.

As the goals are aimed at civil society, the private sector and sciences in addition to the world’s governments, the HSZ also orients itself within the operational framework of the 17 SDGs. With its actions, the HSZ wishes to contribute as positively and broadly as possible to the achievement of the 17 sustainable development goals.

 

Operational Framework

The operational framework of the HSZ includes the areas of sports programs, sport facilities, events, organisation and partners and enable the HSZ to contribute positively to the realisation of the SDGs. The HSZ is committed to factor into its actions the three dimensions of sustainability – ecology, economics and society – wherever possible.

Through its work, the HSZ reaches many people in the context of RWTH Aachen University, FH Aachen as well as the wider Aachen region. As such, the HSZ enjoys over 15,000 participants in its sport and movement program every week and welcomes to its events over 14,500 participants every year. This enables the HSZ not only to act sustainably within its own scope, but also to use its each to sensitise and influence people with contact to the HSZ. Thus, the HSZ is able to satisfy its educational mission and role model function with regard to sustainable development.

 

Implementation

The HSZ has already contributed positively through a variety of measures to the realisation of various SDGs within its scope in the past. Thus, activities to develop sustainability in University Sports are to be successively built up and communicated and participants in university sports won over for the tackling of sustainability issues.