National Prize for Education for Sustainable Development goes to JMU

Since 2022, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), together with the German Commission for UNESCO, has been awarding the "National Prize - Education for Sustainable Development". It is awarded to institutions and initiatives that promote education for sustainable development (ESD). Ten prizes in four categories are awarded to projects that promote ESD in society.

This year, Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg is one of the winners in the "Learning Centres" category. It will receive prize money of 10,000 euros, which it can use to further advance its concept of integrating ESD into the teaching of all subjects.

JMU President Paul Pauli is delighted with the award: "We have set ourselves the goal of further developing education for sustainable development based on science and making it an integral part of all degree programmes - always in line with the requirements of scientific education and teaching at a comprehensive university. The National Award confirms that we are on the right track!"

"The integration of Education for Sustainable Development into the teaching of all subjects marks an important milestone in the further development of JMU's range of courses," emphasises Andreas Dörpinghaus, Vice President for Studies, Teaching and Quality Management. "By promoting sustainability skills across all subjects, we enable our students to make informed decisions in their future professional and social roles in terms of sustainability and to act responsibly."

Goals Are Set Out in the Sustainability Strategy

"A comprehensive university on the way to education for sustainable development as a cross-sectional task": This was the title of the JMU's application for the national prize under the leadership of Professor Markus Riederer.

JMU's award-winning concept aims to provide all students with interdisciplinary and subject-specific knowledge and skills for sustainable development. It aims to achieve this ambitious goal with the virtual "Interdisciplinary Sustainability Sciences" course for students of all subjects, with the "HBNE" higher education didactic training programme for teaching staff and with the involvement of all university members. This is also laid down in JMU's sustainability strategy, which has been in force since August 2024.

"JMU shows a possible way of anchoring ESD at full universities and is thus a role model," explains Anja Schlömerkemper, JMU Vice President for Equal Opportunities, Career Planning and Sustainability. "By anchoring ESD, we are strengthening our view of the interrelationships and challenges of our world and promoting skills to meet them as well as possible - on a scientific basis."

A Concern From the Centre of the University

The ESD concept at JMU emerged from an initiative by lecturers from all faculties who wanted to promote dialogue and collaboration on the topic of ESD across disciplinary boundaries. The initiative led to the transformation experiment "Teaching4Sustainability" at the sustainability laboratory WueLAB, which has since organised networking meetings every semester to which all status groups at the university are invited. Ideas and results from these meetings are regularly incorporated into JMU's sustainability processes.

Concept Convinced High-ranking Jury

A jury of 13 experts was impressed by the concept of anchoring ESD as a cross-cutting topic in all degree programmes at a comprehensive university.

The official award ceremony will take place in Berlin in May 2025. The award consists of more than just the title and prize money: All projects will be nominated for the German pre-selection for the international "UNESCO-Japan Prize for Education for Sustainable Development".

Contact Person

Prof Dr Markus Riederer, Sustainability Laboratory WueLAB, University of Würzburg, T +49 931 31-86200, markus.riederer@uni-wuerzburg.de

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