Peter-Tunner-Straße 23, 8700 Leoben 
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You like to deal with the topic of sustainability? You would like to integrate more into your everyday life, but don't know how?
You would like to learn more about how our university is involved in sustainability?
Then be excited for the next upcoming weeks, where we gonna focus on sustainability in March?
Consumption
To start, we'd like to look at the topic of consumption. No matter if it is food or other products. There will always be the question left, what is really needed and which companies should be supported with my purchase.
Here are some tips that can be easily integrated into everyday life to make your own shopping more sustainable:
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Make sure to buy regionally and seasonally! But where can you do this easily?
At the farmers' market in Leoben, which takes place every Tuesday and Friday morning from 7:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m. at the Franz-Xaver Church.
- To avoid unnecessary packaging in your daily life, bring your own shopping bags and a reusable bottle, so you can always be prepared for spontaneous purchases!
- To keep food fresh, use resealable boxes or wax sheets instead of aluminium foil or plastic wrap.
- Try to buy second hand whenever possible. Second hand helps to reduce and save important resources.
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If you want to save packaging by making products for your daily life easily by yourself, there is a lot of literature with recipe ideas, or you can find instructions on the internet.
g. make your own cleaning products
Mobility
Have you ever wondered how to travel in the most environmentally friendly way? You have a car and would like it to be used more often? You are wondering how to get to your next vacation destination in an environmentally friendly way?
We would like to show you some options on how to travel in a more environmentally friendly way:
- Since October 2021, there is a climate ticket available in Austria, which allows you to use all public transport. If you use public transport mostly in one federal state, there is the possibility to buy a regional climate ticket for that federal state.
- You have a certain destination that is not accessible by public transport?
Then you might want to consider a car sharing option. In Leoben, you have the possibility of public car sharing, the so-called Rail & Drive, at the main train station. Otherwise, there are also some platforms where you can privately look for or offer a ride. So if you already have a car and would like it to be used more often, you have the opportunity to share it on such platforms. If you would like to learn more about car sharing, we have compiled some information for you in the pdf Carsharing_english (673 KB) .
- If you do have to fly, you can offset your CO2 emissions on various platforms and invest in various environmental projects.
The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna has its own platform for climate neutrality and CO2 compensation.
You can find more information at https://xn--klimaneutralitt-elb.boku.ac.at/co2-kompensation/.
Wohn-Challenge
You want to show us how you do shopping without packaging? How you make sure to give products a second life and use them in other ways or repurpose them? How you design your living situation in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way?
Whether you live alone or in a shared flat, take part in our challenge and win one of three vouchers from Martin Reformstark with a value of 20€ each!
How can you participate?
- Take a photo of a sustainable implementation in your apartment/shared flat.
- Send us this photo with a short description of your initiative either by mail, on Instagram or on Facebook!
- The photo can be sent in until March 31th, 2022. On April 1st, 2022 we will draw lots and the winners will receive a voucher from Martin Reformstark and will be contacted by us.
We are looking forward to your sustainable implementations!
Week 2: Sustainability at our university
In order to shift the mobility of students to public transport and, as a university that teaches sustainability in its degree programmes, also to promote it in the everyday life of students, the Rectorate has set up a funding pot of 10,000€.
The allocation of the financial support to the students is done by us at the ÖH Leoben and should benefit all students, regardless of their main place of residence.
In the following document you can see the guidelines. The application for the grant can be submitted until 31.03.2022, the grant will be awarded afterwards.
You can apply for a semester ticket within Styria (TOP-Ticket), a climate ticket for the province of Styria or an Austria-wide climate ticket and use it to travel from home to university and back. It must be ensured that the cheapest option is used in each case. If tickets deviating from the above-mentioned tickets are submitted (annual tickets for partial routes or similar) and their purchase is explained with comprehensible justification, a subsidy can be issued in the corresponding cost category after a case-by-case examination.
In addition, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that the municipality of Leoben also grants a subsidy for the Klimaticket Styria or the Klimaticket Austria, provided that you have registered your main residence here. Depending on the tariff you choose, you will receive €100 or €70 in the form of Leoben vouchers. The subsidy will be paid out at the main cash desk in the town hall of Leoben. You need to bring your climate ticket, an official photo ID and your registration form.
More information can be found here: https://www.leoben.at/news/klimaticket-steiermark/#:~:text=Personen%20mit%20Hauptwohnsitz%20in%20der,erfolgt%20im%20Rathaus%20Leoben%2C%20Hauptkasse
International degree programs with a focus on sustainability
In the course of the 2030+ reform, two new Bachelor's degree programmes were launched, which are to be taught entirely in English.
One is the international general Bachelor's degree in Circular Engineering, which focuses on the holistic consideration of processes and products in the sense of the circular economy. On the other hand, the "EURECA-PRO" project will establish a degree programme with the title "Responsible Consumption and Production". The motivation behind both courses is to enable sustainable development based on technical know-how.
What exactly is hidden behind the EURECA-PRO project?
European Universities" represent a new form of cooperation between higher education institutions in Europe, which have set themselves the goal of strengthening the European Higher Education Area in the long term. In concrete terms, this university association consists of following universities:
- Montanuniversität Leoben (Austria)
- TU Bergakademie Freiberg (Germany)
- Technical University of Crete (Greece)
- University of León (Spain)
- Silesian University of Technology (Poland)
- University of Petrosani (Romania)
- Mittweida University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
The resulting network will enable students and staff to research, teach and study in the field of "Responsible Consumption and Production".
The long-term goal is to have a virtual and integrated European Campus by 2040.
Both studies are to start as early as autumn 2022. The curricula are still being worked on diligently before they can be approved by the rectorate and subsequently passed by the senate.
But even now, through the EURECA-PRO lecture series on the topic of Innovation & Entrepreneurship Training Course, there is the opportunity to attend lectures from 7 different universities out of 6 countries. For the participation in the 14 lectures, 3 ECTS will be awarded and a certificate can be obtained for the participation.
More information and a detailed course description can be found here: https://www.eurecapro.eu/online-innovation-entrepreneurship-training-course/
Mensa
The topic of sustainability also plays an important role in our cafeteria. We visited Peter Zeman to find out more about how food products are handled.
My team and I are constantly striving to make our production as sustainable as possible. For example, we make sure that our machines are only switched on when we actually need them in order to keep electricity consumption as low as possible.
Food that we cannot sell but is still usable, is given to the "Wendepunkt" association, which provides food to people in need in the region. When purchasing products, we pay attention to seasonality and regionality. Of course, we also try to avoid excessive packaging material as much as possible.
Many of the herbs needed in our kitchen come from our own garden and we have a snack garden with raspberries, chokeberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, plums, Japanese grapes and strawberries, which is available for our guests on a free pick.
We use the coffee brew we produce on the farm to fertilize our garden (earthworms love coffee too^^).
...if YOU also like coffee, cocoa or tea, from today on a hot drink is included for free with every delicious meal.
The Austrian Mensas are also in the process of introducing a "Mensa Climate Plate" and a "Mensa Climate Day" this semester. You can find all information about the Austria-wide operation and its sustainability strategy here.
Peter-Tunner-Straße 23, 8700 Leoben
