Strengthening SDGs in higher education

Teach4TUmorrow

The “zukunft.niedersachsen”-programme of Lewer Saxony's Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (MWK) supports the initiative "Development 2030” and its associated measures at TU Braunschweig. Among other objectives, the university aims to further equip students for future-oriented thinking and action by more firmly embedding sustainability topics into both study programmes and teaching.

With the Teach4TUmorrow project, the Green Office supports this set of objectives in line with TU Braunschweig’s Sustainability Strategy. Our focus is on promoting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) across all degree programmes, so that students acquire the subject-specific knowledge and competences needed to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s challenges of sustainable transformation.

teach4tumorrow Logo

How we provide support

Our primary aim is to assist educators in creating courses that embody the principles of education for sustainable development. We provide support through expert input, workshops, guidelines, and personalized consultation. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serve as a fundamental foundation for the project. For more details on each of the SDGs, please click here.

Measures:

  • Content analysis of module and course descriptions
  • Development of recommendations for teaching staff
  • Creation of additional offerings to build teaching-staff competencies
  • Incentives for integrating the SDGs into curricula
  • Semester-based monitoring

Roadmap

February 2024

Project kickoff

Helen Lehne and Anne Scheler have joined the Green Office as new team members and are overseeing the MWK-funded project. In preparation for a holistic analysis, a survey instrument is being developed that builds on UNESCO’s (2017) Learning Objectives.

June 2024

Teach4TUmorrow Talks

As part of our Sustainability Action Days, we explored what constitutes high-quality education in the higher-education context and how sustainability topics can be embedded in teaching, together with Hannah Maschong (Klimabildung e. V.) and interested teaching staff. Here you’ll find a summary of the workshop outcomes (in German), along with relevant handouts and literature.

June 2024

Sustainability Strategy

In June 2024, Senate and Presidency adopt a sustainability strategy for TU Braunschweig. The Green Office and the Teach4TUmorrow project foster the identification of new activities and help translate the strategy into practice beyond the measures already underway — especially in teaching.

August 2024

Module Checks

The project team launches a content‐analysis review of module descriptions for all degree programmes. Initially, it will identify which subject-specific links appear in each programme.

February 2025

Feedback from Teaching Staff

Following the presentation of results to the faculty councils, the Green Office is gathering additional discipline-specific data on SDG-related courses. To this end, an online survey of teaching staff is being conducted. The survey results will help close any data gaps, uncover discrepancies between module descriptions and actual SDG content delivered in courses, and form the basis for identifying opportunities and recommendations for action.

June 2025

Virtual Lunch Breaks

The Green Office TU members and teaching staff to a shared lunch break: In a digital lunchtime series, current topics related to Education for Sustainable Development in Higher Education (ESD) take center stage. Every Thursday from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m., there will be a 20-minute input from experts in academia and practice.

2025

Digitalization of Self-Reporting

To simplify medium-term monitoring, the Green Office is working together with partner universities in the HochNiNa network to explore low-threshold, digital options for indicating SDGs in individual courses. The aim is to enable educators to continuously provide information on the sustainability aspects of their teaching and to present this information transparently for students.


Your expertise and feedback are crucial for the success of "Teach4TUmorrow". Therefore, we look forward to close collaboration with you. Are you interested in supporting the project or would you like to share questions or suggestions? Do not hesitate to contact us! We look forward to your message and constructive feedback.

 

Helen Lehne
Pockelsstraße 7

Project Coordinator

Anne Scheler
Pockelsstraße 7

Project employee