The EUGLOH Sustainability Map: Towards an Integrated Sustainable Campus

Although sustainability is a cornerstone of our alliance, with nine universities across Europe it can be difficult to keep track of all the great green projects happening locally. We often hear about “Global Health” and “Green Campus” initiatives in the abstract, but where can we actually find them? What if we could not only list these initiatives, but also make them visible?

It was this very question that inspired my colleagues and me to develop the EUGLOH Sustainability Map.

Our motivation was simple. We wanted to give students, administrative staff and decision makers an opportunity to see all the initiatives on one centralized map. The sustainability map is an interactive digital tool powered by Google MyMaps highlighting sustainable spots, projects and resources at our partner universities. From urban gardening projects and student-run recycling stations to innovative research labs and fair-trade coffee spots, the map aims to highlight all of these. 

The development of this map was a true co-created team effort. Together with my colleagues, we created a survey and enabled students across the Alliance to contribute to the sustainability map. Thanks to several contributors, we got enough locations, which we verified and implemented into the map. While one might think that the technical implementation is the hardest challenge, the biggest challenge was actually obtaining the specific information required for each location. Gathering accurate details about sustainable spots across nine distinct universities required extensive coordination and communication. However, overcoming these logistical challenges highlighted the value of international cooperation and collaboration.

We hope this tool not only informs but also inspires future action. If a student in Porto sees successful bike-sharing in Hamburg or a zero-waste initiative in Szeged, it might spark a new idea for their own campus. Our goal is for the map to grow and evolve, just like our understanding of environmental responsibility. 

The EUGLOH Sustainable Initiatives Action Group invites you to explore the map and perhaps even discover your own favorite sustainable spot. Let’s connect the green dots on our map and make the EUGLOH community more sustainable, step by step. 

Christian Iltner is a Master of Science student in Information Systems at University of Hamburg. Engaged in the Sustainable Initiatives Action Group of the EUGLOH Alliance and various political sustainability initiatives, he focuses on leveraging digital tools to facilitate green transformation and increasing the visibility of sustainable options within the university network. 

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