SDGs associated
Universities associated
Action Category

Research and teaching at the University of Freiburg

As an institution of excellence and a University that wants to prepare coming generations for challenging social issues, the University of Freiburg is very active in the Research area and also has high educational standards. Here are a few examples of the University's activity : 

  • the development of a partnership with the five Freiburger Fraunhofer institutes, that led the creation of The Institute for Sustainable Systems Engineering (INATECH). The foundation is unique in the research field and aims at establishing sustainability as the guiding principle in the development of technical systems. Driven by current sustainability challenges, the institute's objective is to design systems that use energy and resources efficiently, at a rate that does not impact the environment negatively and so allows future generations to meet their needs. Its areas of focus are sustainable materials, energy systems and resilience. The University of Freiburg contributes to this partnership with excellence in research and teaching.
  • the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources. Indeed, one of the faculties of the University is focused on the Environment and offers courses on the fields of forest, environmental and earth sciences as well as geography. The faculty is also very active in the research and focuses on sustainable use and protection of natural resources, the adaptation of ecosystems and human-environment systems to global change, sustainable development, and natural hazards and risks. Research groups have been working on questions related to the development of a bio-based economy, on the nutrition of ecosystems, the conservation of biodiversity, and on geohazards.
  • the Sustainability Center Freiburg, created as a result of another cooperation between the University of Freiburg and Freiburg's five Fraunhofer institutes. The center conducts research and develops sustainable technologies and solutions, focusing on topics such as climate change and resource scarcity but also the effects of digitization and growing complexity on our societies.
  • the Studium Oecologicum certificate. An initiative aimed at all the students enrolled at the University of Freiburg, to develop and expand their skills for interdisciplinary work with sustainability challenges, through a course offer with a series of lectures and basic courses. 

Learn more about The Institute for Sustainable Systems Engineering (INATECH) here : https://www.inatech.uni-freiburg.de/en?set_language=en 

Learn more about the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources here : https://www.unr.uni-freiburg.de/en/front-page-en-en Learn more about the Sustainability Center Freiburg here : https://www.leistungszentrum-nachhaltigkeit.de/en/ 

Learn more about the Studium Oecologicum certificate here : https://www.zfs.uni-freiburg.de/de/studium-oecologicum/studium-oecologicum-ein-freiwilliges-zertifikat-fuer-alle-studierenden-die-kompetenzen-fuer-die-interdisziplinaere-arbeit-mit-sozial-oekologischen-herausforderungen-auf-und-ausbauen-moechten

Latest update: 28.10.2023