The aim of ESD is to enable people to acquire competencies with regard to shaping a sustainable world in the sense of SD. Thus, ESD forms a cross-sectional perspective that only concerns the most diverse fields of knowledge and disciplines. At the same time, it combines knowledge and critical reflection with assessment and action competencies. ESD is an explicit goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; Target 4.7). It states, "By 2030, learners acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to promote sustainable development, including through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles." According to the National Action Plan Education for Sustainable Development of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), ESD should be anchored in all areas of learning, from early childhood education to university teaching.
At the University of Tübingen, university ESD is put into practice in a variety of areas: In the interdisciplinary seminar program Studium Oecologicum, students from all departments can attend courses on sustainable development topics and earn a corresponding interdisciplinary sustainability certificate. In addition, in the disciplinary field, degree programs are offered that enable the engagement with specific academic aspects of Sustainable Development (such as environmental sciences and peace research).
The student initiative nez offers the nez-Erstsemesterakademie for incoming students every year at the beginning of the winter semester. There, participants can attend workshops on a variety of topics in the field of sustainability and develop ideas for sustainable projects at the university in future workshops.
Furthermore, UT has been involved in the teaching sub-project of the HOCH-N project "Sustainability at Universities" (www.hoch-n.org): There, quality criteria for higher education for sustainable development were developed and a guideline was written that shows different perspectives and approaches on how education for sustainable development can be introduced more strongly and systematically at universities.
One important measure to achieve this is further training courses, such as those offered as part of the Baden-Württemberg Higher Education Didactics Certificate.
