The challenges and opportunities of sustainable development – from climate change to new forms of economy, to "unpackaged" shops and sufficient lifestyles – are omnipresent. At the center is the question of how people can live together and shape society in order to create livable conditions for all current and future generations. Sustainable development is an integrative and action-oriented concept. It goes back to the Brundtland Report "Our Common Future" of the United Nations from 1987. Sustainable development is understood in such a way that the provision for current generations does not impair the fulfillment of the needs of future generations (World Commission 1987: 37). In this context, an ethical principle is explicitly formulated, namely that of both intragenerational and intergenerational justice. This means taking responsibility for future generations and orienting towards the needs of the poorest in the sense of global justice, taking into account the planetary boundaries, i.e., the preservation of natural living conditions. With the "Agenda 21" of the Conference on Environment and Development in Rio 1992, sustainable development was recognized for the first time as a global international guiding principle. Another milestone in the history of sustainable development is the adoption of the 17 Goals for Global Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. The idea behind this is that global challenges such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, soil and ocean pollution, poverty, and growing social inequalities can only be addressed through joint efforts.

Higher education institutions, especially universities, play a central role on the path to a sustainable future: They research problem situations and potential solutions, and they educate future experts and leaders. Moreover, higher education institutions can become pioneers for sustainability themselves: the Whole-Institution-Approach refers to considering the entire institution with all its areas of action. For higher education institutions, these areas of action include governance, transfer, research, teaching, operations, and sustainability reporting (see the results and guidelines of the HOCH-N project). The goal is to make knowledge, experience, and competencies in these areas of action visible and promote them while connecting the various stakeholders to advance sustainable development at the university level (see Schopp et al. 2020). At the University of Tübingen, the Competence Center for Sustainable Development (KNE) serves as the interface to promote and connect engagement for sustainable development in the various areas of action within the university.