During the #LecturesForFuture event from 14 to 20 June 2019, lecturers focused on climate change in their classes. The Stifterverband has now recognised this initiative by awarding it the ‘Future Skills’ Higher Education Pearl for June.
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Swift action is needed. To highlight this and raise awareness of the issue, lecturers from Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, representing a range of degree programmes and across faculties, launched the “#LecturesForFuture” initiative. The initiative called on lecturers at universities and colleges across all disciplines to take part between 14 and 20 June 2019 by organising events focusing on climate change and informing students and the wider public about the climate crisis and its impacts, drawing on their specialist knowledge and scientific expertise.
In June, the Stifterverband awarded Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences the ‘Hochschulperle Future Skills’ prize for this initiative. “This award makes us proud and is a success for Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences. However, it also demonstrates the significance this issue has now acquired in society, and as a university committed to sustainability, we feel a particular responsibility towards it,” explains Dr Oliver Locker-Grütjen, President of Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences. The initiative was launched by ten professors from Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences. Two of them are fellows from the ‘Innovations in Digital Higher Education’ programme run by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Stifterverband. A total of 86 higher education institutions from Germany and abroad took part, involving 140 professors and 233 events. In addition to Germany, countries such as Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Russia and the USA took part. At Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, 39 events were organised as part of the initiative – 24 of them in Kleve and 15 in Kamp-Lintfort.
Lecturers were able to take part by organising their own sessions and registering on the website www.lecturesforfuture.org. Students were encouraged to share comments, photos or videos of the events on social media using the hashtag “#LecturesForFuture”. The campaign’s partners include Scientists For Future – an initiative by scientists from Germany, Switzerland and Austria, which has called for greater climate protection in an official statement signed by more than 26,800 scientists and which comments on climate policy from a scientific perspective.
“There is broad consensus within the scientific community that we have only a few years left to avert a global climate catastrophe. As professors, we therefore feel obliged to use our scientific expertise to help ensure that appropriate action is taken with greater urgency. We regard ‘#LecturesForFuture’ as a good way of achieving this. We are all the more delighted that the Stifterverband has recognised this with the ‘Hochschulperle’ award and that we were able to achieve such a strong response thanks to the high level of participation, including from an international audience,” emphasises Professor Dr Joachim Fensterle, Professor of Biotechnology at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and one of the initiators.
The Stifterverband jury justified its decision to award the ‘Hochschulperle Future Skills’ to Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences in June 2019 as follows: “Climate change is an existential issue. The interdisciplinary initiative ‘#LecturesForFuture’ provides young people with cross-disciplinary education on sustainability issues, which are among the key future skills. The call for students to share the content and messages of ‘#LecturesForFuture’ via social media further enhances the project’s success.”
The University Pearl
‘University Pearls’ are innovative, exemplary projects carried out at a university. Because they are small-scale, they are scarcely noticed beyond the university’s walls. Yet, because they shine so brightly, they can and should also inspire other universities. Every month, the Stifterverband presents a ‘University Pearl’. Once a year, the ‘University Pearl of the Year’ is chosen by vote from among the monthly winners. In 2019, the ‘University Pearl’ initiative is focusing on ‘Future Skills’. This refers to the skills that will become increasingly important for working life and participation in society in the coming years, against the backdrop of digitalisation and new ways of working.
The Stifterverband
The Stifterverband is a joint initiative by companies and foundations; it is the only organisation that provides comprehensive advice, networking and support in the fields of education, science and innovation. Since 1920, it has embodied the shared responsibility of German companies for a sustainable and liveable society. DAX-listed corporations, SMEs, business associations, donors and committed private individuals – around 3,000 members have joined forces within the Stifterverband.
