Welcome to the University of Potsdam's Environmental Portal!

Well on its way to becoming a sustainable university – the University of Potsdam receives the City of Potsdam Climate Award 

The University of Potsdam’s Green Office has been awarded the City of Potsdam Climate Prize. The university received the award for its initiative to reduce campus-wide heating energy consumption. In addition to numerous other measures for sustainable operations, the University of Potsdam has been offering a so-called heating energy savings bonus since 2020. Departments that have signed up for the heating energy savings bonus and reduce their heating costs receive half of the savings paid out—and can in turn use this to finance projects related to climate protection, sustainability, or improving the work environment. In addition to the University of Potsdam, another institution, a school, and a company were honored. The climate awards were presented on May 28 as part of the Green Vision Film Festival at the Potsdam Film Museum. Click here for the article.

“Knowledge About Water” in the UP supplement in the Tagesspiegel and the PNN

Water connects: cities and landscapes, people and nature, and the habitats of animals and plants. At the Potsdam WaterHub, it brings together researchers who are addressing increasingly complex water issues from a variety of perspectives. Some of them are featured in the University of Potsdam supplement, which has now been published in the Tagesspiegel and the Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten. The supplement covers the protection of ecologically vital floodplains, a unique monitoring network that tracks soil moisture over large areas, and a method that visualizes the potential impacts of heavy rainfall. It also explains why it is becoming more difficult to make predictions about the water cycle under the rapidly changing conditions of climate change, as well as the importance of the polar regions for the global climate system. Additionally, the supplement covers robots in healthcare, learning democracy through music, and digital painting in art classes. Last but not least, it reveals how scientific methods can be applied to the brewing of beer. Click here to read.

Replacement of Energy-Inefficient Laboratory Refrigerators

The replacement of 35 refrigerators in the laboratories of six different research groups at the Golm and Maulbeerallee campuses was carried out as part of the municipal guideline “Climate Protection Projects in the Municipal Context.” The future electricity savings will offset the negative environmental impact of manufacturing the new refrigerators after only a short period of use. The project was funded by the National Climate Protection Initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

The Heating Energy Savings Bonus at UP 

The Commission for Environment and Mobility (UMK) aims to encourage members of our university to actively conserve energy. To this end, it supports the initiative developed by the university administration, which is designed to allow all staff and students to share in the benefits of reduced energy consumption.

Since 2013, the university administration has offered an agreement that provides financial incentives for users to help reduce heating energy consumption in their immediate surroundings.

Further information on the heating energy savings bonus can be found under the “Campus and Operations” section.

Commission for Environment and Mobility Supports Theses

Within the scope of the Commission for Environment and Mobility’s (UMK) areas of activity, there are interesting topics that could be of interest to students writing their bachelor’s or master’s theses. These include, for example, the development of energy-efficient campus operations, measures to protect biodiversity, the promotion of low-emission mobility, issues related to the integrated climate protection concept, or socio-empirical studies on environmental behavior at the UP. Please also refer to the current Sustainability Report.

If the UMK deems the topic to be of particular relevance to the action areas outlined in the environmental report, funding of up to 500 euros may be provided to cover necessary material expenses (including measurement technology, required data sets, and travel costs, if applicable).

If a bachelor’s or master’s thesis in the aforementioned context is planned in your department and you would like to apply for funding, please contact Daniel Bazant.

Tips for Saving Energy

Does it annoy you to see windows left open in the middle of winter? Do you walk into seminar rooms that are way too hot? Are the lights on everywhere?

The University of Potsdam spends a lot of money on heating and lighting. Money that’s missing elsewhere because of unnecessary energy waste!

So: When leaving the room: Close the windows, turn the heat down to 2, and turn off the lights!

This saves the University money and makes the room much more comfortable for the next person to use it. If you have any questions or encounter any problems, please use the Department 5 report form (see below) or send us an email at umweltkommissionuuni-potsdampde.