In the project "Service Learning and Sustainable Transformation at Universities" (Senatra), the University of Vechta, the University of Bremen, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and netzwerk n are addressing the research question: To what extent can the use of service learning (SL) in university teaching contribute to an overall institutional sustainable transformation of universities? In order to investigate this, various SL formats at universities - with the participation of netzwerk n - are being tested and scientifically evaluated as part of a multiple transdisciplinary case study. In line with the Whole Institution Approach, SL projects are to be implemented on the university campus in the context of courses, thus supporting their sustainable transformation in all areas of university activity. In this way, the universities themselves become real-world laboratories for sustainable development. On the other hand, SL projects with external partners are intended to promote transfer to the regions. Overall, this can stimulate networking between a wide range of stakeholders. The relationship between
learning objectives and outcomes and the respective scientific state of the art.
In particular, the active involvement of student networks and stakeholders in the conception and
implementation of the SL approach and the research projects strengthens the participatory and transformative effect of the formats at the universities. Furthermore, by developing sustainability skills, the project aims to empower students as current and future change agents. In addition, the SL projects are intended to stimulate learning processes in all participating institutions and status groups and thus contribute to a cultural change. To support these processes, peer learning formats are developed and applied by participating university members.
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Service learning ("learning through engagement") stimulates active, socially relevant and collaborative learning processes and is characterized by the fact that it focuses equally on a support service (service) and the learning that takes place (learning). Service learning has become increasingly important at German universities since the early 2000s and has been increasingly recognized as a method of education for sustainable development (ESD) for several years. It is increasingly being used as part of the implementation of ESD at universities. However, the potential contributions of service learning to the sustainable transformation of universities as a whole institution (Whole Institution Approach, WIA) have hardly been investigated to date. In the project "Service Learning and Sustainable Transformation at Universities" (Senatra), the University of Vechta, the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, the University of Bremen, the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the student network n are addressing the overarching research question: "To what extent can the use of service learning in university teaching contribute to a whole-institutional sustainable transformation of universities?".
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Die Dissertation untersucht Service Learning als hochschuldidaktische Methode einer Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) und analysiert, wie dieses Lehrformat zur Kompetenzentwicklung von Studierenden sowie zum Wissenstransfer zwischen Hochschule und Gesellschaft beiträgt. Ausgangspunkt ist die wachsende Bedeutung von Hochschulen als Gestaltungsräume gesellschaftlicher Transformation, in denen Wissen, Reflexion und praktisches Handeln systematisch miteinander verknüpft werden müssen. Theoretisch basiert die Arbeit auf transformativen Lernansätzen, Kompetenzorientierung im Nachhaltigkeitskontext (Brundiers-Modell) und einem erweiterten Verständnis von Wissenstransfer, das durch das neu entwickelte RIUSL-Modell erfasst wird. Zentrale Annahme ist, dass die im Service Learning angelegten transdisziplinären Aushandlungsprozesse als disorienting dilemmas wirksam werden und damit transformative Lernprozesse auslösen können – vorausgesetzt, sie werden durch strukturierte Reflexion begleitet und in einem sicheren, experimentellen Lernraum verankert.
Empirisch folgt die Dissertation einem qualitativen, triangulativen Untersuchungsdesign, das über mehrere Lehrforschungszyklen qualitative Inhaltsanalysen, Interviews, Gruppendiskussionen sowie fallbasierte Dokumentenanalysen kombiniert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Service Learning besonders dann wirksam ist, wenn theoretische Konzepte, reale Herausforderungen und angeleitete Reflexionsphasen eng miteinander verschränkt werden. Studierende entwickeln unter diesen Bedingungen zentrale Nachhaltigkeitskompetenzen, erweitern ihre Selbstwirksamkeit und übernehmen aktiv eine Vermittlerrolle zwischen wissenschaftlichen und praktischen Wissenslogiken. Das RIUSL-Modell verdeutlicht, dass Wissenstransfer im Service Learning nicht linear, sondern ko-produktiv erfolgt und maßgeblich von der Qualität der Interaktion, der Offenheit der Akteure und verlässlichen institutionellen Strukturen abhängt.
Die Arbeit identifiziert strukturelle, didaktische und relationale Gelingensbedingungen, formuliert Barrieren und leitet Handlungsempfehlungen für Lehrende und Hochschulen ab, um Service Learning nachhaltig curricular und organisatorisch zu verankern. Insgesamt zeigt die Dissertation, dass Service Learning ein wirksames Instrument einer hochschulischen BNE darstellt, da es Lern-, Forschungs- und Transformationsprozesse miteinander verbindet und Hochschulen als reflexive Orte gesellschaftlicher Verantwortung stärkt.

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Project Idea
The project "Gender Competent Education for Sustainable Development (GBNE)" represents the development, testing and evaluation of a digital teaching-learning format, the Micro Class "Gender & Sustainability", which integrates international students and is transferable into diverse teaching contexts of the OVGU. In this format, students can deal with the basics of gender-competent sustainable development with a focus on gender(er) justice and sustainability.
The teaching units of the project are designed in such a way that they can be taken as digital self-learning units by students within the framework of the sustainability certificate of the OVGU. Elements of the Micro Class can also be used by teachers in the partner universities of the green European university network EU GREEN as supporting teaching material in their own teaching.

There is no sustainability without gender equality!
In the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015, both gender and education play a central role: gender equality and the systematic inclusion of the gender perspective in all dimensions of sustainability are considered the decisive touchstone for sustainability in general: "There can be no sustainable future without gender equality" (cf. UNECE 2022). Gender is relevant both as a cross-cutting issue and as a goal in its own right. Gender-oriented sustainability research has meanwhile proven to be an internationally recognized and respected field of knowledge and has demonstrated the high importance of taking gender into account for a wide variety of fields such as mobility, climate, nutrition, waste, water, etc. Education, meanwhile, is considered a key prerequisite for achieving the SDGs. Education for sustainable development (ESD) and gender-competent sustainability research are equally understood as a holistic, transformative approach to knowledge generation and the teaching of important competencies aligned with the understanding of lifelong learning.
In this sense, the project "Gender Competent Education for Sustainable Development" aims at contributing to future-oriented, integrative, equal opportunity and high quality education at OVGU and in the green European university network EU GREEN. Through the conceptual development, testing and evaluation of a so-called Micro Class on the topic of "Gender & Sustainability", aspects of gender justice and sustainability are to be systematically integrated reciprocally and at the same time perspectives of ESD are to be expanded.

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The Green Camp Summer School is a virtual, internationally oriented, cross-curricular and interdisciplinary
interdisciplinary program that students of all academic levels (Bachelor, Master,
PhD) can complete and obtain a certificate. Lecturers from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (OvGU, Germany), the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN, Norway), the College of Management Academic Studies, (COLMAN, Israel), the Shamoon College of Engineering, (SCE, Israel), Université Laval (UL, Canada) and the Vietnam National University of Forestry, (VNUF, Vietnam) are jointly developing a sustainability-related teaching program that is open to students from these universities as part of a virtual summer school.
This text was translated with DeepL on10/11/2025

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Given the importance of the "green economy" for global economic development, the main objective of EGEA, short for "Enhancing Green Economy in three Asian Countries", is to promote sustainable thinking and behavior at all levels of education in three Asian countries (Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and India). Universities are to act as catalysts for change and this role is to be strengthened with the help of the project. The overarching goal is to make the interrelationship between the environment and the economy in the partner countries and their societies a more prominent theme in national education programs.
Based on previous collaborations and experiences, the consortium believes that bottom-up and top-down approaches should be used to ensure the sustainability of green economy initiatives. The five main strategies include

• the development of modular programs to strengthen green economy knowledge and practice, to be integrated into existing or new programs at partner universities,
• the improvement of lifelong learning through blended learning programs aimed at adult education in green economy and related fields,
• the strengthening of public affairs departments and marketing units to facilitate the role of universities as promoters of green behavior in the local society,
and
• the development of advertising campaigns and programs to promote sustainable action in the network of schools and universities
.

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