Together with you and other initiatives of the university and students, we want to make our contribution to the implementation of an ecological transformation for the benefit of our society, our patients, ourselves and future generations.

• Sustainable orientation of our work in research, teaching and clinical practice;
• Strengthening awareness and competence for sustainable action among all employees by providing information and organizing continuing education and public events;
• Involving as many employees and working groups as possible in the design and implementation of the sustainability initiative;
• Anchoring the topic of sustainability in all areas of the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital Cologne;
• Act as a central point of contact for various ideas on sustainability and environmental protection, integrate them and communicate them effectively to the individual laboratories, departments and institutes;
• Formulate concrete measurable goals, define measures and activities, and evaluate them for feasibility;
• Organize and coordinate implementation of the measures in practice and evaluate the results of the activities carried out;
• Network with existing initiatives and structures in the hospital, faculty, and university, as well as with other national and international stakeholders; and
• Establish collaboration with sustainability initiatives at other sites in NRW.

As members of the Faculty of Medicine, the University Hospital and the associated research institutions, it is our task and duty to prevent harm to our patients and to develop acute as well as preventive solutions. Furthermore, it is necessary to develop ecologically sustainable laboratory practices also in the field of research in order to reduce the environmental impact of scientific research while saving energy, raw materials and money. Last but not least, the impact of climate change and biodiversity destruction on human health must be considered in our curriculum.

One of our role models: My Green Lab aims to make a fundamental and lasting contribution to more sustainability in scientific research worldwide. The Sustainability WG wants to inspire to consciously anchor the topic of sustainability in research and teaching.

Participation in the work of the GAMMA Sustainability Working Group is open to all members of the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital. Everyone on the biomedical campus who cares about this issue is invited to join. Participation is independent of the field you work in or the role you perform, as global climate change, unstoppable resource consumption, and biodiversity destruction affect all areas of work on our campus and require the efforts of the entire society as well as each individual. Please sign up with Tomo Saric via tomo.saric(at)uni-koeln(dot)de and we will add you to our mailing list.

You can learn more about our sustainability work on our website, https://medfak.uni-koeln.de/fakultaet/gamma-aktiver-mittelbau/ag-nachhaltigkeit. You can also find out more about sustainability at the University of Cologne via this link: https://portal.uni-koeln.de/universitaet/universitaet-auf-einen-blick/nachhaltigkeit.

The working group meets every 6-8 weeks. The dates are announced via the GAMMA mailing list and on the website of the Sustainability Working Group: https://medfak.uni-koeln.de/fakultaet/gamma-aktiver-mittelbau/ag-nachhaltigkeit.

The following additional sustainability initiatives exist at the University Hospital Cologne and the University of Cologne:

• The Sustainability Council of the University of Cologne (replaces the former AG Nachhaltigkeit): https://portal.uni-koeln.de/universitaet/universitaet-auf-einen-blick/nachhaltigkeit/nachhaltigkeitsrat
• AG Sustainability of the University Hospital Cologne
• Students for Future Cologne: https://sff-koeln.de/
• Fairtrade University (student group): https://portal.uni-koeln.de/universitaet/universitaet-auf-einen-blick/nachhaltigkeit/was-tut-die-uni/fairtrade-university
• The Department for Ecology and Infrastructure of the AStA (General Students' Committee) is committed to sustainability in teaching, research and operations at the University of Cologne: https://www.asta.uni-koeln.de/?tab=ueber-uns-tt-referat-fuer-oekologie-und-infrastruktur#ueber-uns. Contact: oekologie(at)asta.uni-koeln(dot)de
• campus:grün (a non-partisan university group at the University of Cologne that actively participates in university politics): http://www.campusgruen.uni-koeln.de/
• oikos Köln, student initiative for sustainable management e.V. at g at the Faculty of Economics and Faculty of Social Sciences: https://oikos-international.org/cologne, kontakt(at)oikos-koeln(dot)org
• The European University for Well-Being (EuniWell) at the University of Cologne, together with ten universities and more than 100 associated partners from nine different regions of Europe, pursues a holistic and action-oriented approach to "Well-Being" that addresses the well-being of the individual, the community and the environment in excellent research, teaching and with and for society in order to create impactful and sustainable change for our students and our societies, as well as for our institutions and staff: https://euniwell.uni-koeln.de/ (https://www.euniwell.eu/).

Lighting: Only switch on the lighting when it is necessary. If you leave a room for a longer period of time, the lighting can be switched off. Only use LED lamps.

Heating: To achieve a room temperature of 20 °C, position 3 on the thermostatic valves is sufficient when heating. With windows open, heating off. Turn down the heating during shock ventilation (approx. 5 min) and avoid permanent ventilation by tilted windows. Be careful not to block the radiators with furniture, etc. You are away from the place for several days? Turn the thermostatic valves back to the frost protection position (*). Lowering the room temperature by 1°C will save about 5-6% heating energy.

Office equipment: Use the energy saving mode of your electrical appliances if necessary, otherwise turn off unused electrical appliances. Disconnect power supplies and chargers from the mains after charging is complete. Energy-conscious use of electrical appliances saves about 10% electrical energy.

Cooling: Use shading devices when available. Turn off ventilation and cooling in unused rooms. Be sure to turn on ventilation and cooling in temporarily used rooms just before use. Indoor air in cooled rooms should not be colder than 25°C.

Be active: Take the stairs when it is possible for you to do so. Exercise in between is good for the circulation and saves a lot of electricity. Take a tour of laboratories, workshops and test halls with your colleagues and see how energy can be saved and where machine running times can be minimized.

Waste: Use waste separation (see FAQ No. 6). Recycle old equipment or ask if other labs have needs. Look for energy labels when buying new.

Internet: Ecosia as default search engine. Clear search history and cache regularly.

The expansion of the separation of recyclable materials in all areas is one of the goals of the University Hospital Cologne. In principle, waste separation is possible in every building, as the waste management department of the University Hospital Cologne already recycles some of the waste produced separately. Nevertheless, the possibilities for waste separation on the Uniklinik premises vary depending on the area. This is due to the fact that the possibilities for waste separation are only being installed gradually, and usually only at the request of the area managers or the employees of the respective wards / laboratories / areas.

Mr. Dirk Zuper will be happy to help you with the installation of waste separation in your area. Feel free to contact him with your request regarding all questions concerning waste separation: dirk.zuper(at)uk-koeln(dot)de.

If you would like to expand the separation of recyclables in your area, the following points are important:

• Talk with area management to install separation systems for recyclables (e.g., two-separation systems for recyclables and residual waste).
• Talk to the responsible facility manager of the UK cleaning department: The cleaning staff must take the separately collected waste to the waste containers at the building or AWTcontainers accordingly. The contact person at the Medical Synergies / Quality Management for the UKR is Mr. Stephan Black, he can refer you to the responsible object manager for your area: stephan.black(at)uk-koeln(dot)de.
• If you want to know more about waste separation and waste management, the contact address is: abfallwirtschaft(at)medfacilities(dot)de. The medfacilities waste management is happy to provide advice and support on the topics of waste separation and waste management in the UK Cologne.

Special case CECAD:

• Areas which belong exclusively to the University of Cologne (e.g. some laboratories in CECAD) would have to contact the department 54 of the University of Cologne: https://verwaltung.uni-koeln.de/abteilung54/content/sachgebiet_3/ansprechpartner_reinigung_entsorgung_und_materialausgabe/index_ger.html.
• The IT-Services of the University of Cologne offer to accept electronic devices for recycling. You can also set up a collection point for electronic devices at your place. You can find more information on the University of Cologne's website or at the e-mail address entsorgung(at)verw.uni-koeln(dot)de.

Good to know:

• If you have good ideas for better waste separation on the University Hospital campus, please submit them to the Ideas Competition (the PDF template for your suggestions for improvement can be found at https://www.uk-koeln.de/karriere/servicebox-fuer-beschaeftigte/). One of these ideas has resulted in the Uniklinik supporting the Cologne-based startup "TobaCycle", which recycles cigarette butts! Have you ever seen the collection points for this? They can be found at several locations on the Uniklinik campus.

Our own cogeneration plants are able to cover about 40% of the UKK's electricity consumption. These plants generate energy with a very high efficiency (80%) by simultaneously producing electricity and heat (which is also used at UKK). The rest of the electricity demand is supplied by a local energy supplier. You can find the current electricity table at the following link:  https://www.rheinenergie.com/de/geschaeftskunden/service/stromkennzeichnung/stromkennzeichnung.html

You can find some information on the UKK intranet at this link: https://intranet.uk-koeln.de/aktuelles/umwelt. UKK is currently working on a new homepage with more energy-related content.

Yes. We have already installed two PV systems. The first is on the roof of the "CIO" and the second on the roof of the building for forensic medicine next to the "Melatenfriedhof". Our plan is to build more PV plants in the next few years.

The new buildings will all be equipped with high-efficiency LEDs. We have already converted around 1,500 fluorescent tubes to LEDs in recent years and have identified a further 1,200 tubes to be replaced by 2023.

Just call the following number: 0221/478-222. Medfacilities colleagues will try to fix the problem as soon as possible.

Dissertations:

• Medical Dissertation Office: Dissertations are accepted and published digitally.
• IPMM / IPHS: Dissertations must be submitted as print in quintuplicate. A switch to digital submission and publication will occur within the next two years.
• GSfBS: Dissertations are submitted digitally. Upon successful completion, dissertations must be submitted as print.

Habilitations:

• Habilitations must be submitted in print. A move to a digital-only portal is planned by the end of 2023.

Applications:

• Medical Dean's Office: Applications can be submitted digitally. In perspective, a digital platform is to be created that will digitize and simplify the submission and administration of all applications.
• District government (e.g., applications for genetic engineering work): Applications must still be submitted as a printout in multiple copies.
• DFG: Applications can be submitted digitally via the elan portal.
• BMBF: In most cases, applications are submitted digitally via an online portal, but this depends on the project management organization responsible.
• Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation: Applications can be submitted digitally by e-mail.
• Fritz Thyssen Stiftung: Applications must be submitted by mail.

Please have a look at the following link for the relevant tips, which have already been nicely summarized by the University of Cologne on the subject of energy saving: https://portal.uni-koeln.de/universitaet/universitaet-auf-einen-blick/nachhaltigkeit/energiesparen-an-der-uni-koeln/fragen-und-antworten-faq