Dear colleagues of the biomedical campus of Cologne,

we cordially invite you to the 10th working group meeting of the GAMMA AG Sustainability.

Climate change, environmental pollution, the progressive loss of biodiversity and the depletion of non-renewable resources are the most pressing problems of our society.

As this affects all areas of work on our campus, we would be happy to hear from any individual who would like to come to our next meeting on August 31, 2023 at 3:00 pm in the "Glass Box" on the campus of the University Hospital Cologne in the MTI lecture hall building (building no. 44B, lecture halls Biochemistry/Physiology, access from Joseph-Stelzmann-Straße, passage CECAD building) and actively participate in our initiative.

Our goal is to strengthen the competence for sustainable actions among all employees on our campus, to make our work more sustainable and to anchor the topic of sustainability in all areas and in our studies.

If you don't have time but would like to participate in the future, please send us an email to tomo.saric@uni-koeln.de and we will add you to our mailing list.

We are sure: together and networked we can achieve a lot and make our workplaces role models on the way to a sustainable future.

You can find more information about the Sustainability Working Group on our website https://medfak.uni-koeln.de/fakultaet/ag-nachhaltigkeit/projekte-aktivitaeten.

Dear colleagues, dear ladies and gentlemen, dear active people in Cologne and surroundings,

Herewith we would like to invite you and you to actively participate in the "Day of the Good Life" on 17.09.2023 in Nippes.

The "Day of the Good Life" was organized for the first time in 2013 by the Agora Cologne in cooperation with residents from the Veedel. Since then, many great editions have already taken place - each time in a different area of the city. Agora Cologne is a non-profit association and network of private individuals, over 150 organizations, initiatives, companies and scientific institutions.

The common goal of the alliance is a step-by-step transformation of the city towards sustainability and a good life for all people. After a break of several years due to the pandemic, this year the Agora invites citizens and associations to transform the district of Nippes into a space for experience, freedom and experimentation. For this purpose, large parts of this Veedel will become a car-free area for one day. The free space gained is to be used as colorfully and diversely as possible and filled with creative actions with a high proportion of experience and interaction. The actions are to convey sustainable and progressive ideas, as well as to make the visitors of the "Day of the Good Life" aware of the possibilities to participate. This event wants to show what is already happening in Cologne and how much more is still possible when people conquer the public space.

Together with you and you we would like to present, discuss and vision content impulses for a sustainable and l(i)ebenswertes Cologne in a creative way in Nippes. The GAMMA AG Sustainability will present itself at the "Day of the Good Life" with an information booth and offer visitors information about the effects of climate change on human health. This event offers us the opportunity to network with thematically fitting initiatives and people and thus to be able to create synergies for the future.

We are hugely looking forward to creating this day together with you.

Joanna for the Day of the Good Life Team

Tomo for the GAMMA AG Sustainability

For more information about the day, please visit the website:

http://www.tagdesgutenlebens.de &

https://www.agorakoeln.de/projekte/tag-des-guten-lebens/

Dear colleagues,

on 19.09. to 21.09.2023 the first Mobility Days of the University Hospital Cologne will take place on our biomedical campus. The event will take place outside with information and action booths and the dialogue format "Conversations at noon" from about 12:00 - 13:30 and can be visited daily from 10:30 to 15:30.

The accessibility of the Uniklinik either on foot, by public transport or bicycle, also by motorized private transport, is a constant challenge for employees, visitors and students. The mobility days of the University Hospital are about:

• The possibilities to cover the distances in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
• The presentation of all previous mobility offers of the University Hospital and new plans.
• The results of the mobility survey and the mobility concept of the ISME institute will be presented.
• The view of the city of Cologne and the region, the connection with foot and cycle paths and the public transport, as well as the current developments.

With information and action stands of the internal & external actors. The range of topics can be wide, it depends on the participation of external actors, e.g. safe cycling and safe bicycle parking. Dialogue with employees and students, starting with the survey, should also not be neglected.

Participation in all days is desired, individual days are of course also possible. The program will be designed based on the feedback. We will invite the named contact persons to meetings in order to coordinate the program and to clarify all questions. - You can reach our organization team via the e-mail address mobilitaetstagemedfacilities.de.

Yours sincerely

on behalf of Hans-Peter Bürkner

Mobility Manager

Commercial Facility Management Department (KFM)

medfacilities Betrieb GmbH

Maximum for the climate: From August 7, 2023, the cafeteria of the University Hospital Cologne will completely dispense with disposable tableware and will exclusively use the multi-use tableware of the Cologne-based company Vytal for food and beverages that are taken "to go". In doing so, the subsidiary UK Catering (UKC) wants to take the next step toward responsible employee catering of the future. "By completely switching to the reusable system, we save more than four tons of disposable tableware annually in the cafeteria area, which is a lot of waste. In this way, we want to make our contribution to the maximum for climate campaign of the University Hospital Cologne," explains Thomas Schnell, head of guest catering. "With Vytal as our partner, we are not only relying on a company from the region, but on Europe's largest digital provider in the reusable systems segment."

To use the system and continue taking your food home, it doesn't take much: download the Vytal app, register, scan the QR code on the containers handed out and show it at the checkout. Until now, a rental fee of 0.20 euros per filling was still due, but this will be completely eliminated with the complete changeover at the beginning of August. The container can then be returned free of charge within 14 days via one of the numerous Vytal drop-off stations. These can be found on the campus of the University Hospital Cologne in the kiosks of the UKC as well as in the entrance area of the cafeteria or at 5,000 other partners throughout Europe. Only if the fourteen-day period is exceeded will a fee be charged to the user.

Anyone who now thinks that they can use their Tupperware without any problems will unfortunately be disappointed. For hygienic reasons, filling food and beverages into other containers is unfortunately prohibited.

From knowledge to action: sustainability initiatives at medical school and university

https://medfak.uni-koeln.de/fakultaet/veranstaltungen/scientific-career-day-2023

The topic of sustainability has now penetrated almost all areas of social life. The Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital must also ask themselves what they can do to conserve resources, reduce environmental pollution and maintain people's health in the long term.

The Sustainability Working Group of the Faculty of Medicine and the Sustainability Office of the University of Cologne have dedicated themselves to this important topic. Against this background, Dr. Dr. Tomo Šarić and Dr. Pamela Kilian will present what concrete measures are being taken at the Faculty and the University to reduce our ecological footprint. In addition, Dr. Michael Schonnebeck will present the Green Day Clinic project of the Day Clinic at Hansaring.

Registration: https://uni-koeln.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYkcOirqzssGN3MPuvKZ2w2OLrZ670seR_k 

Getting to know the concept of "Planetary Health". What impact does climate change have on people's health? Then, strategies for dealing with climate change in the health system will be developed interactively.

Seminar leaders: GAMMA AG Sustainability, Dr. Dr. Tomo Saric, Dr. med. Evelyn Plamper, Prof. Dr. Thomas Zander, Sarah Karstaedt, Kira Molkentin, Dr. med. Johanna Römer, Alissa Lange, Lena Reiter

Information on registration can be found at: https://bildungsportal.uk-koeln.de/LS/2046671271/INF

Every six months, the Round Table Sustainability will offer a dialog platform for exchange between the Sustainability WG, student initiatives, student councils, and the Sustainability Office of the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital Cologne. Current and planned developments will be briefly presented there. In addition, all participants will have the opportunity to present their current projects, to contribute ideas and to exchange ideas with the Sustainability Office and with each other. The first round table is planned for February 9, 2023.

In order to learn more about waste management and waste separation, the Sustainability WG organized a guided tour of the Waste Management department on November 21, 2022, which was conducted by Mr. Hans-Paul Hoffmann and Mr. Dirk Zuper for all interested employees. In this very informative and interesting event, it was explained which wastes can be separated at the point of generation and how they are disposed of or recycled in the Waste Management. 

The take-home message was: what is not separated at the ward or in the lab cannot be recycled! You can learn more about waste separation below in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.