Once a year in June, the University of Passau awards prizes for sustainability in the categories 'Sustainability-related research' and 'Sustainability activities on campus' as part of the Sustainability Day. The prizes are endowed with 1,500 euros each. We would like to thank Sparda-Bank for their generous support.
Dr. Paul Hamann-Rose from the Department of English Literature and Culture at the University of Passau was awarded this year's “Prize for Research with a Sustainability Focus”. In his research, he deals with literary and cultural discussions of ecology and human-environment relationships. Dr. Hamann-Rose has published a monograph on genetic concepts of ecology and conducts research on romantic concepts of ecology. He is active in various research networks and organizes international conferences on sustainability. He also integrates his research into teaching by offering seminars on topics such as “Energy Ecologies”. “Ideally, the awardee will demonstrate sustainable aspects in his or her entire academic life's work. If possible, all formats of academic research - publications, third-party funding, conferences - should touch on sustainability. If this research is then also passed on in teaching with a connection to sustainability, this would be an all-round worthy prizewinner. Our prizewinner does indeed meet all of these criteria. He is one of the most promising young academics in German English studies,” said Prof. Dr. Werner Gamerith in his laudatory speech, paying tribute to Dr. Paul Hamann-Rose.
Excerpt from the laudatory speech by Prof. Dr. Werner Gamerith:
Completing a Master's degree with the top grade of 1.0 is not part of the standard academic record. The award for sustainability at the University of Passau in the category “Research with a focus on sustainability” goes to a young researcher who has already published his first research paper in an internationally renowned journal, the Journal of Behavioral Economics and Organization. He has also already gained merits in teaching and is involved in a variety of teaching projects such as DeepWrite.
So what is the merit of the young scientist in terms of sustainability? It is the written Master's thesis, which was also awarded the top grade of 1.0, which - and I quote from the statement of the thesis supervisor, Prof. Dr. Johann Graf Lambsdorff (Chair of Economics) - “[links] the problem of the overuse of natural resources with the risk of violent conflict. The connection between these two problem areas is not new. What is special, however, is the concrete experimental implementation. The interesting result is that scarce resources do not per se lead to more violence, as is sometimes assumed in the literature. The risk of increasing violence is only evident for endogenous scarcity as a result of human-induced overuse. This makes it clear that future problems of a lack of sustainability must also be understood in the context of their communication. The central question will be whether future generations will look for culprits for the increasing scarcity or whether they will interpret it as exogenous restrictions. This will provide insightful policy implications.”
The Master's thesis is being prepared for submission to a top-class journal, while the young researcher's dissertation project at the University of Passau has already been started. This single-mindedness is another quality that carries weight in the awarding of the Sustainability Prize.
The University of Passau 2023 Prize for Sustainability, endowed with 1,500 euros, in the category 'Research related to sustainability' goes to Mr. Stephan Geschwind.
Excerpt from the laudatory speech by Prof. Dr. Werner Gamerith:
The Sustainability Award at the University of Passau in the category 'Research related to sustainability' goes to a young researcher who can already look back on an impressive academic CV in his still young career. When studying the curriculum vitae, it is hard to know which area to emphasize - all sections reflect excellence, internationality, numerous awards, diverse practical experience and, forming the basis of all this, an extremely remarkable student career with a double master's degree in history and law from the University of Vienna, an LLM degree from Columbia Law School in New York, a joint doctorate in public law from the Universities of Paris-Nanterre and Vienna and a Dr. phil. in history, also from the University of Vienna. phil. in history, also from the University of Vienna. I will pick out just a few of his international guest lectureships and research in the fields of international public international law and constitutional law, landing him in Cyprus, the Netherlands, France, Greece and Iceland, Russia and Malaysia, the UK and the USA. All of this took place in the first 33 years of his life.
But what is the merit for sustainability research? With the legal journal “Nachhaltigkeitsrecht - Zeitschrift für das Recht der Nachhaltigen Entwicklung”, co-founded by our award winner, he has, according to the reviewer and nominator Prof. Dr. Jörg Fedtke, “contributed significantly to the visibility of the University of Passau. It is the first legal journal to deal comprehensively with sustainable development across all legal disciplines”. With this journal, our prizewinner is pursuing the goal of a paradigm shift in jurisprudence - a paradigm shift that our keynote speaker also strongly advocated. I quote from the journal's mission statement: “Not only the law itself, but all associated processes will have to meet the requirements of sustainable action in the future. However, sustainability can only be realized as a guiding socio-political principle if it also succeeds in becoming a guiding legal principle.”
There is really nothing more that can be added to these words in terms of their program; they make a fundamental plea for a new constitution of our legal system based on the principles of sustainability.
The University of Passau 2022 Prize for Sustainability, endowed with 1,500 euros, in the category “Research related to sustainability” goes to Dr. Dr. Markus P. Beham.
This year's “Prize for Sustainability Activities on Campus” was awarded to a group of students who founded the registered association “Innwerk”. The “Innwerk” is an open workshop that actively campaigns against the throwaway society by sharing tools and repairing them together. During the founding phase, the project was supported by the University of Passau and the European Solidarity Corps. The award-winning Innwerk students are Mathilda Dethleffsen, Julia Gasser, Hannes Hieronimi, Bastian Mogel, Georg Seibt and Pepe Voland. “The students are taking a conscious stand against the throwaway society and against unthinking consumption. The initiative started with five students and now more than ten volunteers in the Innstadt are working on repairing and restoring objects of all kinds. Not only is this sustainable per se, but also the idea that not everyone needs the same large toolbox, but that the equipment can be used more efficiently if it is used more often - i.e. together. This idea is therefore also linked to the idea of sharing - an essential approach in times of conscious use of resources,” said Prof. Dr. Werner Gamerith in his laudatory speech.
Excerpt from the laudatory speech by Prof. Dr. Werner Gamerith:
Today, we are not only celebrating Sustainability Day, but almost two whole weeks of sustainability - every day with a wide range of program content, from panel discussions to campus tours, from community activities around sustainable food to the presentation of a Passau unpackaged food store.
Behind this program are eight to ten students who have been filling sustainability with student life at the university for ten years now. In the years from 2018 to 2022 alone, the students were responsible for 75 events and workshops. In addition to the Sustainability Weeks in June, the team is also involved in the eleven other months of the year - including a sustainable city rally, a quiz with questions that build a bridge to the sustainable offering structure of the city of Passau, a (digital) Advent calendar with tips on gift-giving, more sustainable behavior and many other challenges in everyday student life. Joint initiatives with the canteen, such as the expansion of vegetarian or vegan dishes or the introduction of deposit cups, are also the responsibility of the students.
The result is an excellent balance of activities that make the campus more liveable and sustainable - and the duration of these activities, for ten years, is in itself a sign of sustainability.
The University of Passau 2023 Sustainability Award in the category “Sustainability activities on campus” goes to the University Sustainability Group.
Excerpt from the laudatory speech by Prof. Dr. Werner Gamerith:
The prize for sustainability at the University of 2022 in the category “Sustainability activities on campus”, endowed with 1,500 euros, is awarded for the first time to four women, academics and Master's students who have been involved in the conception of the exhibition “A university is emerging. The architecture of the Passau campus'. A catalog was also produced as part of this exhibition. With this catalog, it has been possible to document for the first time the almost far-sighted building fabric of the young University of Passau, which could already be described as “sustainable” in the contemporary sense in the 1970s. It shows the special position of the University of Passau in sustainability and makes it known far beyond the narrower borders of the region. Two master's theses and parts of a cumulative dissertation formed the basis for the texts in the catalog. The reviewer, Prof. Dr. Jörg Trempler, Chair of Art History and Visual Studies, also points out in his explanatory statement that another aspect of the project is the media communication: a widely known video was created that documents the competence of the digital communication of scientific content. All in all, the exhibition and catalog have decisively anchored the reputation of the University of Passau as a sustainable urban development project in the public eye as early as the 1970s and brought the intentions of the architects and planners of the time back into the consciousness of today's university.
We are therefore convinced that this is an achievement worthy of an award.
The award for sustainability at the University 2022 in the category “Sustainability activities on campus” goes to
The prize for sustainability focused research can be awarded to university members of all status groups whose academic thesis or body of research addresses the challenges of sustainable transformation.
The prize for sustainability activities on campus can be awarded to university members, either as individuals or as a group (e.g., a student initiative), who support the university’s efforts toward becoming an ecologically, socially, or economically sustainable and climate-neutral institution through concrete ideas, projects, and activities.
The Studierendenwerk Niederbayern/Oberpfalz (STWNO) received the “Honorary Award for Sustainability Activities on Campus”. The Studierendenwerk's activities in the field of sustainability cover various areas and demonstrate a strong commitment to environmental protection, social responsibility and ethical behavior. For example, the STWNO only offers fair trade coffee, tea and cocoa in the cafeterias. The selection of chocolate products with the Trans Fair seal also ensures that the producers are fairly remunerated. Another outstanding feature is the STWNO's sustainable commitment to workwear. The decision to give preference to labels such as the Green Button and fair trade cotton, as well as to use certified materials that have been tested for harmful substances, underlines the STWNO's efforts to meet the highest sustainability standards in the procurement of textiles. The STWNO is also actively committed to sustainability and better animal welfare, as demonstrated by its accession to the European Broiler Chicken Initiative at the end of 2020. The STWNO is also making an important contribution to reducing single-use packaging by introducing its own reusable deposit cups and a reusable to-go system for food.
Ludwig Zistler, the long-serving and deserving Head of the Department of Operating Technology, was honored for his life's work and his outstanding efforts to achieve climate-neutral energy technology at the University of Passau.
In his laudatory speech, President Bartosch traced the stages of Ludwig Zistler's work since 1985 and concluded with the words: “His achievements and his profound and unique knowledge are not only a model for future technical innovations and further developments, but also a vivid example of what can be achieved regionally and implemented in terms of sustainability and independence.”
The prizewinner is selected by the university executive. Nominations are authorised:
Self-application is not possible.
The prize for sustainability activities on campus can be awarded to university members as individuals or as a group (e.g. a student initiative) who support the university's efforts to become an ecologically, socially or economically sustainable and climate-neutral institution with concrete ideas, projects and activities. These are in particular activities whose sustainable orientation is (also) reflected in a strong anchoring in the region.
The prize for sustainability-related research can be awarded to university members of all status groups whose academic thesis (period of completion in the year of the award ceremony or the year before) or academic oeuvre meets the challenges of sustainable transformation as a result.
Proposals can be submitted in digital form to the Vice President for Transfer, Internal Networking with the cross-sectional task of sustainability via Ms Falkner by 31 January of the respective year with the following documents:
