Sustainability

Sustainability is practiced as a core value at the Dubnow Institute (DI). Consequently, we regard responsible staff development, the use of green energy, and vegetarian/vegan catering, among other things, as self-evident. The institute has formed part of the Leibniz Association since 2018 and as such supports the goal outlined by the Allianz der Wissenschaftsorganisationen(Alliance of Research Organizations) of achieving climate neutrality by 2035. In order to achieve this environmental target, while also promoting socially and ecologically sustainable development, the DI has enshrined sustainability as a structural goal in its research activities and operational processes. In this endeavor, the DI orients itself toward the Leibniz Association’s Leitbild Nachhaltigkeit (Sustainability Policy) and the Handreichung »Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement in außeruniversitären Forschungsorganisationen (LeNa)« (Recommendations on “Sustainability Management in Non-University Research Organizations [LeNa]”) 

Since this goal can only be achieved with the cooperation of all employees, the DI has established a Sustainability Working Group, which will develop specific practices in consultation with the management and administration and coordinate its implementation in order to constantly advance sustainable behavior. It will focus especially on the operational spheres of organizational management, research, staffing, the building, and infrastructure along with supplementary processes.

The DI is moreover a member of the Leibniz Association’s Sustainability Management Working Group and is involved in the Leipziger Klimastadtvertrag (Leipzig Climate City Contract), on the basis of which the municipal government aims, in cooperation with local civil society actors, the economy, and academia, to realize a climate-neutral Leipzig by 2040.