Logo: Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA)

UniNEtZ General

UniNEtZ is…

The UniNEtZ (Universities and Sustainable Development Goals) project aims to support (political) decision-makers in the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Austria. The SDG 13 group deals with "climate protection measures". 13 research institutions are working together under the auspices of the CCCA (= "Sponsorship* for SDG 13").

The UniNEtZ project pursues the following goals 

  • Developing a coordinated catalog of options for how Austria can implement the SDGs from a systemic perspective
  • Addressing the SDGs at universities in research, teaching, continuing education, responsible science and university management
  • Creating added value through cooperation and recombining knowledge
  • Interdisciplinary networking within and across universities
  • Interaction with stakeholders from politics, administration, business and civil society
  • Attempts to interact with "the other 50%" (system losers)
  • Building expertise in the issues raised by the SDGs among teaching staff/researchers and students
  • Establishment of a coordination office for the working groups and an explicit contact point for stakeholders at universities

You can find more information HERE

Phase I (2019-2021/2022)

The UniNEtZ Options Report: "Austria's options for action to implement the UN Agenda 2030 for a future worth living" was submitted to the Austrian Federal Government on March 1, 2022.

The project was launched with a kick-off event at the University of Applied Arts Vienna in January 2019. The outlook report was published in March 2020, providing an initial overview of the work and objectives of UniNEtZ.

Following the publication of the Perspectives Report, work began on the UniNEtZ Options Report "Austria's options for action to implement the UN 2030 Agenda for a future worth living". Over 300 scientists, artists and students from 16 universities, the Geological Survey of Austria (GBA), the Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA) and the student association forum n spent three years (2019-2021) developing around 150 options and around 1,000 measures to achieve the SDGs and compiled them in a comprehensive report. The aim is to identify and evaluate future-oriented solutions and their respective consequences. In Phase I, 11 options emerged from the SDG 13 group.

The UniNEtZ Options Report: "Austria's options for action to implement the UN Agenda 2030 for a future worth living" was presented to the Austrian Federal Government on March 1, 2022, marking the end of the first phase of the project. Find out more in the press release.

UniNEtZ options report

Phase II (from 2022)

Phase II of UniNEtZ (UniNEtZ II) started at the beginning of 2022. The main focus is on contributing to the transformation of society towards sustainability. The network of partner institutions has grown in the meantime, as has the thematic focus of the project. In order to fully exploit the transformation potential, the 17 SDGs were supplemented by five focus areas. From transdisciplinary dialog with various stakeholder groups to scientific support for the implementation of the options, the design of a sustainable research landscape and the creation of inter-university, transformative study programs, a wide range of topics are covered that work towards the same goal: a socio-ecological transformation that should enable a good life for all.

The focus areas deal with:

  • SP I: “Transdisciplinary dialog with society”
  • SP II: “Scientific support and monitoring of social transformation”
  • SP III: “Transformation in the field of research”
  • SP IV: “Transformation in the field of teaching”
  • SP V: “Transformation in the field of governance”

(Kopie 1)

UniNEtZ website 

UniNEtZ options report

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