Universities as models for sustainability (Change)

Duration: 01.02.2008 - 31.01.2011

Changing Sustainability-relevant Routines in Organisations (Change)

Background
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions in Germany on a lasting basis will require many different approaches. Technical solutions and new energy systems offer enormous potential for a more efficient use of energy. However, they often require sizable investments and consequently scare off many target groups. Substantial energy savings can also be achieved simply through changes in consumer behaviour - and with much smaller investments. The NRW Energy Agency estimates the potential for reducing energy consumption in public buildings alone at 15 per cent. Public buildings offer opportunities to reduce energy consumption substantially through changes in electricity and heat consumption behaviour. The Ruhr-Universität Bochum (University of Bochum) for example could potentially reduce its energy consumption by up to 20 per cent.

Project aims
Building on interdisciplinary collaboration, this project aims to develop and implement new and effective intervention strategies to foster efficient user behaviour in organisations - the project will initially examine universities - and then evaluate it on a scientific basis. It is to be expected that these types of changes in behaviour will be adopted by other institutions and consumers in private households as a result of the model and disseminator effect universities have.

Project management
Professor Dr Ellen Matthies
University of Bochum, Workgroup of Environmental Psychology and Cognition
44780 Bochum, GERMANY
Tel: +49 (0) 234 3222 668
E-mail: ellen.matthies(at)ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Research partners
University of Bochum, Workgroup of Environmental Psychology and Cognition: Professor Dr Ellen Matthies (Project manager), Diplom-Psychologin B.A. Geogr. Nadine Hansmeier, M.Sc.-Psych. Jennifer Zielinski
University of Bochum, Energy Systems and Energy Economics: Professor Dr Hermann-Josef Wagner, Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Klesse
HIS GmbH: Dipl.-Geogr. Joachim Müller, Dipl.-Ing. Ralf-Dieter Person, Sina Domscheit
EnergieAgentur NRW: Elke Hollweg

Field partners
University of Bielefeld 
University of Bonn
Bremen University
TU Dortmund
University of Münster
University of Paderborn
University of Siegen
Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences

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