Exploring Campus Transformation

Silke Rühmland; Juliana Hilf

doi:10.2991/978-94-6239-760-6_8

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Exploring Campus Transformation

A Walking Workshop on Sustainability and Teaching

Authors

Silke Rühmland¹^{, *}, Juliana Hilf¹

¹Sustainability Office, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany

^*Corresponding author. Email: nachhaltigkeit@ovgu.de

Corresponding Author

Silke Rühmland

Available Online 23 August 2026.

DOI: 10.2991/978-94-6239-760-6_8 How to use a DOI?
Keywords: Transformation; Sustainability; Campus; Whole Institution Approach; Education or Sustainable Development
Abstract: How can university campuses function as living laboratories for sustainability and hubs for innovative teaching and learning? This interactive walking tour workshop invites participants to explore the Otto-von-Guericke-University (OVGU) campus from a transformative perspective – both in its physical infrastructure and in conceptual approaches to higher education.

Participants experience examples of how sustainability is embedded in everyday campus life, including low-carbon mobility, sustainable nutrition, participatory learning spaces, and biodiversity initiatives. The workshop highlights projects such as KlimaPlanReal, Service-Learning formats that link academic learning to community engagement, and a student-led initiative promoting awareness, participation, and social sustainability. In addition, developments within the EU GREEN Alliance demonstrate how transnational collaboration can advance a shared vision of a sustainable, healthy, and future-ready campus.

Beyond these practical examples, the workshop emphasises the role of the campus as a living lab, where inter- and transdisciplinary experiments and participatory governance structures enable students, staff, and external partners to co-create sustainable solutions. This walking tour operationalises the Whole Institution Approach (WIA), demonstrating how Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can integrate ecological, social, and organisational dimensions of sustainability across research, teaching and learning, campus operations, and community involvement.
Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access: Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title: Proceedings of the Conference of Growing up the Future: Education for Sustainability (GROUFES 2026)
Series: Atlantis Highlights in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities
Publication Date: 23 August 2026
ISBN: 978-94-6239-760-6
ISSN: 2667-128X
DOI: 10.2991/978-94-6239-760-6_8 How to use a DOI?
Open Access: Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

ris enw bib

TY  - CONF
AU  - Silke Rühmland
AU  - Juliana Hilf
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/23
TI  - Exploring Campus Transformation
BT  - Proceedings of the Conference of Growing up the Future: Education for Sustainability (GROUFES 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 84
EP  - 97
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-760-6_8
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-760-6_8
ID  - Rühmland2026
ER  -

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