Sustainability trainee project

In October 2024, trainees at Fulda University of Applied Sciences embarked on their first sustainability project. First, Clarissa Plendl, Sustainability Officer and Head of the Sustainability Office, gave them in-depth insights into the university's sustainability strategy. Since then, the dedicated trainees, who are in different apprenticeship years and training programmes (administrative assistant, IT specialist and specialist for library and information services), have been working intensively on issues from three different areas. At the same time, they were able to develop their project and teamwork skills in their projects on commuter mobility, energy consumption and savings potential in a building and sensitising staff to user issues.

Together with the project supervisors, Michael Mai (Assistant for Sustainable Mobility in the Sustainability Office), Gosbert Orschel (Energy Officer in Facilities Management) and Lena Fockers (Communications and Projects Officer in the Sustainability Office), they took part in site visits and field trips. They also led discussions with internal and external experts.

On 13 March, the trainees presented their results to the entire group, the project supervisors, Clarissa Plendl, Christof Schneider (Human Resources Management) and Romina Trost (Head of Training).

Group 1: Communication campaign "Saving energy at Fulda University of Applied Sciences"
The first group developed a concept to place the existing campaign material "The balloon must go" for the CO₂-neutral state administration within the university. They put together information packs for the departments and also designed an information flyer with special tips for the Fulda University of Applied Sciences.

Group 2: Energy-saving measures in Building 21
This group presented the energy supply and consumption in Building 21 at Fulda University of Applied Sciences. In order to achieve a sustainable reduction in energy consumption, the trainees distributed special thermometers to employees in the building and provided instructions on how to use them.

Group 3: Transport routes to the workstation - alternatives, emissions, barriers
The third group intensively analysed the means of transport they could personally use to get to work. They compared cost, time and emission and uncovered weak points in the transport routes around the university, such as missing traffic lights or kerbs that are too high.

We would like to thank the trainees for their innovative ideas, which have opened up new perspectives for us. Their suggestions will be incorporated into the update of the climate protection concept, which will take place by the end of 2025. We would also like to thank the supervisors who were always on hand to support the trainees, as well as the divisions and departments that made the necessary time available for project implementation.

The joint project will start in autumn 2025 for the new trainees and is to be firmly integrated into the university structures.