IPN Climate Protection and Sustainability

The IPN systematically and structurally promotes climate protection and sustainability. The Climate Protection and Sustainability Working Group (KliN), founded in 2019, is responsible for overseeing, developing, and monitoring sustainability-related measures at the IPN. Its members are volunteers from various departments and bring together a wide range of perspectives and expertise.

Examples of sustainability-related improvements in recent years include switching to recycled paper, posting notices about conserving resources (e.g., paper towels, electricity, and heat), and organizing mobility action weeks which include participation in the “StadtRadeln” city cycling initiative.

Networking

The IPN recognizes that climate protection and sustainability are shared responsibilities in everyday research and work. To this end, the IPN actively participates in the Leibniz Association's working group on sustainability management, which now comprises over 50 institutes. This alliance aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences, connect sustainability stakeholders from various institutions, and promote joint sustainability management within the Leibniz Association.

The IPN is also a member of the Environmental Management Working Group at Kiel University. This committee makes key preliminary decisions about the university's environmental management that directly affect and benefit the IPN.

IPN Guidelines for Climate Protection and Sustainability

The "IPN Guideline for Climate Action and Sustainability" was developed to establish climate protection and sustainability as a shared framework at the IPN. Based on the Leibniz Association’s Sustainability Mission Statement, this guideline brings together all the measures and activities introduced at the IPN to encourage climate protection and sustainability. It contains fundamental principles and practical recommendations relating to resource management, mobility, events and IPN merchandise. It provides a binding foundation for the systematic incorporation of sustainability aspects into future decisions and employees' daily work.

The KLiN Group (from left to right)

Front row: Lara Petersen, Jana Kähler, Marlene Steinbach, Birte Niebuhr
Back row: Christina Blume, Anna Maria Rotermund, Heidrun Petersen
Not pictured: Adrian Grimm, Cornelia Gerigk, David Drescher