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Sustainability is more than just reducing emissions: It is a commitment to socially responsible behaviour. At the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, sustainability and environmental awareness are more than just theoretical concepts – they are both a driving forces and a guiding principle. But what does it mean to make a university sustainable? Since the summer of 2023, the Sustainability Team, led by Vice President for Social Transformation Dr. Ulrike Kuch, has been working on implementing concrete changes.

The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar has now officially committed to the Thuringian Sustainability Agreement (NAThüringen). Grit Booth, who heads the NAThüringen office, presented the certificate of commitment to University President Professor Peter Benz, Vice President for Social Transformation Dr Ulrike Kuch, Head of the Staff Unit for Sustainable Development Dr Tonia Schmitz and Environmental Officer Steven Mac Nelly during a ceremony outside the main university building on Thursday, 12 December 2024.

Long-lasting, robust, malleable – concrete is the 21st century’s most important building material. The original three-material system (cement, gravel, water) has become a high-performance material with properties that can be customised through the mix formulation. But there is one problem: Once concrete has been mixed, it can no longer be adapted. This means that unwanted changes in flow behaviour or durability—caused, for example, by varying environmental conditions or fluctuations in raw materials—can no longer be corrected.

Natural hazards and severe weather events put buildings under great stress. Junior Professor Anastasia Athanasiou is investigating how to plan and build tall, slender structures safely and in a resource-efficient manner. Since July 2023, she has held the newly established chair of Natural Hazards and Structural Resilience at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. A native of Greece, she previously worked at the University of Catania (Italy) and Concordia University in Montreal (Canada). In her inaugural lecture, she will report on the challenges of the past year and provide an insight into current research achievements.