Teaching Award for Sustainability
About
RWTH has been presenting the Teaching Award since 2001 in recognition of outstanding achievements in teaching and learning at the University. In line with the Excellent Teaching & Learning Strategic Concepts, which aims to improve undergraduate teaching at RWTH Aachen University, the Award is intended to promote individuals and projects that are particularly committed to very good and innovative teaching. Outstanding teaching concepts, support of students' learning process, or also a higher-level commitment to teaching are a particular focus.
2021 Special Teaching Award for Sustainability
In 2021, the special Teaching Award for Sustainability was also presented in order to honor the commitment to this topic.
The first Teaching Award in the sustainability category was presented to Professor Carmen Leicht-Scholten from the teaching and research area Gender and Diversity in Engineering. She received this award due to her outstanding and long-standing commitment to teaching sustainable engineering design skills across faculty boundaries.
It should be emphasized that the teaching concepts not only emphasize the teaching of factual knowledge about frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals, technology assessment, and the responsibility of prospective scientists, but also and especially include evaluating and reflecting on the use of one's own expertise.
The second award in the sustainability category was presented to the geography/economic geography department of RWTH Aachen University. The decisive factor for the honor was the long-standing, independent organization of a film and discussion evening on various geographical topics and in particular on the topic of sustainability, a core topic of geography. The events were characterized by a high level of participation on the part of the students and an intensive discussion afterwards.
Sustainability as a Permanent Part
In order to make sustainability a part of the teaching award long-term, this important topic was included in the criteria for the regular teaching award in 2022 and made permanent. In the future, the consideration of ecological, social, and economic sustainability aspects will be taken into account and reviewed for all applications in accordance with the sustainability mission statement.