Sustainability Initiative
Im Jahr 2021 gründete eine Gruppe junger SyNergy-Forscher (Doktoranden und Postdocs) gemeinsam mit jungen Forschern aus kooperierenden Einrichtungen wie der BMC Green Initiative die SyNergy Sustainability Initiative. Ziel dieser Initiative ist es, Forschung zu betreiben, sich an Diskussionen zu beteiligen, Maßnahmen und Richtlinien vorzuschlagen und umzusetzen, um unsere Umweltauswirkungen im Labor zu verringern und nachhaltigere Forschungspraktiken zu fördern. SyNergy unterstützt die Initiative finanziell.
Sustainable action of the month
To raise awareness, we introduced a sustainable action of the month (SAM) every month as a means to provide information and offer locally applicable solutions to reduce our consumption. Examples:
- PET recycling (recycled in 3 month 82.5 kg of PET bottles (= approx. 1080 bottles) and 432 pipette tip boxes)
- Reducing energy consumption (closing fume hoods and biosafety cabinets and turning off equipment and computers when not in use and not needed)
- Check your suppliers / create a Distributor Sustainability Score Manufacturing / Packaging / Awareness (for important suppliers of SyNergy)
- Freezer challenge, an international competition to promote freezer maintenance and thereby save energy (with an internal price for the winning SyNergy research group)
Forscher werden ermutigt, dem My Green Lab-Programm beizutreten und können für eine erfolgreiche Teilnahme Green Lab-Zertifikate erhalten. Das Programm ist offiziell vom Race to Zero-Programm der Vereinten Nationen anerkannt. Ein Institut innerhalb des Synergy-Clusters – das Institute for Clinical Neuroimmunology – hat bereits an dem Zertifizierungsprogramm teilgenommen und den Platin-Status erhalten (siehe hier).
Symposium: Sustainable World – Global challenges for life scientists
Alle vier Jahre findet das Sustainable World symposium statt - ein Forum für Nachwuchswissenschaftler aller Ebenen, um sich über verschiedene Nachhaltigkeitsthemen zu informieren und von leidenschaftlichen Experten aus den Bereichen Ökologie, Wirtschaft und Soziologie zu hören. Das Symposium wird von SyNergy mitinitiiert und mitorganisiert.
"I believe that it is important to consider the impacts of my research activity beyond the intended scientific implications, especially as our impacts on the environment become all the more evident in recent years. Fortunately, small changes by individuals in our daily research activities can reduce our combined environmental impacts drastically. Knowing that most scientists are eager to help the cause but are confronted with not enough time to find out how, I see an opportunity where I could contribute by making sustainable actions more accessible. Being part of this initiative demonstrated to me that changes are possible even though obstacles are inevitable. I have learned to prioritize realistic goals and engage the right people to extend projects beyond my capabilities. Our sustainability initiative will focus on maintaining the sustainable actions we have introduced in our institute and bringing awareness through connecting with other institutes to expand our experiences to workspaces where they might be applicable."
Samantha Ho, PhD student, Institute for Clinical Neuroimmunology
"I care about sustainability and was happy to find a group of people willing to take on the challenge of improving our lab's footprint. Through my involvement in our GreenLab Initiative, I have learned that even a slight increase in awareness, combined with a few collective behavioral adjustments, can substantially reduce a lab’s environmental impact. For example, reducing the number of active -80°C freezers for certain time or closing fume hoods when not in use has already resulted in significant energy savings. These small changes are easy for even the busiest scientist to incorporate, yet they can make a meaningful difference in our environmental footprint."
Adrian Marti Pastor, PhD student, Institute of Neuronal Cell Biology and DZNE
“As scientists in wet labs, we have a higher CO2 footprint than the majority of people and are working in one of the most resource-intensive spaces in any industry. Therefore, I think it is highly important to tackle this problem from the bottom up and implement a culture of sustainability within our labs. Throughout the Sustainability Initiative, I have learned that we can also reach a lot with small implications in our daily lab life & aim to motivate others to also push forward sustainable measures within their facilities. In the upcoming years, our initiative will focus on maintaining the actions we have already implemented within our institutes as well as sharing our experiences throughout the Synergy network with others.”
Jan Bartosch, PhD student, Institute for Clinical Neuroimmunology
