Being one of the biggest and youngest universities in Germany, the University Duisburg-Essen (UDE) knows about its social responsibility and contributes to local and global objectives of sustainability. Already in the 1980s, students and scientists of the University started tackling the question of a sustainable development.

In the years of 2011/2012 the rectorate promoted the project BENA (Bestandsaufnahme Nachhaltigkeit, Inventory Sustainability), carried out by the Initiative for Sustainability (Initiative für Nachhaltigkeit, IfN). It was nominated an official project of the World´s Decade Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (Education for Sustainable Development) in 2011/2012.

Following this success in the field of sustainable development, the implementation of the Sustainability Process for the whole UDE was decided on by the vice-chancellor for the years 2014-2018. The UDE is the only university in North Rhine-Westphalia that promotes an innovative sustainability process. Aim of the process is to present an overview of the status of sustainability within the university and in the fields of teaching, research and administration.