2024 is the year of the Olympic Games in Paris and the European Men's Football Championships in Germany. These events are represented as the “most sustainable events of all time”. But what exactly does the term sustainability stand for and how can it be measured? In this article, we aim to provide an insight into the history and development of sustainability.

Back to the beginnings

The idea of sustainability was shaped in the 18th century. The term was first used in forestry to describe the principle of felling only as much wood as the forest can regrow^{1, 2}. Since then, the concept has been extended to numerous topics in an environmental and social context.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 marked the starting point for the concept of sustainable development as a global guideline for politics and society³. In Germany, the Federal Government published the first national strategy for sustainable development in 2002, titled “Perspectives for Germany”. Since 2006, the Federal Statistical Office of Germany has been publishing the biennial report “Sustainable Development in Germany”, which observes 28 sustainability indicators⁴.

In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda, in which the global community agreed on 17 goals for socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable development – the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs for short⁵. Since then, numerous efforts have been made worldwide to translate or integrate these goals into national strategies and to make the measures and successes measurable.

Sustainability in Germany

The German Sustainable Development Strategy reflects the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at national level. It is updated every four years. For each of the 17 global goals for sustainable development of the 2030 Agenda, the Federal Government has defined national priorities in the form of its own goals and aligned them with measurable indicators to monitor success⁴. One example of this is the percentage of organically farmed areas, which serves as an indicator for the SDG 2 goal “Zero Hunger”. In 2022, this was 9.7 percent of the total amount of agricultural land. In their coalition agreement, the governing parties have set a target of 30 percent for 2030⁶.

In March 2021, the federal cabinet adopted the further development of the German sustainability strategy. Six overarching transformation areas were defined⁷ that address several goals of the 2030 Agenda:

1. human well-being and capabilities
2. social justice
3. energy transition and climate protection
4. circular economy, sustainable construction, and mobility transition
5. sustainable agriculture and food systems
6. pollutant-free environment

A seventh field of action is looking beyond the national level to international responsibility and cooperation. An interdepartmental State Secretary Committee for Sustainable Development coordinates the work programme and the implementation of the measures.

The political development is also reflected in the sustainability strategies of German universities and UAS. Within the Research at Universities of Applied Sciences programme, The Federal Ministry of Education and Research funds numerous projects that are directly or indirectly dedicated to the topic of sustainability. In our “Focus Topic”, we present a small selection of these projects. Many more can be found on our research map.