BOKU Sustainability Award

Category Ecological and Social Responsibility in University Operations

BOKU is committed to integrating sustainability as a guiding principle into all key areas of action, including university operations. For this purpose, both ecological measures (i.e., sustainability and climate protection in areas such as mobility, energy, waste, materials, buildings and procurement) and social measures (i.e., appreciation, diversity, respect, and cooperation in areas such as human resource management, work culture and climate, stakeholder engagement, inclusion, ethics, etc.) are initiated and implemented.

After focusing on business trips in the category "Social and Ecological Responsibility in University Operations" for the past two years, in 2025 we are again broadly seeking good practice examples that demonstrate how environmental and social aspects are integrated and advanced at BOKU.

What can be submitted? BOKU projects and initiatives that are currently being implemented or have been realized in the past five years (2021-2025) can be submitted. 

Who can submit? Self-nominations or nominations by BOKU members (students and employees) individually or as a group are possible. 

What can you win? Three of the submitted examples will be nominated for the award. The 1st place winner will receive a prize of €1,000 gross-gross [1] and will also receive a trophy and a certificate. The other two nominees will each receive €400 gross-gross and a certificate. In the case of group submissions, the prize must be shared among the submitters. In the case of external nominations, the submitters of the winning projects will receive a goodie bag. 

Who selects the winners? All submitted works will be reviewed by a jury (consisting of representatives from the Rectorate, the ÖH BOKU, the Works Council, and the Centre of Global Change and Sustainability).

How to submit and submission deadline? Submissions must be made according to the guidelines of the [online form]. The completed form must be submitted via a BOKUlearn course: Kurs: BOKU Nachhaltigkeitspreis 2025 - Soziale und Ökologische Verantwortung | BOKUlearn by September 26, 2025. 

 

Please upload: 

• Your submission form as a PDF. If you want to submit further documents on your project, please integrate them into the PDF. 
• 1-3 photos that match your activity (including photo credits). 

Use the option "self-enrollment" for the BOKUlearn course. If you do not have an active BOKU account, please ask someone from the submission team who has an active account to make the submission (this does not change who the main submitter is). If this is not possible, please contact nachhaltigkeit(at)boku.ac.at. 

Please also note the announcements in other categories.

The submission deadline is September 26, 2025

[1] For award winners who are employed at BOKU, the prize money is considered part of their salary (bonus - paid through payroll) and is subject to employee taxes and, if applicable, social security contributions. This may result in up to 40% less being paid out. The full amount goes to individuals who are not employed at BOKU, associations, institutes, etc. (intercompany invoices).