To me, sustainability means… a way of life that we can maintain for a few thousand years more.

To me, sustainability means… thinking in a networked manner. Weighing the consequences of each decision and considering whether the resource consumption it will entail (in terms of raw materials, energy, working hours, money) is really worth it.

Providing the best possible conditions for all members of a university community while leaving behind a fair ecological footprint is a daily challenge.

For two years now, the mdw has been one of the first universities in Austria to use 100 % green power—which is just one among many examples of sustainable university management set by the initiative “green mdw”.

Conference attendance, lecture tours, guest lectureships: research is international and produces an enormous ecological footprint. So how can it be made to function in a more climate-friendly manner?

In the September 2019 issue of the music periodical  nmz (Neue Musikzeitung) , German composer and concert educator Bernhard König published an essay entitled “Monteverdi und der Klimawandel” [Monteverdi and Climate Change]. What König wrote there represented some important food for thought for many at our institution.