IOER welcomes the Leibniz Association’s new “Sustainability Mission Statement”

On 5 December 2025, the Leibniz Association's General Assembly adopted the new “Sustainability Mission Statement”. It encompasses a common understanding of sustainability, describes the approach and specifies the implementation for four key areas of action. This structure is based on the guidelines for sustainability management in non-university research organisations (LeNa).

The four areas of action are:

1. Strategy and organisational development
2. Research process
3. Personnel development and management
4. Research operations (including buildings, infrastructure, procurement and mobility)

The IOER particularly welcomes the updated understanding of sustainability as a guiding principle for identifying and overcoming major social and ecological challenges. In addition to the overarching goal of helping to ensure the best possible quality of life for all people and for nature in the long term, this also includes the process qualities required to achieve this – a central aspect that is unfortunately not adequately reflected in most definitions of sustainability.

In addition, key starting points for implementation are identified in each of the four fields of action. Principles and options for action are outlined that can be applied to the very different profiles and activities of the Leibniz Institutions. The new mission statement therefore enables the organisation-specific design of sustainability management with its own priorities, while at the same time offering a common basis and valuable guidance. The Leibniz Working Group on Sustainability Management promotes exchange, creates synergies between member institutions and offers a platform for sharing expertise and experience.

To develop the mission statement, the Leibniz Executive Board established a “Sustainability Steering Group” in 2022, to which Prof. Dr. Marc Wolfram, Director of the IOER, was also appointed. The group first discussed how sustainability could be effectively and efficiently anchored across the Leibniz Association and ultimately decided on a more detailed mission statement.

“With the production and quality assurance of knowledge, the sciences have a decisive role and responsibility in the implementation of sustainability. They are an integral part of the social processes necessary for this and must at the same time ensure that their internal structures and practices are also geared towards sustainability. The new mission statement makes this very clear,” explains Marc Wolfram.

The IOER attaches great importance to sustainability management, which is enshrined in both the institute's statutes and its own mission statement. In 2022, a position was created within the directorate to coordinate all related processes. A wide range of measures have already been successfully implemented. One example of this is the pilot project “Climate-neutral research operation by 2035”, which the IOER carried out together with the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) as one of ten pilot projects of the Leibniz Association. As part of this project, an approach to greenhouse gas accounting was developed that also includes monitoring. Particular focus was placed on emissions, which are often difficult to calculate, such as those from procurement and mobility management. Further measures are being continuously developed in all four fields of action as part of a sustainability roadmap drawn up in 2025.

The new “Sustainability Mission Statement” will soon be available on the website of the Leibniz Association.

Contact at the IOER
Stella Jathe, Sustainability Coordinator, e-mail: s.jatheioer@ioer.de