Sustainability

Overview

Get in touch!

The creative power of art, culture and research makes a valuable contribution in the transformation process towards a sustainable society. We have launched activities and taken measures within the university and beyond in order to explore ways we can contribute to a more resilient society and to act responsibly and constructively in everything we do.

Sustainability Officer
Maria Kalleitner-Huber
+43 676 88122 457
maria.kalleitner-huber@moz.ac.at

Staff Project Development
Robert Holzner
+43 676 88122 321
robert.holzner@moz.ac.at

What we do

Surveys and analyses in the area of internal resource and energy use form the basis for gradually reducing resource consumption and emissions from university operations over the next few years. The development and establishment of an EMAS environmental management system (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) at the first location is a key instrument in this process.

We are actively working on the structural, content-related and operational implementation of sustainable development at the university. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) form the framework for the development of a sustainability strategy, which is being drawn up by the Working Group on Sustainability with the involvement of the relevant stakeholders.

Activities & cooperation in the context of sustainable development

Anchoring responsibility – sustainability as an overall strategic goal in the development plan
Member of the Allianz Nachhaltige Universitäten in Österreich and the Art & Sustainability Working Group
Collaboration in the UniNEtZ – Universitäten und Nachhaltige Entwicklungsziele
for the implementation of the SDGs (participation in SDG Working Groups 10 – Reduced Inequalities and 13 – Climate Action)
Sustainability working group in the organisational plan to establish a culture of sustainability and develop a sustainability strategy
Support for the structural and content-related integration of sustainability in research, EEK & teaching
Part of the Creative Europe Network AEC – Empowering Artists as Makers in Society (2022-2025), part of the AEC Goes Green Working Group

University operations & resources

Establishment of EMAS at the Schrannengasse site with the involvement of the relevant service areas and stakeholders (to be implemented in 2024)
Purchase of certified green electricity since 1 January 2025
Business travel guidelines for greening business travel, promotion of climate tickets
Updating of the first GHG balance sheet 2019 for the reference year 2024
Development of a climate neutrality path until 2035
Participation in umwelt partner salzburg (2024-2026), focus on energy saving and sustainability communication

News

20.11.2025

UNIVERSITY ON THE MOVE – Steps towards a sustainable future

Higher education in Salzburg takes steps toward a sustainable future: On Thursday, 13 November 2025, members of five Salzburg universities and colleges set off on foot from their respective institutions and made their way to the Frohnburg, symbolically taking steps toward sustainable development. Once assembled at their destination, the five delegations formed a heterogeneous group united in a common cause: rectorate members, students, teaching staff, researchers, administrative staff and sustainability officers—around 50 people in all. Members of the Mozarteum University’s sustainability task force walked side by side with lecturers and students from the Institute for Open Arts.

News
23.10.2025

2030 SDGs Game Goes Salzburg

4th November 2025 sees the Mozarteum University hosting an SDGs Game Session - open to members of all Salzburg's universities.

News
11.9.2025

New Supplementary Certificate: Art & Sustainability

Competence in sustainability is competence for the future. Artists and educators carry a great responsibility but also have great potential for not only reflecting on social change but also contributing to it. The start of academic year 2025/2026 brings with it the start of a new elective studies block in Art & Sustainability, for which students can obtain a supplementary certificate. It offers the chance to explore the complex relationship between sustainable developments in our university and society at large, and artistic and scholarly practice.

News
8.9.2025

Social Street Lab!

Who owns the streets? Which streets and places do we need in Salzburg? And how can we get Salzburg moving in a playful way?

News

More news

Sustainability in teaching

The special responsibility of art universities lies in the fact that graduates educated in the spirit of the holistic universitas and their teachers operate in an international professional environment and are therefore predestined to postulate a change in values and thus play a prominent role in initiating and implementing ideas for sustainable development. For this reason, and as a member of the Alliance of Sustainable Universities in Austria, the strategic anchoring of sustainability remains an important goal. The Mozarteum University therefore fully endorses the uniko manifesto for sustainability.

The Working Group on Education for Sustainable Development of the Alliance of Sustainable Universities in Austria has developed a continuing education programme on sustainability for university teachers, which invites participation.

Internally, work is underway on an offer to support the integration of sustainability aspects into teaching. An understanding of sustainable development and a common direction are central to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Continuing education opportunities in the field of teaching should support this process.

Offers