First Sustainability Officer at BioPark Regensburg

In September 2015, the member states of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the UN Summit in New York. At the heart of the agenda are 17 goals, the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They should initiate a change in politics and society and contribute to solving global challenges together. The agenda creates the basis for enabling all people worldwide to live in dignity and for shaping economic progress in harmony with social justice and within the framework of the ecological limits of the earth.

In July 2021, the German Association of Cities decided with the city of Regensburg and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) to commit themselves to implementing the sustainability goals of Agenda 2030 at the local level by signing a model resolution. The city administration is currently not able to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda on its own and, in addition to business, science and civil society, has also called on all municipal subsidiaries to share responsibility for global, sustainable development at the location.

In the summer of 2022, BioPark Regensburg GmbH, as an enterprise of the city of Regensburg, started with the first inventory and analysis of sustainability aspects of the operating company. An assessment with Bayern Innovativ GmbH as part of a funding program by the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) showed that the BioPark is already above-average in terms of sustainability in many areas and also has interesting potential for improvement (see press release no. 262, August 2022).

"With the assessment, we were able to carry out an intensive analysis and professional evaluation of the 17 UN sustainability goals for the first time," commented BioPark CEO Dr. Thomas Diefenthal. The evaluation focused on economic sustainability (profit), social sustainability (people), ecological sustainability (planet) and the management of sustainable development.

The result was surprisingly positive. "We were extremely pleased that the BioPark, with 67% of the points achieved, was well above the average of the other companies used for comparison," added BioPark CFO Prof. Dr. Georg Stephan Barfuß. The consultant for business, science and finance is already trying to contribute positively to the "Green Deal Regensburg" through various sustainability projects. All activities relating to energy and climate protection in the city of Regensburg have been bundled under this umbrella brand since 2021.

The analysis shows the strengths of the BioPark in the economic sustainability of its economic growth and the innovations in the BioRegion Regensburg Cluster and Healthcare Regensburg. Further strengths can be found in social sustainability around the topic of personnel and team management in the BioPark.

In order to further promote the topic and to offer a central contact person for clients and partners, Ms. Susanne Schindler, graduate in Business Administration (Polytechnic), assistant to the administrative management at the BioPark, has been appointed as the company's sustainability officer since 2020. "I was already able to get the first sustainable energy projects off the ground with the planning of the photovoltaic systems and the examination of the replacement of lamps with LED technology and I am looking forward to the new task," commented Ms. Schindler.

In addition to the BioPark operating company, the content-related activities in cluster management also offer plenty of room for further development. For example, the company Numares AG (diagnostics) based in the BioPark or the BioRegion company Cfm Oskar Tropitzsch GmbH (sales of research reagents) have also undergone an initial sustainability assessment. Other companies such as PAN Biotech GmbH or Hyperthermics AG have already implemented sustainable systems or production cycles. The BioRegion Regensburg is a member of the Regensburg "Green Tech Cluster" and the BioPark GmbH has already prepared an initial sustainability report 2022 to document the progress.

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