Social sustainability

Under the guiding principle of “Innovating and Cooperating for a Sustainable Future,” the University of Hamburg has made sustainability a central focus. A sustainable future must also involve social sustainability. That is because the elimination of existing social and structural disadvantages and a future worth living for all people is also a core area of sustainability. Many forms of disadvantage overlap and affect each other—intersectionality. In the interests of social sustainability, they must therefore also be combated together.

This overlap becomes clear in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (German homepage) (SDGs for short): Goal 5 “Gender equality”, Goal 8 “Decent work and economic growth,” and Goal 10 “Reduced inequalities” of the Sustainable Development Goals relate to the topic of gender equality. Goal 1 “No poverty,” for example, primarily concerns women, children, people with disabilities, LGBTQI* people, and other marginalized population groups, as they are disproportionately affected by poverty. At the same time, these goals, together with Goal 3 “Health and well-being” and Goal 4 “Quality education,” coincide in the area of balancing and equal rights for families and people with care responsibilities.

As a cross-cutting issue, social sustainability therefore also has an impact on all areas of work at the Equal Opportunity Unit and is always taken into consideration. In addition, the Sustainability Office (German homepage) is responsible for sustainability at the University of Hamburg.