TU Braunschweig is now a Fairtrade University A sign of global responsibility at the university

With a festive certificate award ceremony on 7 May 2025, Technische Universität Braunschweig was officially recognised as a Fairtrade University. It is now one of almost 50 universities in Germany that are actively committed to fair trade and global justice. The certificate was presented by Fairtrade Germany at the ‘TUmorrow Awards 2025 – Sustainability Awards of the Braunschweig University Association’ in the Architecture Pavilion.

“Universities are much more than places of teaching and research. They are spaces for experience, where values are lived, reflected upon and developed. As a technical university, we bear a special responsibility,” said TU President Angela Ittel in her speech. “Our cutting-edge research shapes innovations that have a profound impact on society and the environment. At TU Braunschweig, we are conscious of this responsibility – and we put it into practice.”

The award is the result of several years of commitment to fair trade on campus, which was initiated by a group of students in 2021. They initiated a successful senate resolution to participate in the ‘Fairtrade University’ campaign. This led to the formation of a broad-based steering group with representatives from the Green Office, the student body, the registration office, the sustainability officer and the ‘Fair in Braunschweig’ initiative.

TU Vice President for Digitalisation and Sustainability Professor Manfred Krafczyk accepted the award on behalf of Lena van der Kamp, Fairtrade Germany. His message: “Let’s not see this award as a goal we’ve achieved, but as an incentive to keep going. We are over 20,000 ambassadors at this university who can achieve a lot together.”

Commitment to fair trade on campus

The requirements for a Fairtrade University are high: in addition to an official senate resolution and a broad-based steering group, fair trade products must be used at events and in catering, and regular information and education programmes on fair trade must be offered. TU Braunschweig was able to demonstrate all of this in a multi-stage process and developed into an even fairer university during the application process. For example, the student union’s ‘9bar’ coffee bar stocks fair trade coffee beans and cocoa powder, two faculty councils use fair trade products, and workshops on topics such as ‘Fair trade in everyday life’ are offered to TU members.

The award ceremony highlighted the university’s diverse commitment: an exhibition in the pavilion gallery focused on global trade structures, while fair catering demonstrated concrete implementation possibilities in everyday university life. In keeping with this theme, the TUmorrow Awards were also presented during the event, recognising outstanding sustainable commitment at TU Braunschweig. Both awards share the goal of actively shaping sustainability and promoting global justice at the local level.

Certification as a commitment

“The award is more than just a title – it is a commitment to social responsibility,” says Sira Möller, project coordinator at the Green Office, emphasising the commitment that the university has made with this certification. Students, administrators and lecturers are working together to integrate issues such as fairness, transparency and ecological standards into everyday university life. The long-term goal of thinking holistically about sustainability and incorporating it into all areas of the university became particularly clear on this day.

With this title, TU Braunschweig commits itself to continuing its commitment to fair trade and to demonstrating this regularly – because the award is limited in time: recertification is required every two years. Until then, TU Braunschweig not only wants to adhere to the criteria, but also to raise awareness of fair trade among even more people and actively involve them.