Living up to our social and environmental responsibilities
Fairness, commitment, a sense of responsibility, and diversity – all of these principles are part of the university's values. They are incorporated in our Targeting the Future strategy and integral to our day-to-day activities. Obviously, these values also form the basis for our sustainable approaches.
We are proud to showcase the specific measures we have implemented in connection with employees and training, diversity and equal opportunities, as well as climate and the environment.
Commitment and a sense of responsibility
One thing is certain: as a university, we want to make careful use of the resources at our disposal. Our aim is to limit the university’s environmental footprint as far as possible. For this reason we have defined various areas and indicators which are regularly monitored and optimised.
Fairness and diversity
Fairness is important to us in our dealings with stakeholders. So a strong commitment to promoting diversity is a given.
It goes without saying that in this regard we place a particular emphasis on our employees and students – those people who come into contact with the university day in, day out. The strength of our commitment in this area is reflected in numerous measures related to diversity, family-friendly working arrangements, training and education, and workplace health.
Tip: check our Sustainability Report for further details
This section of our website is designed to give you an overview of our objectives for sustainable operations, and to outline the measures currently in place. You can find a detailed description as well as further indicators in our Sustainability Report, which will be published every two years from now on.
Full-time employees
Number of employees
The graph shows the number of full-time employees at our university.
Not included are study assistants, interns and employees on maternity leave.
Equal opportunities at our university
This applies equally to employees, lecturers and students, and in the areas of teaching, research and administration. Barrier-free access is especially important in higher education to ensure that educational opportunities are open to all.
The effects of diversity and equal opportunities are directly related to our core activities - i.e. teaching, research and organisation. This topic is particularly important as it is an area that we are able to influence directly. Diversity and equal opportunities are anchored in the organisation’s strategy and corporate values. We address this subject in teaching and research, internal training and education, as well as in its awareness-raising and public relations activities.
In order to send a clear signal in relation to diversity, in 2013 the university signed the Austrian Diversity Charter. At its heart, the Diversity Charter promotes respect towards all members of society – regardless of gender, age, ethnic origin, skin colour, sexual orientation, religion, world view and disability.
Another important aspect: We are a women- and family-friendly organisation - for employees as well as for students. Thanks to our numerous measures, we are among the companies in Austria that have been particularly successful in promoting women within the company: This is also confirmed by the equalitA seal of quality.
Gender and Diversity Committee
With the goal of constantly promoting diversity and equal opportunities firmly in mind, we set up our Gender and Diversity Committee in September 2019.
The committee, which meets once per quarter, evaluates ongoing activities and initiates new measures.
Various members of the University Management are represented on the committee and are supported by the IMC Krems institutes and university services. This approach ensures that diversity and equal opportunities are anchored at the highest level of management.
The topics of gender and diversity are also incorporated into all internal working groups, such as those for course development and course review.
Specific measures in the area of gender and diversity
Measures to increase the proportion of women employed on degree programmes and the number of research
Specific gender and diversity-related objectives have been defined with regard to research proposals at IMC Krems. Particular attention is paid to project contents and the gender balance in project teams. A specific goal has been set to gradually raise the insufficient number of female and non-binary undergraduates enrolling on technical degree programmes at our university.
Gender and diversity training for the IMC Krems team
The following courses were offered at IMC Krems to help promote gender and diversity-related skills: Cultural Awareness Training, Diversity Competence – a general overview, Intercultural Awareness – focus on Southeast Asia, Foundations of Gender and Diversity at IMC Krems and an Intercultural Readiness Check. Additional courses are planned, including one on Unconscious Bias.
Students with disabilities
The integration of students with disabilities is an important concern for our university of applied sciences. We have, therefore, set up a counselling office which creates the best possible framework conditions at our university and thus enables successful studies.
Recognition of non-binary gender
Recognition of non-binary gender has been introduced at all levels at IMC Krems. For example, a non-binary option has been integrated into all forms and documents and WC facilities are now gender-neutral. The organisation also makes every effort to use gender-appropriate language in external and internal communications. To support the process, recommendations have been drawn up on the use of gender-sensitive language at IMC Krems.
Social and ecological responsibility at our university
The climate crisis and its impacts are already being felt, and affect all of us. In our capacity as a university of applied sciences, we aim to help develop and implement approaches and strategies designed to tackle climate change.
Organisational sturctures and processes
We introduced an integrated management system in 2012, which includes the ISO 14001 environmental management standard. This helps us to adopt a structured approach to the continuous improvement of its environmental performance. The main focuses include optimising energy efficiency and use of resources including those related to mobility and transportation, raising awareness among internal and external stakeholders, as well as risk mitigation and legal compliance.
In line with the university’s commitment to compliance with the ISO 14001 standard, IMC Krems has implemented a number of different processes throughout the organisation. At a formal level, this includes regular reporting on the progress made on the environmental programme, as well as regular evaluation and updates of environmental aspects. Other processes already in place at the organisation, such as those related to procurement, were amended to include environmental management-related topics and factors.
Environmental aspects
Environmental aspects are evaluated annually in a multi-phase, interdepartmental process.
The individual areas are categorised as “No intervention required” (green), “Medium priority environmental impact” (amber) and “High priority environmental impact” (red). Additional evaluation criteria for defining medium and high priority environmental impacts include amount (extent, incidence), danger (potential to damage the environment), legal requirements (existence and requirements of environmental laws), as well as social relevance (opinion of stakeholder groups, consistency with status as a role model).
Energy and environmental indicators
Consumption data for energy, paper and water, as well as data on waste flows have been collected separately on a quarterly basis and recorded in an environmental and energy control system since 2009.
CO2 emissions from energy and heating consumption (kg)
Emissions from energy & heating
For technical reasons and in the interests of comparability, the data cover the largest buildings by area, i.e. the IMC Piaristengasse site as well as wings G and G1 at IMC Campus Krems.
The CO2 emission factor for energy and heating consumption increased on the supply side between 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, which partly accounts for the absolute increase in emissions for the latter financial year.
CO2 emissions from energy and heating consumption (g) per student
Emissions per student
An analysis of CO2 emissions in relation to the number of students at IMC Krems shows that due to the measures we introduced, we were able to hold emissions at a constant level even though student numbers increased between 2017/2018 and 2018/2019.
The drop in emissions in 2019/2020 was primarily attributable to the changeover to distance learning due to the pandemic.
Number of pages printed
Paper consumption
In recent years, activities have focused on raising awareness among teaching staff and students, with incentives put in place to help reduce paper consumption.
Various administrative processes have been digitalised, which – in combination with the pandemic – led to a steady decline in the amount of pages printed over the past financial year.
Sustainable procurement
We have set ourselves the target of designing procurement processes aligned with the principles of sustainability, i.e. by taking account of a range of social, environmental and economic criteria. Its actions in this regard are guided by the definition set out in the Österreichischer Aktionsplan zur nachhaltigen öffentlichen Beschaffung (Austrian Action Plan for Sustainable Public Procurement):
„Sustainable procurement is the procurement of environmentally friendly products and services that follow the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, and the manufacture and supply of which are also compliant with specific social standards."“
Implementation in the organisation’s ordering process involves incorporation of applicable sustainability-based criteria in the procurement guidelines, accompanied by awareness-raising measures, especially among those employees who are responsible for the largest number of orders. In addition, data on the environmental performance of key partners are taken into account as part of the annual supplier assessment.
Our locations in Krems
Teaching at IMC Krems takes place at three locations in the town. Additional laboratory space was adapted at the TFZ Krems site.
Buildings and infrastructure
The building at Piaristengasse 1, referred to as IMC Piaristengasse, has a total of 2,922m² of usable space set aside for the English-language courses offered by the Department of Business. At Campus Krems, the university rents a further 14,178m² of space spread across four different building complexes. Two wings (Wing G and Wing G1) are used exclusively by IMC Krems. IMC Krems rents a further 1,904m² of space at its Gozzoburg site, which is a centre for its international students and visitors.
Additional laboratory space was adapted at the TFZ Krems site, taking the total now available to the Research Institute for Applied Bioanalytics and Drug Development to 366m².
Small changes, big effect
What we have implemented so far
- Efficient control of the building management systems
- Use of water-saving technologies
- Smart ventilation and heating systems
- Ongoing changeover to LED lighting technologies in all buildings
- For new equipment purchases: Electrical appliances with a minimum consumption requirement of energy efficiency class A
- Regulated use of outdoor shading to promote thermal use
- Use of intelligent lighting control (for example passive infrared presence detectors)
Green Meeting Location
Sustainable ceremonies is the watchword for our university. The International Meeting Center was certified in accordance with the Austrian Ecolabel for Green Meetings and Green Events in 2016. This reaffirmed its status as a pioneer in sustainable and careful treatment of the environment among event venues at Austrian universities of applied sciences.
Re-certification for the green meeting location is scheduled for the 2020/2021 financial year. In all, 141 events were held at the location over the past three years.