As emphasized by WU's rector Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger in her foreword to this new publication, it is becoming increasingly important for universities to reflect on their impact on the broader society. There are many different activities that are associated with the concept of Third Mission (TM) of higher education institutions: knowledge transfer, stakeholder relations, interaction with local communities, active engagement in national and international sustainability networks, sustainable operations, and many more.

What concrete TM activities are happening on the WU's campus? We have collected 19 illustrative examples and present them along four distinct but intertwined dimensions: “Social Engagement,” “Engaged Teaching,” “Engaged Research,” and “Eco-Social Role Model.”

The first Third Mission Impact report is now available on our Reports page: click here.

The report was compiled and edited by James Gunn, Ulrich Weber, Anna Krulis, Victoria Yavorskaya, and Christian Rammel from the Regional Center of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development Vienna (RCE Vienna). RCE Vienna is part of STaR.