BELS and sustainability

The Faculty of Law’s Sustainability Forum is the result of BELS’s participation in the ESD Weeks in the run-up to the UNESCO World Conference in Berlin in May 2021.

Since 2021, the Sustainability Forum has provided stakeholders, students and teaching staff in the Ostfalia region with a platform to present and discuss topics, regional projects and research findings relating to the SDGs, sustainability and climate change with a wider public.

The DAAD supports university partnerships in areas related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). These partnerships aim to contribute to sustainable development in the spirit of the SDGs and to the establishment of high-performing and globally engaged universities in both the partner countries and Germany.

The Brunswick European Law School (BELS) – Faculty of Law at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, in cooperation with Kathmandu University – School of Law (external link, opens in a new window) (Nepal) and Symbiosis Law School Pune (external link, opens in a new window) (India), is strengthening teaching, research, and university management at the partner institutions through this project. The goal is to consolidate existing cooperation structures between the participating universities and to establish new, sustainable partnerships.

In the long term, the SDG partnerships aim to contribute to sustainable development and the establishment of efficient and open-minded universities in the partner countries and in Germany. In addition, German universities are expected to develop expertise in development cooperation and to build development-related academic networks among the participating universities and institutions.

Since the SDGs are considered “soft law” and the three project universities in India, Nepal, and Germany are all law schools, the project focuses on the effective legal implementation of the SDGs. In addition to economic and social aspects, the different national approaches to implementing the SDGs in the project partners’ countries (Germany, India, and Nepal) will be analyzed and compared.

Each year since the programme began in 2024, an exchange programme or an “SDG Partnership Semester” has been held at one of the partner universities, featuring topic-related teaching, research, and activities focused on the SDGs. The programme will conclude in 2027.

The nomination period for the Summer Semester 2027 is now open and will close on 15 October 2026. For further information, please contact the Projekt Coordinator.