Sustainability concept of the conference

Sustainability concept of the AKS-conference 2025



Foreign Language Acquisition Centres place an active role in the development towards sustainability. The UN’s 17 Goals for sustainable development are both theme and guideline for the 33rd AKS Conference 2025.

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and better nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture

  • Focus on vegetarian and vegan catering
  • Re-use, if possible, of food from the previous day
  • Passing on food to local recycling organisations on the last day of the event

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls to self-determination

  • Gender parity in the selection of contributors
  • Gender-appropriate language
  • Provision of hygiene products

Goal 10: Reduce inequality between countries

  • Focus on accessibility in the conference rooms
  • Accessibility as one topic of the conference
  • Discounted participation fee for students, PhD students, and teachers

Goal 11: Shaping cities and villages to become accessible, secure, resilient and sustainable

  • Advice and tips on the usage of public transport and carpooling opportunities for the arrival to and departure of the conference
  • Accommodations and restaurants close to the conference venue with good connection to public transport

Goal 13: Immediately apply measures against climate change and its consequences

  • Use of recycling paper throughout the conference
  • Focus on sustainability as part of the conference gifts and info material
  • Digital participation certificates
  • Preferably digital handouts and presentations
  • Encouragement of participants to use their own drinking vessels
  • Conference brochures printed at the Ruhr-University Bochum to avoid unnecessary transport routes
  • Accompanying programme: ‘Sustainable Walk’ in cooperation with the Sustainability Office of the Ruhr-University Bochum