FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zeppelin University (ZU) and Tognum AG, the propulsion and power generation specialist, will join forces in the future: both have entered a cooperation agreement to establish a European Center for Sustainability Research (EZNaF). The ZU research center is destined to gain national and international recognition.
"We regard sustainability as overall responsibility extending beyond the reaches of our company. By supporting the European Center for Sustainability Research, we are investing in a lasting future for our environment, society and also for our company", said Volker Heuer, CEO of Tognum AG, Friedrichshafen. Tognum will support the development financially and - on the basis of its practical experience - proactively contribute to the institute´s orientation as provider of ideas.
"Sustainability has been a big issue since forestry was invented; the related research, however, remains inadequate and is only rarely inter-disciplinary", said ZU President Professor Stephan A. Jansen who is pleased about the new cooperation. "We are glad and grateful that we can now build up an international research center which will deal with the great challenges of our time such as climate, energy, water or urbanization."
The aim of the EZNaF will be to establish even more strongly scientific thinking in the field of sustainability, and to help put current scientific knowledge into practice. In doing so, it is to become a platform for the exchange of ideas in science and practice. Annual symposiums with international scientists are also planned. Furthermore, the center is meant to give impulses as an institution for further training of management personnel: certification courses for corporate managers on the topic of sustainability are planned, which, after the foundation phase, are to be later established as a program for further education. Besides Tognum´s engagement, a long-term cooperation with a consortium of German companies will be sought. Scientific cooperation and exchange will also be ranking high on the future agenda.
In addition to an opening symposium, the elaboration and evaluation of future research topics and projects, the recruitment of scientific personnel and establishment of a scientific advisory board as well as the development of national and international networks for scientists and institutions involved in sustainability research will be on the agenda as early as 2011. An advisory committee for the center will also be established, the members of which will include, among others, the Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences 2009 - Professor Oliver E. Williamson from the University of California in Berkeley. In consultation with the sponsors, the elaboration of concrete scientific studies is to begin next year. The center´s build-up phase will be concluded in late 2013 by appointing renowned scholars to two endowed professorships which will be internationally advertised.
"Sustainability is not only a problem of the environment and development. Sustainability has become a question of the economic, demographic, political, cultural, technical, ecological and - last but not least - moral development of societies", explained Professor Nico Stehr, holding the Karl Mannheim Chair of Cultural Sciences at ZU and designated head of the EZNaF, the tasks of the new center. "This also means that sustainability in the upcoming years and decades will belong to the core business of companies, the capital market, technical innovation and certainly politics in everyday life."
Press photo can be downloaded from the Tognum website at www.tognum.com/press
Tognum
With its two business units, Engines and Onsite Energy & Components, the Tognum Group is one of the world’s leading suppliers of engines and propulsion systems for off-highway applications and of distributed energy systems. These products are based on diesel engines with up to 9,100 kilowatts (kW) power output, gas engines up to 2,150 kW and gas turbines up to 45,000 kW.
The product portfolio of the Engines business unit comprises MTU engines and propulsion systems for ships, for heavy land, rail and defense vehicles and for the oil and gas industry. The portfolio of the Onsite Energy & Components business unit includes distributed energy systems of the brand MTU Onsite Energy and fuel-injection systems from L’Orange. The energy systems comprise diesel engines for emergency standby power, prime power and continuous power, as well as cogeneration power plants based on gas engines and gas turbines that generate both power and heat.
In 2010, Tognum generated revenue of around €2.56 billion and employs more than 9,000 people. Tognum has a global manufacturing, distribution and service structure with 25 fully consolidated companies, more than 140 sales partners and over 500 authorized dealerships at approximately 1,200 locations. The shares of Tognum AG (ISIN: DE000A0N4P43) have been stock-exchange listed since 2007 and are included in the MDAX.
Zeppelin University
Zeppelin University (ZU) is an independent university that has been state-recognized by the federal state of Baden-Württemberg since 2003. As „a university bridging business, culture, and politics,“ both its instruction and its research are consistently interdisciplinary, individualized and international. The bachelor and master programs, accredited with distinction, that are offered in the areas of business sciences, cultural and communication sciences, as well as management-oriented administrative and political sciences are aimed at future responsible decision-makers and creative shapers in a globalizing knowledge-society – in the management of institutions in business, culture, and politics. In the important rankings of the last years, all programs have been placed among the top ten programs in Germany. Since 2008 ZU has been a foundation-endowed university with currently 753 students and 25 chairs. It is safeguarded for a long-term, e.g. by the companies of the Zeppelin Foundation – the Zeppelin GmbH and the ZF Friedrichshafen AG. This is complemented by third-party funds for research, for example by the EU, the German Research Foundation, numerous science foundations, as well as businesses, such as ALTANA, the Deutsche Telekom, EADS or ZF Friedrichshafen AG.