The Leuphana Campus building with students outdoors

Summer School

Summer School on
Sustainable Chemistry for Sustainable Development

The Summer School is an annual event jointly organized by the ISC3 Research and Education Hub and the Leuphana University in Lüneburg. During the program participants learn about the latest developments around the concepts of Sustainable Chemistry including chemicals management. The summer school has been held since 2015.

Target audience of the Summer School are postgraduates, PhD-students as well as young professionals from industry, public authorities, research and non-governmental organizations professionally interested in the topic of Sustainable Chemistry as a cross-cutting issue. The international trainers’ team consists of scientists and practitioners actively operating in sustainable chemistry-related fields or international

The program comprises lectures, practical exercises, case studies, group discussions, a field trip and a laboratory tour to exemplify important aspects of Sustainable Chemistry. Due to the pandemic, the Summer School took place as a virtual event for the last 2 years and will also be held online this year from 25 to 29 July 2022.
At the end of the Summer School the participants will receive a certificate.


The focus changes every year according to the ongoing discussion on Sustainable Chemistry. Topics dealt with so far are:
  • “Hydrogen Economy” (2022),
  • “Agriculture” (2021),
  • “Water” (2020),
  • “Renewable Energy” (2019),
  • “Sustainable Building and Living” (2018),
  • "Sustainable Chemistry and e-Waste" (2017),
  • "Sustainable Textiles" (2016) and
  • "Sustainable Chemistry in International Cooperation" (2015).

For more information on this year's Summer School and other upcoming events in the field of Sustainable Chemistry, visit our
Event Calendar

Summer School 2022

At this year’s Summer School with the focus topic on Sustainable Chemistry in the Hydrogen Economy about 45 participants from 23 different countries around the world were given the opportunity to get new insights into green and sustainable chemistry by attending the online sessions of lectures, workshops as well as a panel discussion in which challenges, opportunities and prerequisites in the Hydrogen Economy were addressed.

During the five days of this unique Summer School international experts from Canada, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Nigeria and Uruguay participated. Speakers were from the MSP Institute, UN, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment of The Netherlands, The King’s University, DECHEMA e.V., International Energy Agency, Institut de Recherche d'Hydro-Québec (IREQ), Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Minería (MIEM) of Uruguay, GIZ, GIZ Nigeria, Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon GmbH and Fraunhofer-Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT. In the first two days of the Summer School the international experts shared their knowledge on green and sustainable chemistry, systems thinking as well as safe and sustainable by design approaches for product development and business opportunities consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the last three days of the Summer School the experts discussed together with the participants challenges and opportunities of the Hydrogen Economy from different perspectives including research and governmental institutions, energy supply companies and international organisations. Insights were provided into how Hydrogen Economy and Power-to-X contribute to Sustainability and clean energy transitions, economical and materials research considerations, sustainable synthesis of materials for hydrogen storage, challenges and opportunities in the transition to Hydrogen Economy in Nigeria and Sub-saharan Africa, the Uruguayan Green Hydrogen Roadmap and the use of hydrogen in steel production.The participants were grateful for the newly gained knowledge and want to implement it in their daily work and/or research, thus bringing forward sustainable approaches in their respective countries all over the world.