In order to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the University of Göttingen, it is strongly recommended that, from the winter semester 2024/25 on, business travelers at the University should not carry out any

• domestic travel by airplane
• business trips abroad by plane if the destination is within a radius of around 650 km around Göttingen or can be reached by train within a travel time (station to station) of nine hours

This recommendation is intended to help reduce the number of business trips in Europe by air and to reduce CO₂e emissions from business trips by air in Europe by 40 percent by 2026 compared to 2023. This corresponds to a reduction target of approx. 145 tons of CO₂e per year.

Travel destinations from Göttingen, Status: 04/09/2024

¹ fastest train connection
² fastest connection via Hanover or Frankfurt am Main incl. Check-In
³ sometimes no direct flight and sometimes additional train journey from the airport to the destination necessary
⁴ from Göttingen to travel destination

Affected countries and airports:

• Germany
• Denmark
• Netherlands
• Belgium
• Luxemburg
• France: Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Paris
• Switzerland
• Lichtenstein
• Austria: Innsbruck, Salzburg, Linz, Vienna
• Slovakia: Bratislava
• Czech Republic: Prague
• Poland: Wroclaw, Poznan, Szczecin
• Sweden: Malmö

University members travel a lot: they have to attend external events and students have to reach their new place of study as part of their exchange program. It is therefore important to make decisions about more sustainable travel methods. The following questions can help:

• You have an out-of-town appointment. Is it necessary to attend in person?
• No: Consider attending the appointment online.
• Yes: Please consider the following questions
• How many colleagues from your institution must attend the meeting? Can your organization be represented by one person?
• Can this appointment be combined with other appointments so that the trip only has to be made once?
• Can the destination also be reached by public transport or car sharing within a reasonable period of time?

Although flight connections appear to be shorter, the journey to the airport and the waiting time at the airport, including check-in and baggage reclaim, should also be taken into account.