Campus Cleanup: 50 Volunteers Take Part
Note: This text was translated from German by AI / (DeepL Pro)
The nut braid on the picnic table is already cut into by the time the first volunteers sign the attendance sheet in the Schneckenhof. Julia Knittel, Consultant Sustainability Management, hands out blue campaign T-shirts printed with a hand-heart symbol and the hashtag #wirschaffenwas, along with grabbers, gloves, and trash bags. She sorts the registered volunteers into groups: for the Ehrenhof, the Mensa lawn, the north and south sides of the Schloss, and the villa area on L 5. President Prof. Dr. Thomas Fetzer and all of the university's vice presidents are among the participants. The cleanup around Schloss Mannheim is part of the Freiwilligentage (Volunteer Days) of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (MRN), which the university is taking part in for the first time.
Last year, the cleanup was organized in-house, with just a handful of participants — and rain. “This time, even the weather is cooperating,” says Prof. Dr. Moritz Fleischmann, Vice President for Sustainability, in his opening remarks. A clean, safe campus benefits everyone who works and studies here, he reminds the group. Participants are taking responsibility and leading by example, he says, making sustainability tangible.
Support From All Sides
Among the volunteers is Astrid Reich, who works in the secretary's office of the Chair of Economics in L 7. She came straight to the Schneckenhof after work: “I've always wanted to take part in an event like this, so it was very convenient that the university offered it. I also want to be a role model for my colleagues.”
Aileen Weiß, a prospective psychology student in Landau, is also taking part in the Campus Cleanup. She earned her Abitur (the German university-entrance qualification) in Mannheim and often came to the Schloss to study while preparing for it: “Cleaning up is good and important. I want to do my part so the university stays a clean place to learn in the future.”
Right on schedule at 3:15 p.m., the event wraps up back at the Schneckenhof. More than 30 well-filled trash bags come together that afternoon, including a few curious finds: torn underwear and hats, countless beer coasters and cigarette butts — plus two bicycle frames without wheels. The organizing team around Julia Knittel draws a positive conclusion. “We are delighted by the strong turnout and the positive feedback. It shows that interest in sustainability and community engagement remains high,” says Knittel.
Lives in the neighborhood and is glad to see a clean campus: cleanup participant Steffen Hoffmann
The president, vice presidents, and 50 other supporters at the cleanup event at Schloss Mannheim.
President Prof. Dr. Fetzer (dark sweater) together with Vice Presidents Prof. Dr. Krause, Prof. Dr. Mata, Prof. Dr. Ruhe, and Prof. Dr. Fleischmann (left to right).
The haul in orange: more than 30 trash bags and two bicycle frames sit ready for pickup.