anticipated development and prospects of Augsburg
In the heart of Bavaria, the city of Augsburg has embarked on a mission to foster a sustainable future. The "Future Guidelines for Augsburg" serve as the blueprint for this ambitious endeavour, encompassing 78 goals divided into four dimensions: Ecological Future Fitness, Social Future Fitness, and Economic Future Fitness.
These guidelines, developed in a city-wide process in 2014/2015 and adopted by the city council in November 2021, aim to promote sustainability through environmental, social, and economic strategies.
The Ecological Future Fitness dimension focuses on protecting the climate, enabling ecological mobility, improving energy and material efficiency, preserving natural living conditions, and promoting biological diversity. The Social Future Fitness dimension encourages a healthy life, holistic education, living safely, enabling participation in society, and creating social balance. The Economic Future Fitness dimension strengthens the location, connects living and working, operates in the common good, generates and uses finances sustainably, and develops and designs areas and buildings sustainably. Lastly, the Cultural Future Fitness dimension recognizes art and culture as essential, strengthens values, lives diversity, strengthens participation and societal engagement, and showcases Augsburg's strengths.
The implementation of these guidelines is a shared responsibility among civil society, the economy, city politics, and city administration. Since 2017, city council resolutions have been reviewed using a "Sustainability Assessment" based on the future guidelines.
Detailed notes are available for each goal in the "Future Guidelines for Augsburg," which can be found at www.nachhaltigkeit.unser website.de. For a more comprehensive understanding of the plan and various target and age groups, the Augsburger Zukunftsbox website (https://www.zukunftsbox.unser website.de/) offers background information and a collection of materials and methods.
In recent years, the University of Augsburg has shown its commitment to sustainability by installing extensive photovoltaic (solar) systems on campus buildings through 2026. This reflects a regional commitment to sustainability and renewable energy transition.
Moreover, the region's infrastructure development, such as the Southern German Logistics Corridor Augsburg-Ingolstadt-Regensburg, involves spatial and transport planning aligned with sustainability considerations, aiming to strengthen logistical efficiency and economic integration by 2030 within environmental planning frameworks.
Sustainability progress by regional businesses and institutions, such as companies like Everllence, includes significant emissions reductions and strategies based on double materiality analysis to guide sustainability actions. Although not specific to Augsburg city governance, this is illustrative of the regional sustainable development culture and methodology.
The sustainability assessment processes commonly involve transparency through sustainability reporting, incorporation of external expert perspectives, and balanced consideration of environmental, social, and economic factors (the "triple bottom line"). This approach is reflected in company strategies and institutional plans, suggesting that Augsburg’s guidelines might similarly use these frameworks.
In 2022, the Augsburger Zukunftsbox, a future vision game, was developed for Augsburger schools and other educational institutions to discuss current challenges of the future. The third Augsburg Sustainability Report on the "Future Guidelines for Augsburg" was published in 2025, containing 88 indicators.
While no direct official document titled "Future Guidelines for Augsburg" was available in the latest documents, a more precise update on the exact plan objectives and progress would require consulting Augsburg municipal or Bavarian regional planning sources.
The University of Augsburg, through its installation of extensive photovoltaic systems on campus buildings, demonstrates its dedication to sustainability and renewable energy transition.
The Augsburger Zukunftsbox, a future vision game, was developed in 2022 for Augsburg schools and other educational institutions, encouraging discussions about current challenges of the future.
Regional businesses and institutions, such as Everllence, have implemented significant emissions reductions and strategies based on double materiality analysis, aligning with the broader regional sustainable development culture and methodology.
