Kick-off meeting for SustainMed 2.0 – extension of the funding project aimed at increasing sustainability in the healthcare sector
(Stuttgart) – SustainMed is being extended. Work is now starting on SustainMed 2.0 – the follow-up funding project designed to work out precise proposals for solutions to increase sustainability in the healthcare sector. At the kick-off meeting held on 4 December 2025 at BG Hospital Tübingen, the project partners met with Projektträger Karlsruhe (PTKA) and representatives from the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector Baden-Württemberg, which will be providing funding for this follow-up project as well.
In SustainMed 2.0, which is set to run until 2028, BG Hospital Tübingen, FREESIXTYFIVE GmbH and BioRegio STERN Management GmbH will be working to identify and develop further practical, permanently effective solutions for greater sustainability in the healthcare sector and put these to the test in a clinical setting. The key focus is on translating clinical processes into a central data model, then using this data model to derive analytical data, compile forecasts and recommend courses of action. The intention is to reduce implementation times and implementation risks significantly. In addition, intersectoral dialogue between hospitals, manufacturers, researchers and the care sector via the sustainmed.eu platform is being systematically developed and expanded. The results from ongoing projects are available to everybody involved so that tried-and-tested approaches can be scaled accordingly.
„The aim is that stakeholders across the healthcare chain should be able to act faster, more safely and with more efficient use of resources – with a lower implementation risk and a higher degree of effectiveness in terms of their economic and ecological healthcare management,“ explains Rahel Bleis from BioRegio STERN Management GmbH, which is coordinating the project. „As demonstrated by the previous project, SustainMed, there is a great deal of measurable savings potential in relation to recycling and CO2 – even in surgical departments. For example, carefully separating the waste generated by routine operations can make a significant difference.“ Prof. Tina Histing, Medical Director of BG Hospital Tübingen, welcomes the extension of the project. „I would like to thank the entire SustainMed team for their work on the projects, which have been very successful to date, and I am looking forward to the next steps with the hospitals that are joining the project for the first time,“ she says. Susanne Dieffenbach, CEO of BG Hospital Ludwigshafen and BG Hospital Tübingen, adds: „Thanks to the project funding, comprehensive data can be collected and used as a basis for ensuring the transparency of impacts and analysing the transferability of measures. In this way, the project partners are creating added value for all stakeholders.“ Representing the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector Baden-Württemberg, which is funding SustainMed 2.0, Dr. Ralf Dietrich, Deputy Head of the Resource Efficiency, Green Tech and Bioeconomy department, attended the kick-off meeting to find out more about the project.
SustainMed 2.0 provides an essential bridge between medical practice, scientifically sound analysis and methodology, and workable best practices and implementation skills. It is expected to pave the way for healthcare provision that is not only sustainable and fit for the future, but resilient, too. Christian Becker, founder and Managing Director of FREESIXTYFIVE, adds: „Through our data, we provide information for targeted sustainability initiatives. We already have the raw materials in the region – we just need to recycle them.“
Link: https://sustainmed.eu/
About BioRegio STERN Management GmbH:
BioRegio STERN Management GmbH promotes economic development in the life sciences industry, helping to strengthen the region as a business location by supporting innovations and start-up companies in the public interest. It is the main point of contact for company founders and entrepreneurs in the Stuttgart and Neckar-Alb regions, including the cities of Tübingen and Reutlingen.
The STERN BioRegion is one of the largest and most successful bioregions in Germany. Its unique selling points include a mix of biotech and medtech companies that is outstanding in Germany and regional clusters in the fields of automation technology and mechanical and plant engineering.
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Bildquelle: Leif Piechowski/BioRegio STERN