Mission Statement 

Our mission is: enable students to take responsibility for their own professional practice in various fields within social work, health care, and pastoral care; offer continuing education for various qualification goals; and conduct application-oriented research. We aim to fulfill this mission through excellent teaching, research and continuing education.

As a Catholic university, we are aware of the importance of those value orientations which all religions point to and which for us, are nurtured by Christian sources.

• We are convinced that all human beings have the right to be respected. We oppose all forms of discrimination and live in solidarity with all, especially with those whose dignity has been violated.                                                    FOR ALL
• The world, as God's creation, is entrusted to human beings. We stand by the responsibility we have for our environment.                                                                                                                                                                            SUSTAINABLE
• We trust that our commitment to social justice is effective and will have consequences.                                  ENGAGED

FOR ALL
We respect the uniqueness and singularity of each person. We use the individual experiences and ideas of students, continuing education participants and staff as valuable sources for "learning with and through others" and for scientific discourse.

We see the crucial potential for innovation and creativity in the diversity of those who study, work and continue their education at the KH Freiburg. Through learning processes, we promote the diversity of their competencies and experiences, and we encourage developing a dialogical basic attitude that also breaks down cultural and religious boundaries. All of this is supported by learning processes and enables assuming responsibility for one's self and also, the common good. We enable participation and encourage everyone to take an active part in shaping the conditions in which they work and live.

We are an attractive educational and living environment and also, an experimental space for the life and work we see as desirable for ourselves, for others, and those who will live after us. As a Catholic university, we give space to the question of what a successful life means.

“For all” also has the meaning for us that our pursuit of excellence and the contribution of everyone involved leads to concrete, forward-looking impulses and developments that unfold individual, local and global relevance. We have the vision that this will be reinforced by our inclusive and low-barrier offerings for people with heterogeneous educational biographies and potentials.

As a university of lifelong learning, we do justice to the different potentials and professional requirements of our students, further education participants and employees by providing them with forward-looking learning and development opportunities. We make it possible to acquire   the competencies for professional activities and to strengthen personally relevant skills.

SUSTAINABLE
As a values-oriented university, we advocate for the preservation of habitats. We promote scientific discourse and concrete projects where sustainable living becomes possible. We connect people with confidence in their own strengths and with the courage to innovate.

In teaching, research and further education, we take up central social challenges and develop concepts in cooperation with representatives of practice. These can be adopted by institutions, associations, organizations and policy makers, while at the same time, flow into the further development of our teaching and continuing education offers.

In the spirit of lifelong learning, we integrate new findings from science and current societal and technological developments into our work. We not only impart professionally-relevant competencies, we enable students to think in a networked manner and act as part of a team. We encourage critical thinking and the assumption of responsibility for oneself and for others. By promoting personal development through our education and training programs, we become visible as an organization whose contribution to shaping society's future is indispensable.

As a research-intensive university, we are committed to scientifically sound practice. We contribute critical questions to scientific discourse and political debates. We set impulses in projects in order to open up possibilities for action for the shaping of a future-relevant and future-capable society.
We shape our University as a place where experiencing socially just learning and working conditions becomes an indication that sustainable development of social structures and processes is possible.
We have a flexible infrastructure that enables teaching, research and continuing education even in times of extraordinary stress. We use innovative technologies to expand the possibilities for our core processes and to optimize our activities.

ENGAGED
We advocate for social justice and participation. We experience our team spirit as an encouraging resource for organizational development. Strengthening it is our goal. We leverage our diverse skills and varied experiences and collaborate through participatory decision-making processes and interdisciplinary teaching, learning and research.

The quality of our offerings is our strength. With the help of quality management according to the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM), we are jointly developing the entire University into an excellent organization. Criticism is an important impulse for us, as we use critique and innovative ideas to improve developmental and operational processes.

We communicate our scientific findings comprehensively in order to have an impact on society. We address current issues and offer a variety of possibilities for discourse between science and society through a range of participation means.

We stand for a Church that does not withdraw from its responsibility to the world - and enable the experiencing of such a church. We educate and encourage our community members to professionally engage in shaping a church that promotes peaceful and creative coexistence of all religions and cultures locally and globally.

Our national and international partnerships and the church network offer diverse opportunities to teach, learn and research in a practice-oriented way. Everyone learns about other cultures and social challenges and develops an understanding of global interrelationships, which we see as a prerequisite for assuming responsibility for people and their living environments.

(November 4, 2020)