ZNU-Standard - driving sustinable change: Make goals tangible and measurable.

The standard setter is the Centre for Sustainable Leadership (ZNU) of the Faculty of Business and Society at Witten/Herdecke University.

The ZNU Standard is a joint endeavour of science and business practice and aims to measurably promote sustainable development in business and society. It supports organisations in structuring their existing sustainability activities and developing them in a targeted and directionally sound manner - driving sustainable change.

If you are interested in the ZNU Standard for Sustainable Management, please get in touch with the contact persons at the approved certification bodies. You can also contact a consultancy firm for company-specific enquiries. If you have general questions about the ZNU Standard, please contact us by email at znu@uni-wh.de or find out more here on the website. You can download the documents relating to the ZNU Standard free of charge here.

The duration of the assessment depends on the number of employees, the nature and number of locations and other criteria. For a quick, approximate calculation, please use our tool for the assessment effort (click here for multi site).

A certificate ‘ZNU Standard - driving sustainable change’ is issued by the certification body for three years. An annual review ensures that the company is complying with and implementing the requirements of the ZNU Standard - driving sustainable change. Before the certificate expires, it can be extended for a further three years through successful recertification.

Here you will find an overview of all contact persons at the approved certification bodies, and general requirements apply to all examiners who are appointed. Download the exact authorisation regulations here.

All organisations that want to make measurable progress in the area of sustainability can use the ZNU Standard - driving sustainable change: from SMEs to large international corporations, from production companies to service providers and trading companies - regardless of their sector. Public institutions, (sports) clubs and other organisations can also be certified according to the ZNU Standard. The standard is internationally applicable. You can find an overview of companies/organisations that have already been certified here.

In order to better meet the current requirements of companies and other organisations with regard to sustainability and to give users a competitive advantage through the revised ZNU system, an updated version (ZNU Standard 2024) was developed in an extensive stakeholder process. In terms of content, changes have primarily been made in the following areas: Early Detection (double materiality), Climate Change Mitigation (addition of Scope 3 elements), Climate Change Adaptation (as an additional requirement), Finance (as a new requirement) and additions to the Packaging, Biodiversity and Human Rights requirements. Once the revised version has been published, you will find the amendment protocol here.

The certificate is generally valid for three years. All valid certificates according to the 2018 version will remain valid for up to three years after publication of the following revised version.

Every new and already certified company is free to have their inspections carried out by an approved certification body in accordance with the new version from the publication of the revised version. All initial certifications and recertifications must be carried out in accordance with the new 2024 version no later than two years after publication of the new version. Surveillance of the 2018 version may still be carried out as part of an ongoing certification cycle up to two years after publication.

The ZNU Standard - driving sustainable change is the world’s first holistic sustainability standard for organisations that can be externally certified and is subject to review of a state-comissioned organisation; it is not a reporting standard, but rather demands and promotes concrete improvements in processes and sustainability performance. The ZNU standard therefore offers the ideal basis for sound and systematically successful reporting, e.g. also with regard to the CSRD/ESRS.

In principle, companies that apply the ZNU Standard are well prepared for reporting standards such as ESRS, DNK, GRI, Ecovadis etc. and their requirements, but must also fulfil specific requirements of these frameworks (if they are subject to reporting requirements).

For companies that are subject to CSRD and have already started the reporting process, the new ZNU Standard 2024 offers a pragmatic system that facilitates the regular reporting process and permanently and measurably improves the processes behind the indicators/data points to be reported.

The ZNU Standard helps companies to implement a holistic process ‘driving sustainable change’ and to develop measurably in their key sustainability issues at their location and along their value chains.

In contrast to many other standards, it is holistic and covers all key sustainability issues and not just one dimension. It is also about the long-term establishment of an integrated management process that can support companies in fulfilling their reporting obligations in the area of sustainability. However, it must be clearly distinguished from the usual reporting standards.

The ZNU Standard - driving sustainable change is a voluntary standard that was developed jointly by academia and business practice. In contrast to other standards, it is characterised in particular by annual on-site audits by independent third parties, as well as by its holistic nature, which demands and promotes learning dynamics and innovation at company and product level.

Despite promoting sustainable production processes, it is not purely a product standard and therefore does not compete with FSC, organic, fair trade, etc. Rather, the combination of the ZNU Standard - driving sustainable change with established product standards is seen as a great opportunity to link holistic sustainability management and product-related activities on individual topics in such a way that the company’s overall commitment can be communicated to the outside world with the greatest possible effectiveness and credibility.