Sustainability Week Switzerland

Since its foundation on national level in 2017, it has always been a key goal of Sustainability Week Switzerland to promote sustainability at Higher Education Institutions and help them becoming sustainability role models. Over the past years, the Swiss Higher Education landscape witnessed a lot of action being taken, strategies and roadmaps unveiled, student initiatives forming, as well as concrete measures implemented in daily campus operations.   In this context, we are pleased to announce the next milestone of SWS: We prepared a stocktake of sustainability measures introduced in campus operations across Swiss Higher Education Institutions whose students received the opportunity to organize a Local Sustainability Week at the beginning of Spring Semester 2024.   The document looks at solutions already in place in the fields of Waste Management, Promotion of Circularity, Energy, Mobility, Canteens, Biodiversity on Campus, (low-threshold) Sustainability Communication, Support for Student Sustainability Projects, as well as a brief insight into the issue of Mental Health.   Neither does it delve into issues of Governance, Sustainability Reporting and Monitoring or Curricula, nor does it theorize about abstract possibilities what could be done in the future. It is all about hands-on solutions which have already proven to be feasible. It is also not a demand paper, but a source of ideas and inspiration on how sustainability can be moved forward at universities. We hope that it will serve as such for both student sustainability associations and universities themselves and would like to thank everyone involved in the editing process, from preliminary research to formatting, as well as everyone who supported us in the data gathering process.   The document may be accessed in a German and English version via our Website: https://lnkd.in/dk5tgUBf. The German version can also be found among other helpful documents for sustainability in higher education at the Knowledge Hub of Focus Sustainability: https://lnkd.in/dApy9zfN

We are pleased to announce that on Monday, April 22nd 2024, SWS will hold its first event organized at an University of Teacher’s Education in Switzerland! At the Pädagogische Hochschule Zug (PH Zug), we are co-organizing a lecture on Education for Sustainable Development (Bildung für Nachhaltige Entwicklung, BNE) together with Klimaschule (“The Climate School”, www.klimaschule.ch).   We are looking forward to introducing our project to students who will be part of the next generation of school teachers, as well as to expanding their perspectives on Education for Sustainable Development by the Presentation of the innovative approach of Klimaschule for collaborations with schools! We also hope that this event will enable us to draw some conclusions on how such formats tailored to the needs and the context of Universities of Teacher's Education can look like in practice.   The Event is opened to everybody interested from the public and will be held from 17:00 to 18:25 at the University of Teacher's Education in Zug. The entry is free of charge. Zug may be quickly and conveniently reached by train from both Zürich and Lucerne. We would be delighted to see you there! Please note that this event will take place in German.

On Monday, March 18th, the 2024 Edition of the Sustainability Week in Basel has commmenced! The local team from the student’s sustainability association AG Nachhaltigkeit has prepared an amazing variety of activities in which everyone can participate! Among the highlights that await you is a clothing repair workshop, a lecture on sustainability in the healthcare sector with experts from the health and pharmaceutical industry, an exhibition on the melting of glaciers which uses VR, and a bicycle cinema where you will generate electricity to power the movie from pedalling. Last but not least, on Saturday, guided city tours conceptualized by Master’s students themselves will allow you to discover the city of Basel through the lens of SDG implementation! There are plenty of things to see and experience in Basel during this week! As the number of places is limited for several events, sign up now for those which you will attend for sure! https://lnkd.in/d5SQFCjw

A Local Sustainability Week will also be organized by students from the Environmental Committee IHEID at the Geneva Graduate Institute from March 11th to March 17th! We invite everyone to visit it and gain latest insights from this field. In the same time, there will be a Sustainability Week at the University of Geneva too.

The start of the 2024 Sustainability Weeks, which will be inaugurated by our opening event, is coming closer. We are excited to announce the complete list of speakers for the opening ceremony! At this year’s event, we will appreciate the breadth and diversity of local initiatives for promoting sustainable development in North-Western Switzerland and present Sustainability Week Switzerland embedded in this environment. We are looking forward to hearing the latest insights from representatives of the Civil Society, NGOs, the public sector, as well as research and higher education, as well as to constructive exchange between the different areas. As a visitor, you will also be able to ask questions to our experts, as well as to have a chat with the National SWS Core Team. The event will take place on Monday, March 4th, at 18:30 in Basel at the Old University Building at Rheinsprung 9, in lecture hall no. -101 with a great view over the Rhine river. It poses an excellent opportunity to get in touch with us and learn more about SWS – both at the national level and on the local level in Basel. The main part will include keynote speeches and a panel discussion and will be followed by an Apéro, offering a great opportunity to network with people passionate about Sustainability – let’s turn this Monday into an amazing one! The entry is free for everyone! The number of seats is limited – secure yours now by signing up via this form: https://lnkd.in/dFzKnws4. The organizing team would be delighted to welcome you at our venue on March 4th! Please note: The event language will be German.

This year, the Local Sustainability Week in Lucerne, organized by the Local Student's Sustainability Association VENALU, will include a broad range of interesting and interactive activities, such as a Food-Save Kitchen Battle, an upcycling workshop for textiles, a guided tour around the city during which you will learn more about the issue of food waste, or an exchange on human rights education at schools. We invite you to get to know their full programme and, of course, to visit their events in Lucerne between March 11th and 22nd! 🌍 All events may be visited by the public for free.

Sustainability Week Switzerland Opening Event 2024 – Save the Date!   The first Sustainability Weeks in 2024 will start on March 4th. During the following six weeks, Local Sustainability Weeks organized by student volunteers will take place at Higher Education Institutions across Switzerland. Like every year, we celebrate the inauguration of this engaging time period with an official Opening Event! After having already conducted this annual event in Zürich, Bern, Lausanne and Lucerne, the time has come to present our project to the public in the city of Basel. We will convene on Monday, March 4th, at 18:30 on at the University Building at Rheinsprung 9 in Basel, in the lecture hall no. -101 with a great view over the Rhine. This year, we will appreciate the breadth and variety of local initiatives for promoting sustainable development in North-Western Switzerland and embed the Local Sustainability Weeks in this context. After all, sustainable development is something we can all benefit from – and something we can all support with our action. The event poses an excellent opportunity to get in touch with us and learn more about the project – both at the national level and on the local level in Basel. In order to be open to as many locals as possible, it will be held in German. The main part, which will entail keynote speeches and a panel discussion, will be followed by an Apéro, offering a great opportunity to network with people passionate about Sustainability – let’s turn this Monday into an amazing one! By now, we may already announce our first speakers: It will be a pleasure for us to give the floor to representatives of both Higher Education Institutions in North-Western Switzerland - the University of Basel as well as the University of Applied Sciences in North-Western Switzerland (FHNW), the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), and the Canton of Basel-Stadt. More speakers will be announced soon! The entry is free of charge for everyone! The number of seats is limited – secure yours now by signing up via this form: https://lnkd.in/dp_6YApb Please note: The event language will be GERMAN.