Engagement
The AG Nachhaltigkeit was founded in December 2019. In 2020, it shaped student involvement in sustainability at the University of Basel through numerous projects. Students were also involved in sustainability at the Sustainability Weeks and through the U Change funding program for sustainability.
Sustainable development requires not only institutional, but also societal transformation. The University of Basel offers many opportunities to become involved in sustainable development. It empowers students to act as change agents of the desired transformation through their participation. At the same time, getting involved develops professional and personal skills, so that students can competently advocate for sustainable development in their private and professional lives.
Foundation of the AG Nachhaltigkeit
To support student initiatives in the field of sustainability, the President's Board approved additional temporary three-year positions. With the help of the Sustainability Office, students then created the AG Nachhaltigkeit. The AG Nachhaltigkeit is the contact point for all university members who want to implement projects relating to sustainability at the University of Basel. By end of 2020, more than 20 students, doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers and other university members were actively involved. The AG Nachhaltigkeit’s projects are described in the video.
Students organized Sustainability Weeks
As a local spin-off of Sustainability Week Switzerland, the Sustainability Weeks 2019 and 2020 were organized and held largely by student members of SDUBS, Students for Sustainability at the University of Basel.
Other student projects were implemented thanks to financial support from U Change:
- Lecture series Plural Economics: This lecture series moves away from the neoclassical methods that dominate economics and communicates alternative, sustainable schools of thought.
- Nutritional Guidelines: This research projects mapped sustainability in the existing Swiss Nutritional Guidelines with the goal to generate a Sustainable-Diet Map.
- Green Roofing: The «Green Roofs» project seeks to counteract biodiversity loss by planting vegetation on university buildings.1
Beyond the projects, opportunities exist to get involved in a variety of sustainability-related organizations at the University of Basel. The organizations listed below committed themselves to sustainability or sustainable development at the University of Basel in 2019 and 2020.2 Specifically, this means that they have made a social and ecological commitment in their activities.
Goals & actions
Fund student projects and support student commitment to sustainability
Conduct a feasibility study regarding more rooftop gardens on University of Basel buildings; joint planning and implementation by a student project group and the Facilities Department
Technical and financial support from the Sustainability Working Group for student projects relating to sustainability, max. CHF 2,000 per project
Campus managers
Sustainability Office
Skuba
Fund student projects and support student commitment to sustainability
Transfer control of BOOST fund financial resources to the Sustainability Working Group
Sustainability Office
[1] The project became affiliated with the AG Nachhaltigkeit in 2020.
[2] The list of student organizations is not exhaustive.