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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.
We all benefit from intact, diverse ecosystems. It's our responsibility to preserve and protect them. That's why I am committed to finding a sustainable way of life together with my fellow humans through discussions, education and projects.
Jeannine Fluri, biology student and founding member of the AG Nachhaltigkeit
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.
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Sustainability Week 2019: Over 800 people took part in ten different events at the first student-organised Sustainability Week at the University of Basel. (Image: © SDUBS, University of Basel)link.zoom -
The organizers symbolically grew the mountain of waste that is collected daily at the Kollegienhaus and at Vesalgasse 1. The purpose of the waste exhibition was to draw attention to the consumption of resources at the university. (Image: SDUBS, © University of Basel)link.zoom -
At the end of the Sustainability Week 2019, a clothes swap party organised by «Walk-in Closet» took place. Afterwards, the science slam poets Dr Jens Gaitzsch and Anna Wachnowicz from «Talking Science» expressed important topics in a humorous and entertaining way. (Image: © SDUBS, University of Basel)link.zoom -
At a brown-bag talk on sustainable technologies, Anja Zimmer (initiator of the UniBaselonEcosia campaign) and Aurelio Parodi (Revendo) presented and discussed their projects and companies respectively. (Image: © SDUBS, University of Basel)link.zoom -
Sustainability Week 2020: Due to the developing Corona pandemic, Sustainability Week 2020 took place under difficult conditions. Regardless of this, around 270 people actively participated in the nine events held (out of the 15 originally planned). (Image: © SDUBS, University of Basel)link.zoom -
Two events - including a DIY beeswax cloth workshop - were transformed to be Corona-ready. The organizers packed the ingredients needed to make the beeswax cloths and delivered them to the students' homes. (Image: © SDUBS, University of Basel)link.zoom -
Lectures on «Climate protection despite cutting-edge research: flight regulations at colleges and universities», «No more meat!? - Exploring an ecological and ethical dilemma» and a panel discussion on «Focus on Swiss climate policy» were part of the program. (Image: © SDUBS, University of Basel)link.zoom
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.
Student organizations for sustainable development
Amnesty Students Basel
beraber
Calcutta Project Basel
Foraus
Offener Hörsaal
SDUBS
UniGärten
Goals & actions
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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
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Fund student projects and support student commitment to sustainability
Transfer control of BOOST fund financial resources to the Sustainability Working Group
Sustainability Office
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[1] The project became affiliated with the AG Nachhaltigkeit in 2020.
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[2] The list of student organizations is not exhaustive.
