open your eyes ETH Zurich contributions

Better cooperation for ending extreme poverty

Dr. Fritz Brugger’s professional and academic life is distinguished by an exceptional contribution to international cooperation and the development of social enterprises in Africa.

Shaping sustainability
His research investigates the impact that our increased consumption of gold, copper, lithium and other raw materials has on people living around mining areas. Fritz examines whether the current due diligence obligations carried out by industry are sufficient to protect health and the environment. His work also explores what the rules for cross-border investments should look like if low-income countries are to participate equally in global value chains without disregarding workers' rights, violating human rights or harming the environment.

In addition to his research, Fritz co-heads the Center for Development and Cooperation (NADEL) at ETH Zurich. The aim of the centre is to train future leaders in global cooperation on achieving the SDGs. So far, NADEL has trained over 1500 people.

1.90 per day 
As the host of the centre’s podcast series ’1.90 a day’, Fritz discusses the future of international cooperation with NADEL alumni, asking how their work contributes to ending extreme poverty, achieving gender equality or reducing unsustainable consumption. 

The name of the podcast refers to the extreme poverty threshold in place until last year, when it was revised up to US$2.15 per person per day. The number of people living in extreme poverty has halved in the last two decades. This is very encouraging, but should not overshadow the scale of global poverty that remains: almost five billion people are getting by on less than US$10 a day.

The podcast conversations reveal how multi-layered a challenge it is to overcome poverty and inequality, shedding light on the complex quest for a sustainable future.

Leaders that champion innovation for all

Dr. Adina Rom is passionate about international development economics. She lived in New York, San Francisco, Geneva and Zurich, before moving to rural Kenya at the age of 23. A new experience, life there never ceased to surprise her, and Adina realised how many false assumptions and prejudices about poverty had shaped her thinking up to that point. Irritated and inspired by this, she decided to dedicate her life to evidence-based poverty reduction.

Fighting poverty with research and technology
The proportion of people living in extreme poverty worldwide has halved in the past 20 years. Even so, some 800 million people still live on less than ​​$US 2 per day and lack access to adequate food, safe drinking water, clean electricity, sustainable transport, and other basic services.

As executive director of the ETH for Development (ETH4D), a network of 50 professorships at ETH that are committed to further strengthen ETHs engagement for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Adina believes that universities have a responsibility to ensure that technological progress benefits the entire world population, not just the wealthiest societies.

The rapid development of mobile technology and solar energy, for example, has had a huge impact on business and society across the globe over the past decade. Technologies such as 3D printing, remote sensing and AI promise to advance development. ETH4D therefore supports research, which combines the knowledge and skills from different disciplines and promotes the collaboration between scientific research, civil society, industry and policy.

Education for a sustainable and equitable future
Next to supporting research and innovation projects, the initiative educates a new generation of engineers and scientists who can develop and implement innovations with a global perspective. Since 2022 it has offered a joint Master’s degree in engineering together with Ashesi University in Ghana, with faculty from both institutions teaching together on site. The initiative also offers summer schools where students jointly develop ideas for a sustainable future and creates a hub for topics related to global sustainable development at ETH Zurich by organising relevant lectures and events.

Innovating our way out of poverty

For more than 15 years, Professor Isabel Günther has been researching and teaching on global poverty and inequality. Originally trained at the University of Göttingen in Germany, she has conducted research in Ethiopia, Benin, Burkina Faso, France, Ghana, Kenya, Switzerland, South Africa, Uganda, and the USA.

Since 2014, she has been academic director of the NADEL Center for Development and Cooperation at ETH Zürich, which educates students as well as professionals from NGOs, public administration and the private sector on global cooperation for sustainable and equitable development. In 2019, Isabel Günther co-founded the ETH for Development ETH4D network to drive progress on technological innovations that promise to improve the lives of the 60% of the global population who live on less than US$10 a day.

Global poverty and its many dimensions
In her research, Isabel focuses on how local and global economic policies can improve the living conditions of people who have to get by on a low income. Global poverty has many dimensions. In line with this, the research questions are diverse, covering topics that range from health care to decent work to solar energy.

How can we design health insurance that benefits the poorest population groups in society? How can poor people in densely populated cities protect themselves from pandemics like Covid-19? What measures are effective to stop child labour on cocoa plantations? How does the extraction of raw materials affect living conditions of people who live in mining countries? What can new technology, such as solar panels or mobile phones, contribute to poverty reduction? How do global social standards, such as fair trade, influence consumer behaviour in rich countries?

Everyone can help to reduce poverty
In public lectures, Isabel has heard time and again that many people in Switzerland are keen to know more about global inequality and poverty, and want to take action themselves. Since 2021 she has been conducting a survey of 3,000 Swiss residents selected to represent views nationwide, asking about their attitudes to global poverty and international cooperation. Named the Swiss Panel Global Cooperation, this survey will be repeated annually until 2030.

According to the first results, Swiss citizens often care about global justice more than they do about Swiss economic interests. In 2021 there was wide support for efforts to intellectual property rights that restricted access to Covid-19 vaccines, for example, and for measures that require Swiss companies to closely monitor their supply chains. Across the Swiss population (young and old, urban and rural, men and women, rich and poor) there is strong support for an active role of Switzerland to fight global poverty.The results on the level of knowledge Swiss residents feel they have about global poverty signal an information gap: almost one third of the respondents stated that they do not feel well informed and would like to know more about poverty and global inequality. Almost 90% had not yet heard of, or knew very little about the SDGs and only 13% knew that global poverty has significantly decreased over the last 30 years.

Shaping food systems with agroecology

​​Dr. ​Kenza Benabderrazik grew up in Morocco, where food carries a rich cultural history and a strong connection to the land. The Moroccan mediterranean diet was shaped by the seasons and ecological realties. Kenza experienced what was happening in the environment, through what landed on her plate.

At the EPFL in Lausanne, she studied environmental engineering, where started her fascination for the impacts that a good or a service could have over its life cycle on the environment.

How can a food system be resilient?
Through her studies in environmental engineering, Kenza became fascinated with the impacts that a good or a service within the food system could have on people and the environment over its full life cycle. Her research analyses the interconnections, tackling thorny issues such as how can systems be resilient in the face of climatic, market, political and other shocks Kenza always begins by posing questions on how to face crises, then how to adapt to them, and ultimately, how to transform the food system to become more resilient.

Her work focuses on how people who work along the food value chain are addressing shocks, highlighting the double burden on farmers who face both environmental and market pressures. She believes that the food and agricultural systems of the future need to be designed to be sustainable, equitable, and just. This requires making a transition to agroecology, while co-creating and sharing a common vision for our future food system by fostering dialogue between partners along the ​​​​entire food value chain – from ecosystem services and farming to packaging, distributing and consuming food, as well as managing food waste.

Kenza works towards that goal by opening and cultivating social spaces that allow participants to share knowledge and practices on agroecology. She has also begun to engage in art and science collaborations in an effort to reach out to more people with these ideas, a move that reflects a deep connection with the history and culture of food shaped by early experiences in her native Morocco.

Agroecology for transformation
Kenza plans to engage more deeply in the ​​​​​​political dimensions of how humans shape food systems. Part of this is about shedding light on different narratives, with a focus on acknowledging and addressing power asymmetries in our system. It is also about identifying potential alternatives – for example, could our food system be organised around cooperatives or decentralised unions and communities, rather than large corporations?

She is convinced that, to achieve Zero Hunger (SDG 2), food systems need to be seen with decolonisation and feminist lens that values diversity, empowerment, and engagement. Her vision is of a world where people are grounded in their actions, cultivating a sense of community that fosters and nourish a radical, sustainable and just transformation.

A quest for alternative, affordable food

Growing up on a farm gave Professor Alexander Mathys early insights into food production. Years later, after graduating from university and working in industry among other sectors, he specialised in research on sustainable food systems and food technologies.

Alexander’s work is driven by evidence that a predominantly meat-based diet contributes massively to environmental degradation by depleting resources and polluting the air, freshwater, and soil. The system of producing enough food to meet the needs of a growing population is also a major cause of environmental damage – and yet, the supply and distribution doesn’t reach everyone who needs it: as many as 828 million people around the world suffer from hunger.

It is extremely important for Alexander that his research serves everyone, especially people who already suffer from ongoing and worsening crises.

Sustainable, affordable, healthy food for all
As leader of the Sustainable Food Processing research team at ETH Zurich, Alexander is looking for alternatives to animal based food and animal feed that are more sustainable, affordable, and nutritious. He takes a systems approach by looking at food production in the context of the entire value chain, considering social needs as well as environmental, economic, and social impacts.

This research has homed in on specific types of microalgae as promising sources of protein, and Alexander is now exploring more affordable ways of producing microalgae to help meet human food needs. He has also investigated the use of insects as a sustainable food for people and animals. Although the idea may now be unpalatable for many people, even bringing up feelings of disgust, insects are already part of the diet in many parts of the world, are high in protein, and can be grown more efficiently than traditional meat sources.

A meatless diet: the solution?
Alexander advocates for less animal protein in our diet. His research shows that this change in dietary habits can benefit the environment and social sustainability worldwide – hand-in-hand with ongoing efforts to make agricultural production more efficient through improvements in technology and policy.

Changing dietary habits may not mean the same thing everywhere. In regions such asseveral sub-Saharan Africa and South Asian regions, for example, it’s important to boost the intake of nutrient-rich foods in order to address essential nutrient deficiencies. But in North America and Europe, eating much less meat would be healthier for people and the planet. Changing dietary habits takes education, as well as lobbying to create favourable political conditions – to regulate environmentally harmful products, for example, while subsidising more environmentally friendly products.

Alexander believes that healthy and sustainable nutrition must not be a luxury.  

Joint land management pays off

Professor Emmanuel Frossard studied and taught agricultural science in France and Canada before becoming Professor of Plant Nutrition at ETH Zürich in 1994. One of the bigger and more complex research projects Emmanuel implemented in his long and distinguished career involves building a transdisciplinary network of partners in West Africa.

Science-practice collaborations
Through the network, YAMSYS, Emmanuel and his partners address yam supply problems in West Africa. Yam is one of the most important economic crops in the region. Aside from generating income, it also has enormous nutritional and cultural value. But growing this staple degrades the environment and drives deforestation. This is because most of the increase in production is due to using up more land for cultivation, not increasing yields. The problem comes down to the quality of soil: without healthy soils, farmers clear ever more land to boost production – but if yam is grown in good soil conditions, it is possible to increase average yields from 8-10 to 40-50 tons per hectare. As the strategy of deforesting more land reaches its limits, it becomes clearer that if land is not being managed in a sustainable way, then that land will not be able to feed a growing population.

Emmanuel is convinced that tackling the problem depends on combining scientific fieldwork and a close collaboration with partners on the ground. Science can propose the best solutions – but if nobody implements them, they are simply useless. He believes that to make such collaborations work, the key is to establish trust in research methods and collaborative networks.

Keeping soils fertile for yam production
Emmanuel and his large research team explored how soil can be kept fertile and restored to grow yam sustainably. The researchers put land management strategies to the test – sometimes in rough conditions – and local farmers challenged them by granting access to land of poor quality. This meant that to earn their trust, the researchers had to prove they could grow yam sustainably in unfavorable conditions. The simple fact of having produced yam successfully on that soil convinced the farmers to adopt several of the scientists’ proposals, such as fertilization rotations, using mineral fertilizers, and growing their crops alongside leguminous plants to increase the level of nitrogen in the soil.

In the course of this work, Emmanuel continued to grow a network of farmers, local and religious authorities, politicians and even police in West Africa, bringing them together through four a so-called ‘innovation platform’ where knowledge gained through this project could be shared and discussed.

Progress needs time and diverse partners
The approach developed by YAMSYS has now been adopted by government-funded research and development programmes in Côte d’Ivoire, the United States, France, and Germany, among others. In another sign of its impact, one of the students who worked with YAMSYS has become minister of agriculture in Burkina Faso. Being recognised by West African countries and beyond is a huge recognition of what Emmanuel and his research partners have achieved.

Safe sanitation for a healthy life

Building toilets in Mexico was Professor Elizabeth Tilley’s first job after graduating with a degree in environmental engineering from the University of Waterloo in her native Canada. Having grown up in a small town, Elizabeth is driven by the motivation to make sure that people across the globe have access to the same standard of services and the pristine nature she was privileged to experience. 

Elizabeth believes it is inhumane and an injustice that people are exposed to toxic environments, and lack access to clean sanitation and safe water services. Equipped with both the skills and a determination to address these challenges, she set out to find viable solutions.  

Access to sanitation a path to achieving full potential 
In her research at ETH Zurich, Elizabeth focuses on how to keep people healthy by limiting their exposure to environmental pollutants and microorganisms that can cause disease.  

Simple technologies are available which can be deployed to improve the quality of the environment. The question is how these technologies can be made financially feasible and politically attractive.  

Europe was built on safe sanitation. The rest of the world won’t achieve its full potential without it. Today, most people still lack access to ecosystem services such as clean water, clean air and healthy soils. 

Resources to ensure a healthy environment 
Zurich is one of the healthiest places on Earth. It enjoys clean water, sound waste management, and fresh mountain air. Living conditions of the standard we can experience in Zurich are possible because of the availability of resources, good governance, and engaged citizens. It costs a lot of money and collective effort to keep a city and the surrounding environment clean. So next time you might be tempted to complain about your taxes, take a moment to acknowledge the common good you have contributed to through public services and education! 

Elizabeth’s vision of a sustainable future relies on much more than using technology or conserving water: it includes an effort to attract all types of disciplines and expertise to the field of global health. This extends to ensuring that data and information are available for researchers and practitioners globally – not hidden behind a paywall.

Practising medicine at the nano-scale

It was a profound moment for Professor Simone Schürle when she first discovered the world through the lens of a microscope. Deeply fascinated by physics and mathematics, she eventually began to explore the realms of nanotechnology.

This opened entirely new dimensions to her work w​​hich explores the unique physical forces that dominate our world at the nano-scale. Simone’s vision is to develop micro-nano-scale robots capable of carrying out precise functions within the human body. The purpose: diagnostics and targeted drug delivery.

Micro-robots that navigate the body
In her research, Simone develops and controls microrobots designed specifically for biomedical applications. These are tiny devices, such as microspheres which can be administered to the body and controlled remotely. After they are administered through a vein for example, they can navigate through the body to detect diseases or deliver drugs more specifically to affected sites, such as tumours. These microrobots can also enable scientists to get a deeper understanding of how the body works on a cellular level.

Simone’s goal is to help advance medicine and healthcare by developing methods that improve current standards in diagnosis. Earlier and more precise detection of disease offers the best chance of successful treatment. Furthermore, directing drugs in a more targeted fashion to affected areas can minimise the required dosage and reduce the systemic burden, paving the way for numerous medications that hold immense potential for patients, but can be only administered in limited tolerable dosages.

Healthy habits for a strong body
Simone is driven by a personal commitment to promoting healthy nutrition and physical activity. She stresses how important it is to make conscious health choices in our everyday lives and to integrate healthy practices into our daily routines. Not least because taking care of our bodies means we are likely to be better prepared to cope with illness.

Looking out for meaningful progress in digital health

Professor Effy Vayena is fascinated by controversies sparked by the development and use of medical technologies. After studying history in Greece, she developed a passion for bioethics and health policy, subjects she then studied in the UK, USA and Switzerland. What inspires her work is that, although science and technology are rightly credited for so much of our progress, they also pose ethical challenges. They often challenge social norms and they elicit a strong social response. She is driven by a desire to better understand the nature of these interactions between science, technology and society, and her work focuses on developing approaches and frameworks that would allow the development and deployment of technology that is beneficial to society as a whole.

Responsible technology in healthcare
Effy identifies and explores ethical questions that arise from the development and application of technologies in health and healthcare. Alongside the opportunities to benefit society, they challenge many social values, such as our autonomy and justice. Technologies today are developing at a fast pace, allowing little time to weigh the risks before adopting them. Effy aims to develop ways of thinking about risks and benefits in digital health technology and proposes governance approaches that will enable digital health technology to be developed and deployed responsibly and for the benefit of all people.

Remain vigilant and engaged
Effy believes that as society becomes ever more technology dependent, there is an ever greater need to ensure that technology is developed and deployed responsibly. Technology affects everyone: we are all recipients of its benefits and potential risks. Effy urges each of us to remain vigilant and engaged with how our technology is developed and why we use it. Ultimately, we all have the power to steer things in the right direction by taking part in relevant debates, adopting a critical attitude, doing our best to cut through the hype, and taking responsibility for our own use of these technologies.

A space to innovate

The ETH Student Project House is a learning space that offers a dynamic environment where students can actively pursue their passions, nurture their own ideas, and embrace complete ownership of relevant extracurricular endeavours.

From theory to practice
All students from ETH Zurich who are working towards their Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees have access to this space. It enables them to transform ideas into concepts, and from there into tangible projects as part of a comprehensive innovation journey. It begins by identifying a meaningful topic close to their hearts. The students then cultivate solutions to address the problem, and work through a rapid cycle of prototyping, testing, and refining their ideas based on user input.

In the process, they gain invaluable experience in collaborative teamwork, decision-making, learning from setbacks, exploring cutting-edge technologies – and, above all, fostering the confidence to embrace the innovation journey wholeheartedly.

At the very moment, the Student Project House supports more than 300 active projects, whereas this number grows exponentially. Around 70% of these projects focus on topics related to sustainability across its social, economic and environmental dimensions. The space is designed to foster a mindset geared towards creating, innovating and leading impactful change.

Learning from mistakes
Setbacks are part of the creative process. The SPH offers a safe space for young bright minds at ETH to make mistakes – and learn from them swiftly. It instills the idea that it is much better to learn from failures rather than to strive to avoid mistakes at all costs. It also encourages students to be more confident as they work to realise their ideas, to explore their entrepreneurial potential and, most importantly, to follow their passions.

Students step up on carbon removal

Circular Horizon is a student organisation developing a more efficient and scalable carbon removal technology. The team includes Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degree students who invest their time and talents to support their cause.

Joining forces for positive impact
Circular Horizon’s vision is to create a world where everyone has access to the knowledge, resources, and power to take meaningful action on climate change. It strives to educate and empower individuals, communities, and organisations to take action both at the local and global levels. The student members believe that each one of us can make a positive impact on the planet and ensure a healthy and sustainable future for all.

Circular Horizon focuses on three key areas of work: promoting a scalable solution for carbon removal, fostering education and research initiatives, and investing in community-building events. The significance of their research-based work lies in its relevance to society, as everyone is now experiencing the impacts of climate change. By improving on methods to actively extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the organisation can also make a valuable contribution towards mitigating climate change, which in turn lowers the risk of extreme weather events, sea level rise, and instability in ecosystems and human societies.

Calling for climate action
Circular Horizon motivates individuals to support initiatives focused on carbon removal and climate action. We can all actively engage in sustainable practices in our daily lives, for example to reduce our carbon footprint by choosing energy efficient devices, practising conscious consumption and advocating for environmentally friendly policies. The organisation believes firmly that by coming together as a community, citizens can drive positive change and create a more sustainable world.

Driven to build high-tech transport

Swissloop is a student-led initiative contributing to research and advancement of Hyperloop high-speed transport technology. Driven by a mission to raise public awareness of Hyperloop's impact on future transport and mobility, they design and build each year a new high-tech transport capsule or ‘pod’ to increase its performance.

The Hyperloop concept
Popularised in a 2013 report by Elon Musk and others at Tesla and SpaceX, the Hyperloop concept lays out a vision of travel through low-air pressure tubes. Swissloop's latest Pod, "Bertrand Piccard'', accelerates using a linear switched reluctance motor (1.6g), levitates and guides itself with electromagnetic suspension while virtually moving through an environment of no air resistance in vacuum-sealed tubes above or below the ground. This innovative approach promises better and more sustainable long-distance travel by combining the advantages of modern railways and air travel. It is expected to reach speeds of up to 1,200 km per /hour – faster than average airplane speeds – and improve energy efficiency, while operating quietly and with more autonomy than existing systems.

The project empowers students to commit to a cause and a specific project each year. Through an ETH-wide programme called Fokus, they have the opportunity to work at any time of the day or week on the chosen projects alongside their peers. This hands-on experience allows them to delve into engineering, development and innovation, fostering a profound sense of dedication to their work.

Room for growth
The student-led initiative Swissloop is a ‘think and do-tank’. The project teams aim not only to develop advanced pods, but also their own high-speed transport systems. The initiative has seen its students grow immensely by working together through occasional setbacks to reach important milestones and achieve success. This collaborative process encourages them to believe in, and be hopeful for, a better future.

Even though today’s challenges can seem overwhelming, the members of Swissloop firmly believe in their problem-solving abilities, in keeping spirits high to pursue promising projects, and in the power of human adaptability.

Swissloop recently competed at the European Hyperloop Week 2023. Swissloop won five awards, including the prestigious “Complete Systems Award”. Next year’s edition will take place in Zurich.

Problems solved through collective intelligence

In 2020, Marlene Mader and Professor Christian Pohl from the ETH Transdisciplinary Lab (TdLab) won the ETH Kite Award with their innovative course ‘Environmental Problem Solving’. Each year, through the course they take around 120 new Bachelor’s degree students of Environmental Systems Science on a journey in problem-focused and project-based learning.

Design and systems thinking at its best
Over two semesters, the students learn to work on environmental problems based on a concrete case-study. In 2022/23, for example, the focus was on the net zero climate goal of the city of Zurich. Supervised by Marlene and Christian with a team of lecturers, tutors and practitioners, the students work step by step from an initial analysis of the challenge all the way through to the practical implementation of measures designed to address it.

Collective intelligence
The transdisciplinary teaching team working with Marlene and Christian is convinced that a holistic view of the topic is crucial – as is the process of developing feasible measures in collaboration with partners. This is possible only by integrating diverse perspectives, practical expertise and local knowledge.

It’s a process that relies on teamwork. In addition to working on the environmental problem at hand, the students learn how to cooperate effectively, using journals among other methods that encourage reflection.

Those who are keen to implement the solutions they developed during the two semesters can continue their work with a pilot project in an optional third semester. The focus of the pilot is usually to scope out funding options, obtain permits, clarify intellectual property rights, and deepen the collaboration with partners involved in executing the project.

Entrepreneurial ecosystem
ETH Zurich offers an innovation ecosystem for this type of solution-oriented learning and early entrepreneurial work, which provides a fertile breeding ground for high-quality education to solve the social sustainability challenges of our time.

Learning for a better future

By educating a qualified workforce, ETH Zurich makes a significant contribution to the economy and society. It counted exactly 5765 graduates in 2022: approximately 2,000 Bachelor's, 2,500 Master's and 1,000 Doctoral students, as well as around 300 graduates of teacher education and continuing education programmes. ETH Zurich trains its students to become independent and creative thinkers who take responsibility as active members of society and help shape the future. This empowers them to identify problems and find solutions in a complex world.

Learning how to code with a smartphone

Dr. George Jojo Boateng is a highly recognised computer scientist, engineer, educator, and social entrepreneur. He is also the CEO and Cofounder of Kwame AI Inc., an AI start-up enabling learners and knowledge workers such as educators and lawyers to improve their outcomes and productivity.

Lack of access to computers
During their annual innovation bootcamp in Ghana, George and his co-founder found that only 25% of their students had laptops, but all of them owned smartphones. This led them to create a groundbreaking coding course, which equipped Ghanaian students with the skills to build pong games on their phones and even code during their commutes. Inspired by this success, in 2018 they launched ‘SuaCode’, an online programme designed to teach coding using smartphones to millions of African students.

Gaining 21st-century skills in Africa
Africa has the world's largest and youngest workforce: nearly 60% of the population is under 25 years of age. But youth unemployment remains a significant challenge, affecting around 16 million young Africans or 13.4% of 15-24-year-olds. The problem stems from limited access to education that meets modern job-market demands. Most African youths lack vital 21st-century skills such as digital literacy, and only a fraction graduate with basic coding skills. Although smartphones are prevalent, access to computers for learning remains low. Exploiting the smartphone boom can offer a solution by teaching coding skills to millions, empowering Africa's youth for a brighter future.

George believes that challenges bring opportunities for innovation. His research has shown that smartphones can serve as an effective and accessible platform for introducing coding skills to African communities. This paves the way for promoting coding education in low-resource areas worldwide.

Building equity into the food system

Professor Johanna Jacobi has family roots in Bolivia and Germany. She has worked and lived in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and India. She believes deeply in participatory processes and how they can be used to design sustainable, fair farming methods and food systems based on different types of knowledge. Johanna analyses how imbalances in political and market power drive the global food system to a crisis point.

Exposing unequal power relationships
Her work traces the main causes of that crisis back to power relationships that are multi-dimensional and increasingly off-balance. At its core, this is about unequal participation in decision-making processes between groups working within the food system which may differ in gender, age, and culture. To address this, where possible Johanna focuses on gender roles and cultural issues in her agroecological research.

Together with her research group at ETH Zurich and international partners, Johanna makes connections between various aspects of the food system visible. Concerned by the discord she sees between human activity and the rest of life on our planet, she strives to reveal contradictions as well as alternatives that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Cooperatives and deliberation
In Brazil and Kenya, Johanna and her research partners were able to show, for instance, how the production of cheese and other dairy products can become fairer and more democratic, and how it can generate income for artisanal producers, mostly women. Through participatory action research and collaborative partnerships with local NGOs, they helped establish cooperatives that allow small-scale dairy farmers to market their products to customers directly, reducing their dependence on intermediaries.

Johanna has in her toolbox a powerful lever and a "partial antidote" to unequal power relations: deliberation, which is the citizens’ political conversation, collective decision-making, and participation in political processes. Her systemic agroecological research – which gives equal value to social and cultural dimensions alongside ecological and economic ones – shows that when local women and men build their food systems together, there is greater security, sustainability, and equity in the system.

Promoting equality within ETH Zürich

ETH Zurich’s diversity team is multidisciplinary: Dr. Raphaela Hettlage and her colleagues combine competences from the humanities and social sciences, covering a range of fields from history to psychology, sociology, ethnology, political science, and gender studies. They are passionate and motivated to contribute to a more equitable world.

How does ETH Zürich work for gender equality?
ETH Diversity is the university’s internal office responsible for promoting equity within the ETH Zurich community. It does this by contributing ideas, responding to relevant inquiries, and exploring opportunities to implement measures that further this goal. The office advises ETH Zurich’s executive board on policies surrounding equity, diversity, and inclusion, as well as activities that can foster a cultural shift in order to encourage the ETH community to value equal opportunity for all. As part of this work, ETH Diversity helps to break down barriers that keep certain groups from succeeding in academia. This matters because any society, organisation, or scientific endeavour that adheres to the principles of equal opportunities is not only more just, but can also leverage academic talent more effectively.

The work of ETH Diversity contributes to several SDGs. It aims for inclusive and equitable quality education (SDG 4); promotes gender equality within academia (SDG 5); reduces inequalities within the academic world (SDG 10); and fosters an accountable and inclusive environment at ETH Zurich (SDG 16). The office contributes towards reaching other global goals indirectly, by nurturing good-quality education and working conditions that create space for SDG-relevant research .

Supporting diversity is not only a question of justice: research shows that it leads to better education and better research, with tangible benefits for academia and the society.

Making wastewater history

Dr. Fajer Mushtaq, co-founder of the ETH spin-off Oxyle, wants to make an impact on the most precious resource on earth: water.

Fajer grew up in Kashmir, in North India, one of the few places in the country where water is so clean that one can drink it straight from the tap. When she moved to New Delhi, where she spent most of her teenage years, the childhood connection to natural resources was lost: having access to clean water resources, and even clean air, was no longer guaranteed. She suddenly found herself in a place where water needed to be rationed.

During her PhD studies at ETH Zurich, Fajer experienced how water was used and treated in a research environment. Usually, wastewater is burned at high temperatures and micropollutants are released into the water. These chemicals affect not just the environment near the waste site but also farther afield, sometimes travelling hundreds or thousands of miles away from the source. Once in the environment, some of these chemicals are extremely difficult to remove.

Removing micropollutants from wastewater
Through Oxyle, Fajer and her colleagues have developed a universal treatment for removing micropollutants from water. The technology offers complete removal and real-time monitoring of a wide range of micropollutants in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. Pollutants are eliminated as means of destruction, instead of going through a secondary treatment phase such as filtration, which is a part of the usual water purification cycle.

Oxyle also helps companies become more socially and environmentally responsible. It does this through consultation on how to go beyond the bare minimum of corporate responsibility, empowering them with good technological solutions to go the extra mile.

Changing how water is treated
Oxyle is a team of passionate, bold water entrepreneurs. They believe the water treatment system needs an overhaul, and that every one of us need s to change how we look at water. Guided by the spirit of entrepreneurship they see immense value in treating wastewater efficiently, and turning it into fresh water that can be reused. Wastewater isn’t waste.

How to manage water

Professor Paolo Burlando became fascinated with water as a young student in Civil Engineering. He understood how vital water is for all human activities – while it’s essential to sustain life on Earth, water also powers agriculture, energy production, industrial activity, and environmental conservation. He also understood how overexploitation and pollution put water resources at risk. Having too much or not enough water can also have dramatic impacts through floods and droughts.

Managing water resources
Paolo’s research explores water in all its forms, particularly surface waters in river basins. Part of that work involves tracing how a drop of rainfall gets transformed into river flow, following its journey as it crosses various layers of land, vegetation and soils. A better understanding of this journey enables scientists to assess how much water is available for a broad range of human uses, and to protect the environment. In turn, this enables societies to plan, design and implement policies and infrastructures that help manage this invaluable resource more sustainably.

Paolo’s more specific objectives are to understand how extreme events such as floods and droughts can be predicted, and how their impact can be mitigated. A trained engineer, he also tackles the question of what it means to ensure water availability for all human and environmental uses, especially in cases of competition over the limited resource.

Better management of water resources means that this precious resource can be better conserved for the benefit of all its users, future generations included. Paolo’s research makes a crucial contribution to adaptation strategies needed to cope with the effects of climate change.

Water and climate are connected
Paolo believes that a sustainable future is one where everyone has learnt to respect natural resources, and societies have changed how they function to reduce overexploitation of those resources. Building on the many brilliant successes we see around the world today, science and technology are ready to support efforts to achieve this goal.

The tech that cleans up our water

During his undergraduate studies, Professor Eberhard Morgenroth did an internship at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa, which got him hooked on urban water management. Most places on Earth experience severe water problems, and this makes research on the topic extremely important: Eberhard sees it not as a luxury, but a necessity for solving real-world problems.

Developing technologies for water treatment
He is developing technology to improve how water is treated, removing contaminants produced by human activities which can harm health and the environment. This technology may be located in large wastewater treatment plants in developed countries – or it may take the form of stand-alone handwashing stations in informal settlements without a connection to piped water infrastructure, a sanitation system, or the energy grid.

Through his work Eberhard aims to provide safe sanitation and hygiene, as well as dignity for people globally. He also aims to increase the availability of water in regions with water scarcity.

Inspiring science
By showcasing the benefits that can be achieved through scientific advancements, Eberhard hopes to inspire others to support research and development that can help make the world a better place.

He believes people have many opportunities to contribute to the SDGs. Each person can make a difference – whether through supporting scientific research, living more sustainably, or actively participating in initiatives that promote positive change.  

More efficient electric devices

Professor Ulrike Grossner's research is rooted in her childhood fascination with the purity and sustainability of water. Physics became her gateway to understanding the laws governing the natural world. Seeking to bridge abstract concepts with real-world scenarios, she delved into solid-state physics, working with materials composed of countless atoms.

This journey led Ulrike to the area of semiconductors – materials which act both as conductors and insulators. Semiconductors also make it possible to regulate and modulate electric power. She was captivated by the process of designing and manufacturing these materials to construct various devices like detectors and light-emitting diodes.

Understanding semiconductors
Ulrike and her research group focus on understanding semiconducting materials, both in terms of their fundamental properties and practical applications. On the one hand, they seek to learn about the composition and potential defects of these materials – and on the other, they strive to bridge the gap between this understanding of the material and its applications, particularly in the field of power electronics.

Take the example of charging your laptop. To do that effectively, it is crucial to ensure that semiconductor switches used to convert power can also withstand high voltages on electricity transmission lines. The research group delves into the functionality of these devices, identifies key failure mechanisms that may arise in the material, and investigates how these failures can impact the performance and reliability of the devices during normal operation.

Efficient adapters and the future of mobility
It’s vital that electrical power is transferred from the grid to our appliances efficiently. Ulrike recommends investing in high-efficiency adapters for devices like laptops and mobile phone chargers. Anyone can make this simple change, and the benefits can be enormous. One of her studies shows that if older chargers were replaced with more efficient ones years ago, the energy saved would have been equivalent to shutting down up to three nuclear power plants*.

​​​​​The ability to connect and communicate with people worldwide is one of the greatest technological advancements in recent decades. ​​In addition to telecommunications, many of us still rely on transport. Ulrike’s vision is for a future with clean and efficient mobility, where environmentally friendly practices are prioritised. She believes we must all strike a balance between preserving the benefits of travel and minimising its environmental impact.

Speeding up the energy transition

Professor Tobias Schmidt was always drawn by energy, an issue at the heart of societal challenges including climate change, economic development and health. An interdisciplinary researcher, his work builds on expertise in electrical engineering and the social sciences. 

Having spent time in developing countries on several occasions, Tobias experienced first-hand what it means to live without electricity in poorer parts of the world. More than 600 million people lack access to electricity and clean cooking fuels, and this limits their development opportunities. 

Removing obstacles to the energy transition 
Tobias and his research group analyse how public policy can accelerate the transition to more sustainable energy systems. In developed countries, this means replacing technologies that emit carbon dioxide with technologies that do not. In low-income countries, ​​it means enabling access to modern, renewable sources of energy, such as solar-powered electricity. His research provides policy-makers at national and international levels with recommendations on how to accelerate the transition to clean and affordable energy technologies. 

The energy transition is a key lever to mitigate climate change and enable sustainable development. But many obstacles stand in the way, be it technical, economic, societal or political. Tobias and his group aim to identify policy designs that can help remove these obstacles in an effort to accelerate the transition. 

Looking ahead, Tobias aims to broaden the scope of his research to include sectors where technologies for decarbonisation are less advanced, such as the freight and food industries. He is also actively thinking about what role the energy transition can play in creating new opportunities for developing countries to participate in energy and materials supply chains. 

Energy policy 
The good news is that many clean energy technologies are not only available, they are also becoming more affordable. To further accelerate the transition, public policy can play a key role to overcome the multiple obstacles that stand in the way. Economic policies and social actions need to be coherent and consistent.

How to power the energy transition

First attracted by energy science during his studies, Dr. Gianfranco Guidati went on to work for a power plant manufacturer as an engineer for gas turbines after graduation. In the 1990s wind turbines looked like toys and photovoltaics was so costly it could only be used on satellites. Fast forward to today, and it’s precisely these same technologies that generate the most affordable electricity.

Networked thinking
The energy transition cannot be achieved by changing single components or technologies – the entire system needs to be redesigned. Gianfranco is convinced that engineers now have to think in terms of systems because, more so than in the world of non-renewable resources, all components of clean energy interact with each other in a complex way.

Gianfranco and his team aim to understand which technologies and systems are best used to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and reach the net zero target. These can be energy-generation technologies such as photovoltaics, wind power, and geothermal energy; they can be storage technologies for heat, electricity and gases; or they can be end-use technologies, such as heat pumps and electric vehicles. Gianfranco uses mathematical models to describe an energy system and then makes small changes – removing a technology, for example – to observe how the system reacts and how its various components interact.

From model to action
Based on these models, the researchers glean insights that lead to practical recommendations, helping policymakers and public administrators with preparing new legislation and incentives to promote the energy transition. Gianfranco and his colleagues identify which technologies should be developed, tested, and deployed to support the energy transition. To make their research findings more accessible, they went as far as to develop an augmented reality visualization of the present and future energy system, which is now displayed in the Swiss Museum of Transport.

Gianfranco is convinced that every contribution we make towards the energy transition, no matter how small, is valuable. This could be anything from eating less meat and flying less to using public transport or the bicycle more often, replacing oil or gas heating with a heat pump, and choosing to work in the field of renewable energies.

Fighting for better farm labour

Professor Eva-Marie Meemken’s academic work in agricultural sciences and economics has taken her to Germany, Mexico, the United States and Denmark. Through time spent on Canadian, Spanish and German farms, and in development collaboration projects in Bangladesh and Peru, she gained valuable practical experience.

​​Eva-Marie has always been interested in the origins of the food we consume, and the social conditions under which it is produced. In search of ways to promote more decent work in the agricultural sector, she launched a project with a focus on Fairtrade certification. This research took her to Uganda, where she conducted focus group discussions and a large survey with smallholder coffee farmers. In East Africa, it is not unusual for farmers to ​​​​​​​​use prisoners as free labour on their farms. Fairtrade rules prohibit that practice, but Eva-Marie couldn’t help but wonder: if I were a convict, would I prefer spending my days in a prison cell or working hard on a ​farm?​​

She also understood that, beyond this specific practice, the challenge of decent farm labour is a crucial but overlooked topic. Hired farm workers often face precarious working conditions, in both higher- and lower-income countries, and have the least power of any participant in global food supply chains.

Collecting data on wage labour in the agricultural sector is far from straight-forward. It involves finding and interviewing workers, who are often seasonal migrants. The work is often difficult, and it can be risky. But Eva-Marie and her group took on the challenge.

Research for better working conditions
Her research group focuses on two main questions related to farm labour. One question asks how policy and technology can help to improve working conditions in agriculture, food processing, and food services. How labour shortages can be addressed is the second question.

Labour shortages are common in many countries all over the world. But the reasons, impacts, and measures that can be taken to address them remain poorly understood. Today, Eva-Marie’s research group focuses on case-studies from Nigeria, Myanmar, Ghana, and Switzerland, using large surveys to collect data from both workers and their employers such as farms or agrifood companies.

Progress through policy and technology
Although much still needs to be done to improve precarious working conditions in the agrifood sector, the fact remains that this is a sector which employs many low-skilled workers from lower-income nations, either at home or abroad. These employment opportunities are crucial, especially in countries with high rates of unemployment and underemployment.

The future of better work

Professor Gudela Grote’s fascination with work and organisational psychology stems from a simple but powerful observation: that work is crucial to well-being. It follows that designing better work is necessary to help people lead a better life. Gudela is also intrigued by how work connects to people's identity and skills development. Her research dives deep into individuals’ work practices, probing how and why people succeed beyond simply completing tasks.

How can working conditions be improved?
The overall goal of Gudela’s research group is to improve working conditions in ways that allow people to do their work well, to learn, and to develop their personal capacities in the process. At its most basic, the aim is to earn a living in working environments that promote well-being, and at the very least cause no harm.

The group pursues three main research strands. One is a biennial survey on working conditions in Switzerland, which serves as a basis for company and policy decisions to improve conditions. The second strand is made up of several projects on how AI-based technology, and new technology more generally, is changing the nature of work. This includes analysis of ​​​​​​how​ to foster​ effective integration of technology into work early on in the ​adoption process​. ​The group puts​ a special emphasis on aligning accountability for work outcomes ​with​ control over how these work outcomes are produced ​using ​the technologies. In the third strand, the team investigates how individuals and organisations manage uncertainty in work-related processes, whether through designing new rules, encouraging employees to speak up, or advocating organisational change.

At the centre of what they do is the drive to create decent work for all, and to link good working conditions with economic effectiveness. Gudela and her team are convinced that people will be more motivated and productive if they are respected at work, have opportunities to learn and develop, or have a degree of autonomy.

Are you happy with your working conditions?
Gudela advocates for decision makers in organisations or government to reflect on working conditions and how they might be improved. This requires them to better understand the link between working conditions and economic effectiveness.

In her vision of the future, technology will be used in ways that make work better, rather than boosting productivity. This could mean reducing work hours for all, enhancing well-being and personal development through decent working conditions, or providing access to formal and informal learning as a basis for sustainable employment.

Greening international trade

In his research and teaching, Professor Thomas Bernauer focuses on how global environmental problems emerge, and how they could be solved. He is particularly interested in how to design policies that are effective in terms of solving environmental problems, but also politically feasible in light of the specific interests of citizens, consumers, businesses and political groups.

Thomas received his education in political science in Zurich, Geneva, and in Boston, USA. He worked for the United Nations for several years and has been a professor at ETH Zurich since 1995.

International trade and environmental protection: a contradiction in terms?
One key area of his research is the relationship between international trade and environmental protection. Economic globalisation, and international trade in particular, is both a blessing and a curse. Most people are deeply conflicted about it: we love its benefits as consumers and travellers, and it has helped countries like Switzerland to prosper– but we also worry about how globalization is changing our societies, including shifts in cultural identity or economic and environmental risks.

People in rich countries like Switzerland consume a huge amount of imported goods whose production causes environmental damage abroad, and this is the most important environmental challenge associated with international trade. Those goods might include minerals extracted with mining operations that harm the surrounding environment, or foods like palm oil that may be produced unsustainably. In fact, as much as 80% of the total environmental impact of consumption by Swiss citizens takes place outside the country’s borders. This means that, in ecological terms, we live at the expense of other countries.

Thomas’ research examines this phenomenon, probing how international trade contributes to the shift in environmental impacts through global supply chains. It also looks more specifically at who offloads those impacts onto whom, investigating how countries impose environmental damage on each other through their consumption and trade patterns, and what could be done about it. For example, his group has studied how to design international trade agreements, and sustainability rules for global supply chains, so they are both environmentally effective and acceptable to consumers.

How to reduce our consumption footprint on a large scale
The global environmental footprint of local consumption shows that it is not enough to meet environmental quality goals only within rich countries. If we fail to take drastic action to reduce that footprint, and if poorer countries increase their consumption as well, the world will soon cross the planetary boundaries that mark a safe operating space for humanity. This means that, while the important work of greening domestic economies continues, international trade and supply chain policies need to be redesigned too, so as to sharply reduce imports of goods whose production causes enormous environmental damage abroad.  

Urban transport, reimagined

Trained as a civil engineer, Professor Kay W. Axhausen has become an expert in urban engineering. Maps and urban plans mean more to him than the physical features they represent: they display cities as complex systems. By taking into account the social, technical, and environmental dimensions of cities, urban planners like Kay strive to foster community engagement, to ensure efficient management of infrastructure, and to promote sustainability.

e-bike city
Kay and his group are dedicated to decoding and forecasting travel behaviour. They do this by systematically measuring, simulating, and integrating valuable insights and data into a comprehensive, large-scale model. The current focus of this work is to explore the potential for creating ‘e-bike cities’ by reimagining existing infrastructure for bikes, walking paths or other public transport services. Part of this research involves examining the benefits and other implications of making such a dramatic shift in how the urban transport system is organised, in an effort to assess the feasibility and viability of sustainable transport taking centre stage within cities.

Their research and simulations aim to build scenarios that urban planners, policymakers, and others can use to shed light on the potential advantages and challenges associated with transitioning towards e-bike cities. Ultimately, by exploring ways to promote sustainable transport, reduce carbon emissions, and improve urban livability, their work contributes to shaping a greener and more sustainable future for urban environments worldwide.

New transport systems
Kay calls on policymakers to embrace an exploration of new ways to configure transport systems. He is convinced that, given the transport sector's significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, new ideas and positive visions are needed to drive public discussions and gain voter support. Reducing the sector’s emissions will take innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and highlighting the broader benefits of sustainable transport. At the same time, to ensure that the energy transition is fair and just, social equity and a range of stakeholders need to be part of the conversation.

Housing that doesn’t cost the planet

The ETH spin-off company Oxara was co-founded by Gnanli Landrou, who comes from Togo, and Thibault Demoulin, who comes from France. Both have an academic background in materials science.

Growing up in West Africa, Gnanli was involved actively in the construction of earth houses, and this helped to shape his perspective on material use. This type of construction is also common in Thibault’s native region of Brittany, which has a tradition of earth-built housing.

Through their experiences and conversations, Gnanli and Thibault discovered a common fascination for earthen materials. Their individual encounters with earth-based construction in different locations converged into a shared appreciation for the unique qualities and potential of sustainable building approaches.

Enabling sustainable construction and affordable housing
According to UN Habitat, 3 billion people will lack access to decent, sustainable, and affordable housing by 2050. But building enough housing comes at a cost for the planet. Conventional building materials such as cement, concrete and bricks are responsible for 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions, and account for one third of global waste.

Oxara aims to upcycle construction waste such as excavation material and demolition waste into sustainable and affordable building products. It does so by offering a range of specialised admixtures & binders, which enable the company to make use of existing infrastructure and processes to promote fast adoption of new technology on a large scale.

The products made by Oxara can cut the carbon footprint of building materials. Upcycling of waste material also reduces the need for intensive mining. Ultimately, the company makes it possible to build more sustainable and affordable homes.

Public awareness for sustainable construction and circularity
Oxara encourages real estate developers, building owners, builders and material producers to commit to making future homes as sustainable as possible. They can do this by using less or no cement at all, using clay-based and bio-based resources, and upcycling as much waste material as possible to promote circularity.

For now, Oxara operates mostly in Switzerland. But the goal is to demonstrate that their approach also works in other parts of the world. Work is now underway to prove the efficiency of their product in a number of countries including India, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

Choosing what’s best for the environment

In the early days of her life as a university student, Professor Stefanie Hellweg made sure to attend all courses related to environmental technologies that were available at the time. The passion for environmental issues evolved into an interest in the field of Life Cycle Assessment during her doctoral studies. At that stage, she became attracted to the idea of adopting a systems approach to materials recycling, and carrying out comprehensive assessments of technologies or products across their life cycle, ‘from cradle to grave’. This approach allows for effective decision-making to identify the best environmental solutions to a given problem. 

Measuring environmental impact 
Stefanie and her research group develop and apply methods that support decisions on sustainable production and consumption. They aim to understand how greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption affect the environment, and can quantify the impact of products, processes as well as new technologies. Their work now focuses on the circular economy, specifically the study of the benefits and impacts of material life cycles. 

Climate change and biodiversity loss are the biggest threats of our time. Stefanie and her group identify levers of change that can contribute to mitigating and reducing these problems. When they assess and compare different material alternatives, for example, they are able to identify the most environmentally friendly options. As the built infrastructure is a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions, the team is investigating how urban design, buildings and other infrastructure can be improved to lower impacts on the climate. 

Conscious consumption choices 
Stefanie believes it is crucial that societies and economies undergo a profound transformation in how they approach production and consumption, if the world is to address the pressing climate and biodiversity crises effectively. 

As consumers, each one of us has the power to make a positive impact by adopting a more conscious approach to our consumption choices. By being mindful of the environmental and social implications of our actions, we can do our part to address the challenges at hand. This means avoiding unnecessary consumption with a high environmental impact, and embracing more sustainable alternatives. 

Equal opportunities to reach our full potential

Dr. Isabel Martinez grew up in the suburbs of Bern, Switzerland, to a Swiss mother and Spanish father. Her father experienced the open racism some people showed towards guest workers and immigrants. Her mother was a part-time working mother in the 1980s, an exception rather than the norm at the time.

Isabel was raised in a family that was very much interested and involved in politics. She realised early on that at the end of the day, most topics evolved around inequalities and distribution.

Income and wealth distribution as determinants of inequality
Isabel works in two different, but related research areas. In her work on income and wealth inequality, she studies how much wealth the richest people in Switzerland own. The long-run evolution of income and wealth and their distributions help uncover determinants of inequality. In her work on taxation, she deals with questions relating to taxation changes. This helps develop optimal tax systems, where efficiency and equity concerns are both addressed.

Research on inequality allows people to discuss policy proposals based on facts rather than assumptions about the distribution of wealth. Similarly, understanding how people respond to different taxes allows us to close loopholes and design better tax systems.

Inequality as an opportunity
Inequality, especially wealth inequality, has been increasing in Switzerland since the 1990s. Economics does not give an answer as to how much inequality we should aim for or how much inequality is too much. These are questions that society will have to discuss and address over and over again. How much redistribution between the rich and the poor we want remains a political and philosophical question that society needs to find an answer to with the help of democratic decision-making.

A core principle of modern, democratic societies is that everyone should be able to reach their full potential in life, irrespective of their upbringing, their wealth, their gender, origin, or skin color. We will have to focus more on inequalities in opportunity rather than just looking at inequalities in outcomes.

An inclusive design competition

CYBATHLON is a platform that challenges teams from all over the world to develop assistive technologies suitable for everyday use, with and for people with disabilities. It was conceived by Prof. Robert Riener, who had the idea to bring together researchers, developers and end-users – people with disabilities – to solve everyday tasks. CYBATHLON was founded in 2013 as a non-profit project in the Sensory-Motor Systems Lab at ETH Zurich.

The founders believed that a competition would be the best way to accelerate inclusive design, and to create awareness as to why research and development for the benefit of people with disabilities is important for society.

Challenging teams to develop assistive technologies
The driving force behind CYBATHLON are international competitions. In these events, teams made up of technology developers from universities, companies or NGOs, and a person with disabilities, tackle various everyday tasks with the latest assistive technologies they have developed.

Observed and cheered on by thousands of spectators in a stadium – and now broadcast live or replicated in events around the world – the development teams have raised awareness about obstacles that people with disabilities face in their everyday lives, and how technology can contribute to overcoming these barriers.

The opportunity to take part in a competition is very important for participating teams. It helps them to test their new products in a safe environment, and so improve the design by addressing any weaknesses before they become available on the market.

Reducing inequality is about raising awareness
Consider this scenario: a community meeting is held on the first floor of a local building, and walking up the stairs is the only option to access it. As a result, a person in a wheelchair cannot participate in local politics that affect them. This is simply unjust. New assistive technologies can ensure social inclusion for people with disabilities.

Inclusion can only be achieved if each of us is willing to participate in the process of making public infrastructure accessible to everyone. It is important that inclusion is discussed, and no longer is a stigma. CYBATHLON believes that sharing the stories of people with disabilities paves the way for greater diversity in society. Diversity means discovering and respecting differences between people, as well as other ways of life and points of view.

A global database to untangle social conflict

This is a research team that uses computer models to develop theories of global politics, showing how nation states develop and dissolve. Professor Lars-Erik Cederman is a political scientist and has been Professor of International Conflict Research at ETH Zurich since 2003. Luc Girardin is a computer and data scientist with a foot in the social sciences. At the intersection of their expertise, they have developed publicly accessible databases to support research on the participation of ethnic groups in social conflicts.

Ethnic power relations
Together with their research partners around the globe, Lars-Erik and Luc have been exploring the relationship between inequality and conflict. They have compiled global datasets on ethnic groups for the period from 1946 to 2021, through which they glean insights such as opportunities to share government power. Their research shows that regional autonomy and ethnic minorities’ involvement in political decisions are essential for achieving lasting peace. Equally important is a balanced distribution of wealth and basic services.

Open data on social conflict
The data collections that Lars-Erik and Luc have established are publicly available and can be used by politicians, administrators, academics and members of the wider public. The GROWup platform, which is part of the collection, offers a visualization of settlement patterns of politically active ethnic groups around the world from 1946-2020. It maps out information about ethnic groups’ access to executive government power, their involvement in civil war, administrative units, and other variables such as physical elevation or population and gross domestic product by area. Another part of the collection, the Ethnic Power Relation Dataset Family, provides data on ethnic groups’ access to state power, their settlement patterns, links to rebel organisations, transborder links of ethnic kin groups, and intra-ethnic divisions.

Together with research partners from India, one of the most diverse countries in the world, Lars-Erik and Luc’s have combined their data-driven and macro-level approach with studies from the micro or more local level. They found that the perception of inequality is often better at explaining social tensions compared with objectively measured inequalities. This helps researchers and local authorities to understand what feeds perceptions of injustice, which often result in political unrest.

Linking up rural with urban

Prof. Sacha Menz is a professor of Architecture and Building Process at ETH Zürich and, since 2020, director of the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL G).

His fascination for cities came as a child while traveling through Italy. Most of the cities built during the Renaissance and the Eighteen-Hundreds are fantastic examples of livable urban developments. They implement human scale and publicly available space and offer economic opportunities.

Researching cities through a transdisciplinary lens
FCL G is a research programme focused on studying and improving cities and the surrounding suburban and rural areas through a transdisciplinary lens. The work of FCL G goes beyond traditional academic boundaries, promoting collaboration and knowledge exchange among experts from different fields.

FCL G explores innovative methods and techniques to address the complex challenges faced by cities. It investigates how different disciplines can contribute to finding solutions for urban problems, whether it is through scientific analysis, creative design concepts, efficient engineering practices, or effective governance strategies.

Fostering interdependencies between rural and urban areas
FCL G is building public awareness on the challenges and opportunities of modern urbanism and facilitating the communication between researchers, stakeholders and citizens.

As urban areas continue to expand, there is a growing disparity in resources, opportunities, and services between cities and their surrounding regions. Cities often attract more investments, infrastructure development, and job opportunities, which leads to an imbalance in economic growth and employment prospects. This imbalance creates a cycle where people from suburban or rural areas are drawn to cities in search of better livelihoods, resulting in increased population density and strain on urban infrastructure.

Sacha Menz wishes that people would think and act more regional than global. Unequal dependencies between rural areas and cities are growing. We need more interdependencies.

Disrupting the system with vertical farms

Mark E. Zahran, a Swiss architect, developed a profound interest in the concept of vertical farming within urban environments while pursuing his studies in Mexico. This fascination was ignited by his reading of the book "The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century" authored by Dickson Despommier. Mark's enthusiasm for the idea grew exponentially, leading him to personally meet the author soon after. In 2019, his startup YASAI received the ETH-Spin-Off label.

Vertical Farming
YASAI built Switzerland’s biggest Vertical Farm in Niederhasli, Zurich, to showcase this new more efficient way of growing plants. It’s called Vertical Farming, because YASAI stacks their yield on top of each other on up to six layers, like in a warehouse.

This kind of food production is more sustainable, because they save precious space and can produce up to 200x more yield per square meter. Through circular systems, they use 95% less fresh water than traditional agriculture. There is no need to apply any chemical pesticides either, because their plants grow in a safe and controlled environment.

YASAI wishes to disrupt the current food system by making it more sustainable and resilient. Usually, fresh herbs are imported to Switzerland eight months of the year. With YASAI producing herbs locally all year round, they can avoid food miles and food waste caused by it.

Making conscious food choices
YASAI aims to connect people and plants. Vertical Farms will be an intrinsic part of urban environments and integrated as infrastructures in major cities all around the world. They are creating more resilient and self-sufficient habitats for humans as well as other species to thrive.

The choices we make in what we consume have a significant impact on both our society and the health of our planet. It is becoming increasingly clear that a healthy diet not only benefits our personal well-being but also contributes to a healthier planet overall. By embracing a healthy and balanced lifestyle, everyone can actively contribute to creating positive change.

While technology has a role to play in promoting a more sustainable food system, it is essential for consumers to recognize their own responsibility in making a real impact. By making mindful decisions about the food we purchase, we can collectively make a difference.

Going circular with construction

Prof. Dr. Catherine De Wolf has a multidisciplinary background in civil engineering and architecture. Since she was a little girl growing up, she loved playing with Legos. She would build something, unbuild it, and then build something new with the same building blocks. This made her interested in circular economy principles in architecture and technologies that could foster reuse and regeneration in construction.

Catherine was always fascinated by the contrast between the rational side of engineering and mathematics and the creative side of architecture. She decided to combine both. With emerging digital innovation, she is convinced that technologies can be harnessed for the good.

Overcoming the linearity of the construction sector
The construction sector pollutes, generates waste and depletes resources. In Switzerland, more than 65% of all waste comes from the construction and demolition sector. Why is this? The sector traditionally builds in a linear way; it extracts, produces, uses, and disposes of buildings and building materials at the end of its lifecycle.

What we would need is a circular economy in which we use our buildings as long as possible and then reuse our building materials and components, giving them a new life, rather than downcycling or landfilling them.

Catherine saw it as her calling to ensure that less material was wasted, so she created the Circular Engineering for Architecture (CEA) Lab. In her research, she studies digital transformation to make circular construction more efficient.

Through digital tools and technologies, Catherine enables inclusive collaboration and knowledge sharing, enhancing safety by identifying and addressing hazards before construction begins. By embracing these digital and circular approaches, cities can become more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable for their inhabitants. Moreover, the obvious environmental benefit of circular construction helps in tackling our climate crisis.

Circularity as a solution
Catherine De Wolf hopes that the principles of circular construction can be embraced in everyone’s own sphere of influence. Whether you are an architect, engineer, contractor, policymaker, or simply an individual interested in sustainable living, there are actions you can take to contribute to the circular construction movement. Educate yourself about circular design strategies, promote resource optimization and waste reduction in construction projects, and advocate for the adoption of digital technologies that enable circularity.

Tackling economies outside the law 

Unlawful economic practices, hidden value chains: they’re the kinds of murky business that Dr. Joschka J. Proksik tackles with his research.  

Joschka’s interest in illicit economies was sparked during a study trip to Kosovo in 2009. It became clear that the presence of illegal economic activities, including organised crime, had far-reaching effects on peace, development, democracy, the rule of law, and local politics. This experience broadened his perspective on how illicit economies function. He came to see them as more than a set of illegal activities, but rather as complex phenomena with profound political, economic, and social implications. 

In regions where illicit economies flourish, the boundaries between what is legal and illegal becomes often blurred. Addressing this phenomenon is not merely a technical challenge for law enforcement – it is deeply intertwined with political dynamics. 

Curbing illicit financial flows to finance global goals 
Joschka’s current research deals specifically with informal and illicit economic practices linked to the extraction of natural resources in developing countries, and how they connect with global trading hubs. Increased demand for valuable minerals like gold, is enticing many poor people to turn to informal mining to make a living. But most informal miners operate outside the law and without oversight. As a result, although informal mining has the potential to alleviate poverty and foster local development, it often leads to adverse public effects for entire communities, f.e. poor public health, and massive environmental degradation. In some of the worst cases, such operations are also linked to forced and child labour, sexual and drug abuse, as well as the funding of criminal and armed groups.  

There are negative impacts at the national level too. Many producer countries lose out financially, because they are unable to collect taxes on resources that are illegally traded and smuggled across borders. This loss of revenue deprives governments of much-needed income to build infrastructure, fund education and health services, and more broadly to finance efforts towards meeting the SDGs.  

Ultimately, the ability to address challenges related to informal mining and illicit trade will shape countries’ potential to lift people out of poverty, and enable sustainable livelihoods. The implications are global, too: environmental impacts such as mercury pollution and deforestation contribute to climate change and biodiversity loss, among other far-reaching consequences. 

Joschka is also planning to investigate the impacts of the ‘green energy’ transition, and the related demand for critical minerals such as lithium, on the regions that produce them.  

Use gold responsibly! 
Based on insights from his research, Joschka urges consumers to be mindful of the origins of minerals used in electronics and jewellery. The more we all show concern and make inquiries about production conditions, the more likely it is that producers and traders will adopt more responsible sourcing practices. Nonetheless, the establishment of global sustainability standards and responsible supply chains requires international cooperation and fair economic exchange relations.

A sensual and intriguing food experience

Active since 2015, the ETH spin-off Tastelab was founded by astrophysicist Sue Tobler and computer scientist Remo Gisi. They combined their three big passions: food, science and making things happen. Both culinary visionaries and experimental scientists, the Tastelab-team is recognised as the leading creator of sensual ​​​​and thought-provoking experiences around food, science, and sustainability. This love affair between cooking and science is all about the future of food.

Sue inherited a passion for cooking from her mother. She did her first paid catering job at age 11, during a ski holiday. Remo shares her love for organising food-related events, as well as an enthusiasm for bringing people together to experience exceptionally tasteful, sustainable, high-quality food.

From physics to food
“Everything in life happens for a reason. And that reason is usually physics.”

Sue and Remo believe you can become a better cook and restaurant entrepreneur if you have a solid grasp of the cooking process, if you understand the whole life cycle of food from farm to table, and if you approach the culinary trade with an analytically trained mind. They break down scientific results to turn them into compelling stories on food production and processing, cooking, and catering.

For the Tastelab team every food has a story, and eating is an experience. Their events raise awareness of this while creating memories for their guests.

The taste we perceive through the mouth and nose is just a small part of what's really happening in the brain when we eat. Our sense of taste is created mainly in our brain, and 80% of it is already in place by the time food enters the mouth. According to Sue and Remo’s analysis, this means that the biggest hurdle to making food consumption and production more sustainable is, in fact, psychological.

One of their projects focuses on reducing the footprint of food to the smallest possible over its entire life cycle. Since 2019, they have been cooking with solely plant-based ingredients, because they believe that is one of the biggest single decisions towards a more sustainable kitchen. Tastelab works with two other ETH Spin-offs: Planted​,​ and another start-up enterprise working with a prawn substitute based on microalgae.

Food is tradition, and a part of our identity. Tastelab and their collaborators show by example how fun and diverse plant-based food can be.

The future is plant-based
To consume and produce food more responsibly, it is important to use less resources. That usually means turning to plant-based food. Keen to spread the message of what’s possible, Tastelab now approaches traditional French restaurants in Zürich, inviting them to use their vegan foie gras which is made mostly of cashews and pines. Remo’s vision for the future food system is rooted in global awareness, but local success. It is a future where we eat better, healthier, and more luxuriously, while causing less environmental and social damage in parts of the world where our food is produced.

Cows on a diet that helps the planet

Professor Mutian Niu​’s passion for animal health was carved out of his own name: in Chinese, ’Niu’ or 牛 means "cattle", and ’Mutian’ or 牧田 means "grazing in the field". Born and raised in China, where he studied animal science, he continued his studies in the United States, where his main study subject was dairy cattle – as it is now. In 2021, he joined ETH Zurich as Assistant Professor of Animal Nutrition. ​​​​​

Cow on a diet
Globally, ruminants are the primary source of meat and dairy products. They also serve an important function by transforming nutrients: cattle, sheep and goats can digest plants that humans cannot eat into valuable food products. But the process of digesting grass and other plant materials releases methane as a byproduct – a potent greenhouse gas.

This raises the question of what a cow could eat to produce less methane. Niu’s research group tackles this question by focusing both on the types of feed and nutritional physiology of animals, and on improving the sustainability and efficiency in the livestock system. They develop nutritional strategies for cows, goats, sheep, and other animals exploited for dairy and meat production, aiming to improve how livestock utilise nutrients while mitigating environmentally harmful methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

Their work suggests that, ​​with only a little feed ​​additive, methane emissions can be reduced by around 30%. Much improvement can also be made by changing the composition of animal feed made with grains they already eat, such as grasses and legumes.

Animal welfare in a changing climate
​​Niu and his team plan to extend their work beyond reducing the environmental impact of ruminants, turning the question around to also investigate how climate change affects the animals. Cows, for example, are very susceptible to heat, which lowers their immune responses and leads to inflammation. Heat waves can also affect animal welfare through changes in behaviour, as well as the production and quality of their feed. ​​​
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In searching for nutritional solutions to counteract these changes, Niu’s team is collaborating with research groups at ETH Zurich and in other countries. One of their approaches is to ​leverage precision farming technology and computer vision tools, for example using artificial intelligence methods to improve how animals are monitored. In a joint project with the ETH analytical chemistry group, the animal nutrition researchers are developing new ways of checking the animals’ health with non-invasive methods, through the breath.

Planning for losses from climate change

Dr. Chahan Kropf, Dr. Lukas Riedel and Emanuel Schmid are leading the development of CLIMADA, a state-of-the-art model designed to estimate the economic impacts of climate change. Two of them, Chahan and Lukas, are physicists by training, and have studied in Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. They share a deep love and respect for the environment that was nurtured since childhood. Their fascination with climate risk emerged during their research, teaching, and public engagement on the topic.

CLIMADA
CLIMADA is an open-source software that uses sophisticated probabilistic modelling to estimate the impact of extreme weather events in a changing climate.​​​​​​ It starts off by working out the losses expected given the​ risk of today, ​then estimates how much damage can be expected by factoring in ​​ socio-economic changes​as well as climate change, and finally how much risk can be reduced with various adaptation measures. The team has developed the software so it can be used to estimate the impact of natural disasters such as floods, tropical cyclones, or heatwaves. Their model considers all dimensions of socio-economic impacts– from damage to houses, farmland, power plants and trainlines, to effects on lives, livelihoods, and migration, to the disruption of ecosystems such as forests, coral reefs, and alpine fauna.

The goal of CLIMADA is to provide politicians, humanitarian organisations, businesses and other policy-makers with a solid, science-based tool to guide decisions on adapting to global warming.

How to adapt to the climate crisis
Global warming is the underlying threat already having profound effects on all life on Earth. Even today’s technologically advanced societies depend on a stable climate, are vulnerable to more frequent and intense natural hazards, and have to accept a high level of risk even with the most optimistic climate scenarios. The need to adapt to climate change is no longer negotiable, and this means that any delay in adaptation efforts will increase the cost and suffering to society. But adaptation also has its limits, so it is vital to reduce carbon dioxide emissions drastically.

Looking to the future, the software developers plan to bolster the impact of CLIMADA by increasing its capacity to predict risk from various hazards at the same time. They also plan to develop methodologies that capture the long-term effects of natural hazards on global ecosystemsin a changing climate, including impacts on the provision of services such as clean drinking water or erosion protection. Another ambition is to develop a modelling framework similar to a meteorological forecast to support humanitarian work.

The CLIMADA team wants to share a piece of advice: when planning your future endeavours – buying a house, for example – do not expect the past to be a good guide, but keep in mind potential risks from unprecedented natural hazards such as severe flooding, intense hailstorms, landslides, or droughts.

Tracing links from distant glaciers to everyday life

Professor Daniel Farinotti’s fascination for high alpine and polar regions is fuelled by a love for nature, adventure, and science. After training as an environmental engineer at ETH Zurich, he became immersed in research on glaciers and glaciology during his postgraduate studies.

What does a glacier expert do?
Today, Daniel leads a research group with four main strands of work. Their research on large-scale impacts asks how glaciers grow and shrink, and how these processes affect environmental issues such as water resources, sea level rise, or biodiversity. The second strand is fundamental research in glaciology, which seeks to understand glaciers in the very detail: how they move, how water flows within and beneath them, or how they erode sediments on which they rest. The third strand focuses on monitoring. The group observes and keeps track of how glaciers change, collaborating with partners from the Universities of Zurich and Fribourg to monitor Swiss glaciers. Through the fourth strand, contract research, the group addresses questions posed to them by public and private entities. These questions can relate to anything from the future water availability in a basin used for hydropower, to the hazards emerging from a particular glacier or glacier lake.

Daniel’s ambition is to help solve any glacier-related problem with implications for society – be it for water-supply security, the management of hazards, or ​​​​​​long-term changes in important natural systems like watersheds.

Water availability is crucial for any society; so is the need for safety. ​​​​​​Both are affected by glaciers. When it comes to sea level rise, the implications are global: more than 200 million people live within 1 metre above sea level. Imagine what challenges society would face if all these people needed to move, and all the infrastructure they used had to be rebuilt. According to the latest projections, 1 metre of sea level rise by the year 2100 cannot be ruled out.

Let’s take care of our planet Earth
Our planet is a complex and interconnected system. We may not be in daily contact with snow, ice, and glaciers, but changes in these elements affect the natural system, and therefore our society worldwide.

Planet Earth is our home, an incredibly beautiful yet unimaginably tiny place in the universe – and we don’t have a second home. Climate change, biodiversity loss, overexploitation of resources and pollution pose unprecedented challenges. Daniel remains hopeful that we, as a society, will eventually find a way to live sustainably, using resources at the rate in which they are naturally replaced – even though today, we are further away from this goal than ever before.

The financial barriers to climate action

Before joining ETH Zurich as Climate Finance and Policy Professor, Professor Bjarne Steffen worked as an economist in management consulting and with the World Economic Forum, focusing on energy and clean transport infrastructure.

Climate finance and policy
Working in the industry, Bjarne gained deep insights into how energy utilities transition (or not) to low-carbon technologies like renewables, and how new ‘green’ energy companies struggle to get into the market. The mitigation of climate change requires massive investments in new technologies, and favourable conditions for such investments to pay off. But as things stand, such investments are far from where they would need to be, with large gaps especially in developing countries that urgently need to invest for both mitigation and adaptation.

Moving towards net zero
Working with his climate finance and policy research group, Bjarne now studies how public policy affects the transition to new and clean technologies for climate change mitigation. That may involve moving from fossil fuels to renewables, for example, or from internal combustion engines to electric cars, or building negative emission technologies. The researchers focus on the role of the finance sector in making the transition happen – such as decisions made by banks or pension funds, or the impact of different financial policies.

Bjarne and his team ask a number of questions in the course of this work. How do technologies differ in the types of finance they require? How do financial institutions decide between technologies? How do public policies affect the availability and cost of capital for new technologies? Based on insights into these questions, they advise policymakers on how to mobilize finance for climate action.

“We have the technologies, now we need the policies to mobilize finance at scale”
To meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, and to make progress on the SDGs, investments in clean energy technologies need to increase rapidly and massively. Bjarne’s research shows that in Europe, this translates to an immediate 40% rise in investments. In the Global South, the investment gap is even larger. His analysis reveals that the energy transition is hindered often not by technological challenges, but by a lack of institutional structures – public policies in particular – that can mobilize and channel investments into sectors with a huge potential to power transformations to sustainability.

Protecting our oceans

Professor Núria Casacuberta Arola was born and raised near the sea in Barcelona, Spain. Her passion for the ocean was sparked when she had the opportunity to join a research expedition to the Pacific Ocean, to study the effects of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. As part of a scientific team sent to monitor the release of radioactive material into the Pacific Ocean, Núria contributed her expertise in the environmental sciences and used it to help investigate impacts on the ocean.

Núria believes in the power of collecting evidence and using it to understand the dynamics of the ocean. What makes her research approach distinct is the use of radioactive atoms released into the ocean from industrial processes. The dose of the radioactive contamination that Núria makes use of is not dangerous for animals or humans, but if released in large-enough amounts, it can be detected thousands of kilometres away from the source region.

Núria’s work also contributes to understanding the role oceans play in regulating the global climate.

How water travels
Part of the research focuses on detecting how the ocean moves: which pathways water masses follow, and how long they travel through ocean basins. By understanding pathways and circulation times, Núria and her team can estimate the capacity of different water masses to store substances such as greenhouse gases.

The role of oceans in mitigating climate change
Her plan is to embark on a journey to bring tracer oceanography to the forefront of ocean research, and to highlight how much oceans are changing as global climate patterns continue to shift. Núria hopes to see society become more aware of how important oceans are for regulating the Earth’s climate, and how crucial it is that they function well for our future, even for people in landlocked countries like Switzerland.

 Soft robots modelled on nature

A trained mechanical engineer, Professor Robert Katzschmann is fascinated by robotics. Puzzled by why most robots aren’t built to mimic the flexibility we see in nature, he set out to develop soft robots which are made of flexible materials.

Soft robotic fish
Robert began by exploring underwater robotics, guided by the natural softness of many aquatic creatures such as octopuses and fish, and inspired by their capacity to create deformable structures capable of being reshaped again and again.

His team has developed a soft robotic fish that mimics the motion of real fish through a cyclic, undulating movement. This behavior makes robotic fish less intimidating than most underwater vehicles, which rely on systems like propellers or jets that tend to disturb the delicate balance of underwater ecosystems.

Robert is using biomimicry – the practice of learning and adapting patterns from nature – to understand marine life, and build better knowledge of underwater species and their behaviours. He is developing a customisable platform for biologists whose work involves the study and imitation of fish species. He is also working on long-term environmental monitoring applications, where robots are equipped with eDNA filters to collect data on fish species and their habitats. This data helps to identify and track fish in real time.

Rethinking the robot
Convinced that we should reconsider the design and purpose of robots, Robert envisions a future where they are designed to blend into our natural environment, making them suitable for homes and workplaces. Through the use of sustainable and biodegradable materials, robots can be created with minimal environmental impact.

A gadget like a robotic fish can also attract attention from the broader public. Robert is optimistic that this can spur greater interest in ocean life and marine animals, which in turn can help people to rethink their nutrition and consumption habits to help restore habitats and fish populations.

3D-printing a new home for reef life

rrreefs is an ETH Spin-Off run by four women – Ulrike Pfreundt, Marie Griesmar, Hanna Kuhfuss and Josephine Graf.

Dr. Ulrike Pfreundt is an expert in tropical ocean ecosystems, she understands ocean dynamics from the point of its smallest inhabitants. After completing her Masters in fine arts, Marie Griesmar learned digital fabrication processes to further develop artificial reef structures.

When Ulrike and Marie met at the ETH Zurich, they were a perfect match. Both have a deep connection with the ocean. Their passion has been reinforced with scuba diving; a way to connect with the underwater world on another level. They’ve witnessed the beauty of coral reefs, but sadly also their degradation. This loss of biodiversity motivated them to learn about reef ecology and to find solutions to sustain those fragile ecosystems.

Rebuilding reef structures using 3D-printed clay modules
Over the last 30 years, the world has lost half of its coral reefs, and more than 90 % of all reefs are expected to vanish by 2050.

rrreefs' mission is to rebuild degraded coral reefs to bring back abundant marine life, that also protect shorelines and strengthen the resilience of coastal communities. Their reef systems provide a new home for reef organisms and promote the settlement of coral larvae. It is a modular system of 3D-printed rrreef modules made with natural clay.

rrreefs' vision for the future is to revive 1 % of coastal coral reefs by 2033. They believe that companies, institutions, and entities have a responsibility towards our planet, and they have a chance to create a positive ecological impact.

Awareness raising for coral reefs
Rrreefs' research and fieldwork opens a space of possibilities that should inspire hope while creating impact. Anyone who wants to actively contribute to protecting coral reefs can be proactive, whether it is learning about the local challenges on the next dive vacation, collecting trash from the ocean, or supporting organizations like rrreefs from home. rrreefs can be supported by simply donating or by being part of its community to increase awareness towards the loss of coral reefs.

Strategic games for sustainable palm oil

Born in Iraq in the late 1960s, Professor Jaboury Ghazoul moved to the UK to study evolutionary ecology, and is now a professor with expertise in ecosystem management. One defining feature of his work in ecology and the environment across the tropics, as well as in Europe, is its transdisciplinary set-up: Jaboury makes a point of bringing together academic and practice partners in research projects. For more than seven years, he has worked with a large team of partners from Cameroon, Colombia and Indonesia to implement a complex project on how oil palm cultivation can be adapted to become more sustainable.

Exploring palm oil production scenarios
The expansion of oil palm plantations is one of the main driving forces behind deforestation and changes in land use in the tropics. This expansion brings in significant earnings for the countries, corporations and smallholders that produce palm oil – but this comes with environmental and social costs beyond the areas where oil palm is grown.

Through the Oil Palm Adaptive Landscape project, Jaboury’s team has developed alternative scenarios for oil palm expansion. Alongside the scientific work, and aiming to inform policy and land use development​,​ they engaged interested parties who are in a position to influence policy across tropical Asia, Africa and Latin America. These stakeholders, together with farmers, were able to explore different scenarios of how oil palm cultivation could develop through strategic games built on the team’s integrated models, which bring together social, economic, and ecological factors that shape the oil palm business.

Advice based on science and practice
Jaboury and his research partners are convinced that to make change happen, decision makers need to devise and adopt policies that put oil-palm producing countries on a path to ‘green’ development. This requires that they balance development and conservation goals, while operating in an environment of uncertainty.

To communicate their message to a variety of audiences, Jaboury and his partners have produced easily accessible videos, blogs and other publications such as policy briefs. The insights they draw from working with multiple partners, and from transformations of the natural landscape, can pave the way to a more inclusive and sustainable future.

Managing forests for future generations

Professor Verena Griess has always loved the forest. Fascinated by the many goods and benefits forested areas provide she studied forestry with a focus on forest management planning.

Her research centers around the questions of how to make the most of those goods and benefits today and in the future. She develops new ways of approaching the inventorying of forest resources, develops decision support systems to manage forests at risk, and tools to communicate research to anyone with an interest in forests.

Managing forests sustainably touches many SDGs
Forests provide many benefits including clean drinking water, protection from natural hazards, wood and timber, as well as habitat for wildlife. But despite their incredibly high value, they are often managed in ways not suited to their long lifespans. This means that how forest resources around the world are managed today undermines their benefits for future generations. Verena is convinced that if we become better at managing forests, we can not only maintain those benefits but also expand them. She believes forests offer solutions to many of today’s social challenges.

Finding new ways to manage forests at risk sustainably directly supports multiple SDGs. For one, forests can help reduce poverty, for example by providing jobs, particularly to marginalised groups such as women in rural areas (SDGs 1 and 8). They can contribute to food security, by providing shelter for animals and plants as well as foods that grow in forested areas (SDG 2). The presence of forests in urban areas has proven positive impacts on human health – both mentally and physically (SDG 3). Forests help to provide clean water (SDG 6), their wood can be used as a source of renewable energy (SDG 7), and their capacity to absorb carbon plays a major role in our attempts to tackle climate change (SDG 13). In Switzerland alone, forests are home to over 26,000 species, about half of which are considered species of national priority for protection of life on land (SDG 15).

A wildcard in the battle against climate change
Verena plans to use her research to better understand and quantify the multiple risks that forests face, and to use this knowledge to forecast the consequences if forested areas are not managed sustainably.

Making the most of healthy grasslands

Professor Nina Buchmann’s interest in ecosystem ecology expanded over many years to encompass a growing list of disciplines, from soil science to plant ecophysiology and ecosystem ecology. Today, she is a distinguished expert on grasslands, with a strong interest in functional biodiversity and greenhouse gas exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere.

What kind of questions does a grassland scientist ask?
Nina believes in the value of creating scientific knowledge about how grasslands, but also croplands and forests, function, and how they are affected by land use, climate change and biodiversity loss. Driven by a sense of urgency of the current problems, her work produces insights into these ecosystems, for example, providing evidence on the trade-offs between food production and carbon storage – and how they can be tackled.

Nina’s research group studies how ecosystems like grasslands, croplands, and forests take up or emit greenhouse gases. Their research quantifies how these ecosystems are affected by climate extremes or management, while seeking solutions – asking, for example, how to increase the carbon sink or decrease greenhouse gas emissions. A current focus for the group is research on nitrous oxide lost from croplands and grasslands. Another area of research is the study of functional plant diversity and the ecosystem services that grasslands provide.

With her group, Nina is looking for answers to a number of questions​.​ When are forests carbon sinks and can we increase these sinks? How do Swiss ecosystems react to climate change and how can we reduce any negative impact? Why do croplands emit so many greenhouse gases and how can we avoid this? Why does the plant diversity in grasslands have so many benefits​,​ and how can we use them in farming?

Actions have consequences
To make sustainable agriculture or forestry a reality, Nina is convinced of the need to think in terms of systems where processes, functions, and impacts are closely related. More importantly – she says – we need to think about the consequences of our actions. When biomass is harvested to feed ourselves or our animals, for example, this is an action that also impacts the soil and the atmosphere. Harvesting biomass can be done in different ways, some more environmentally friendly than others. Sustainability is about finding win-win solutions that balance different objectives, and which can then be adopted and implemented. If we work together, we can succeed in transforming our society towards sustainability.

Taking control of social media to build peace

Dr. Medinat Malefakis studied in Nigeria, at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and the Nigerian Defence Academy, before moving to Zurich as a visiting PhD student. Her research focuses on the humanitarian challenge of forced displacement caused by conflict and terrorism. Medinat analyses peacebuilding that evolves at the same time as an ongoing conflict, which she sees as a way to lower displacement and foster reintegration and rehabilitation. Digital technologies play a key role in her work.

A conflict catalyst and a peacebuilding tool
In her research, Medinat scrutinises the use of social media and other digital technologies in conflicts and social movements in Nigeria. Her work explores their potential as peacebuilding tools, rather than catalysts for conflict and terrorism.

In times of conflict, the digital technology industry tends to adopt an intervention mode which is often limited to regulating inflammatory language and disinformation. Medinat’s work goes beyond this to look into the agency and lived reality of people affected by conflict. Through ​​​the case-study of a social movement in Nigeria – the #ENDSARS movement and the Boko Haram terrorist insurgency – her research proposes a new model for co-creating peacebuilding initiatives. The idea is to enable groups which are prone to conflict triggered by digital technologies to define their own way of approaching peacebuilding. Medinat is convinced that co-creation will make peacebuilding processes more sustainable.

Mindful of the complex dynamics that determine the course of conflicts across the world, and in Nigeria specifically, she believes that greater awareness of the various ways in which social media influence and reinforce those dynamics can be used to strengthen peacebuilding.

Peacebuilding before development
Peace is necessary for development. Societies make better progress when social and economic policies are developed and implemented in a secure environment. By promoting a method that enables conflict-affected groups to propose peacebuilding mechanisms that suit them, Medinat’s research also fosters inclusivity, justice, and sustainability. Digital technologies and social media command a large part of our attention economy, making them an important and solid peacebuilding tool.

How to build a robot judge

Renowned for his expertise in law, economics, and data science, Elliott Ash employs a wide array of tools derived from social science and data analytics to gain insights into the complexities of laws and the legal system.

Since his teenage years, Elliott has been fascinated by governance and societal organisation, working to improve people’s lives through better institutions. At university, he studied criminal law as a crucial aspect of policy, incorporating economics and social sciences into legal decisions. For his Doctoral degree, he explored the selection and monitoring of judges, and used computational tools to understand policymakers' attitudes and priorities through their speeches and writings.

Using AI to democratise the law
Elliott’s team examines law and politics using a mix of tools from social science and data science. For instance, they created a corruption detection system for local governments in Brazil. They also investigated how judges' perceived gender stereotypes influence their decisions on gender rights issues. For a project with a focus on India, they delved into gender, religion, and caste biases among judges.

A well-functioning judiciary needs publicly accessible reasons underlying the law. However, laws are becoming less easily understood as they become more complex due to technology and globalisation. Media institutions struggle to translate rulings due to reduced resources and increasing politicisation. Artificial intelligence, particularly GPT-4, now offers some hope for improving legal accessibility: Elliott’s research demonstrates how AI can translate complex legal terms into readable summaries of judicial opinions.

Reducing bias
The law is used to manage conflict, domestically and internationally. To do this work, judges need skills and incentives to issue decisions that are in line with societal norms. Technology and well-functioning institutions can reduce bias that may affect this work among judges and policymakers.

Working through conflict on film

In 2017, an international research group set out to produce a 68-minute documentary film titled ‘Inequality and Conflict: Beyond Us and Them’.

It turned out to be a transformative journey for Dr. Jeanine Reutemann, lead of the ETH LET EduMedia Hub since 2022, Dr. Claudia Zingerli, formerly coordinator of the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development and since 2022 Head ETH Sustainability, and Professor Lars-Erik Cederman, Professor of International Conflict Research at ETH Zurich since 2003. Together with research partners from the Ethnic Power Relations project, led by Lars-Erik, as well as two other research teams from a total of 11 countries, they produced a film that informs a wide audience about research-based solutions for more peaceful, just and inclusive societies that speak to each other in a unique way. The project brings together insights from Guatemala, Nigeria, Switzerland, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Nuanced research and personal stories
The research documentary was produced by collaborating across boundaries between places and people, taking account of different types of knowledge and experiences of working through inequality and conflict. Non-academic partners featured as protagonists, sharing their life experiences as well as the images of inequality in their environment. These contributions created new connections between different settings, scales, concepts and research results, helping to create a film that puts research findings into context and presents solutions for more peaceful, just and inclusive societies. As a process of synthesising research, the filmmaking combines and complements selected results that emerged from the distinct methodologies of three research projects looking at how social conflicts across the globe can be mitigated.

The personal stories of the protagonists help to make nuanced and detailed research insights more accessible, giving the audience more direct access to the global issues of ethnic power relations, gender inequality and what it means to deal with a painful history. These are necessary ingredients to understand the social conflicts of today, and to advise on peacebuilding policy.

The international production team around filmmaker Jeanine collaborated on-site and off-site. Their work revealed how people and groups with similar experiences of social conflict had very different perspectives and perceptions of that conflict. Time and again, they found evidence that the reality is always more complex than the binary ‘them against us’ narrative. The film reveals the story of people taking the struggle for inclusion beyond that narrative, without shying away from addressing painful pasts, discrimination and conflict.

Filmmaking for sustainable development
Filmmaking can change the way we see and represent science and global issues. Visuals and spoken testimonies reveal a human dimension of inequality and conflict that is often hidden within the more abstract world of data.

Merging expertise across science and society

The Transdisciplinarity Lab (TdLab) was established a decade ago to connect science and society for sustainable development. The team comprises 18 individuals from diverse backgrounds in humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. TdLab facilitates research and education that tackles sustainability challenges by merging expertise from various scientific domains and societal sectors. They offer platforms for collaboration in both research and education and provide services to assist other ETH groups in their transdisciplinary endeavors.

Transdisciplinarity
Transdisciplinarity involves bringing together experts from various fields of science and practice to address challenges in a comprehensive manner. This approach is especially crucial for sustainability, where partnerships are needed to tackle issues effectively.

TdLab’s research goes beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries and involves close collaboration with societal partners. They develop transdisciplinary methods and theories in some projects while applying transdisciplinary research in specific areas. Their topics are driven by societal concerns, such as balancing biodiversity and the energy transition, academic air travel, energy communities, and Swiss railway station development.

Inclusive participation
Transdisciplinary research and teaching enable inclusive participation and contributions towards sustainable development. The SDGs are crucial for the planet's future, and it is essential for everyone to address them. Partnerships are necessary to unite diverse sectors and leverage their unique perspectives, skills, experiences, and expertise.

Working with industry for sustainable solutions

The Sustainability in Business Lab (sus.lab) is part of the Group of Sustainability and Technology within the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics at ETH Zurich. sus.lab was founded in 2016 out of the need to accelerate the transfer of sustainability research into the real world.

Bridging academia with industry
sus.lab works on industry-related projects in collaboration with policymakers, and academia, mostly in a think-and-do-tank function. Their overall mission is to drive the transition towards a net-zero and circular economy.

Bridging academia with industry, sus.lab is able to understand fundamental industry gaps and successfully close them based on the latest research - while considering the business and policy context as well as societal needs. In this capacity, sus.lab often functions as a coordinator and facilitator between the different actors of an ecosystem and applies a systemic view to the challenges they are aiming to solve.

Facing tradeoffs
Whith an overwhelming number of possibilities for climate protection, sus.lab believes it becomes increasingly important to identify comprehensive solutions to ensure a smooth transition to net zero without depleting resources.

In this context, dealing with tradeoffs is extremely challenging, as different stakeholders pursue disparate interests. To manage these tradeoffs effectively, it is of utmost importance to establish strong partnerships, collaborations, and cooperation: vertically along value chains, horizontally across topics and sectors, and geographically. This comprehensive approach can show how to complement each other’s strengths and can lead society towards finding viable solutions for a sustainable future.

A ‘living lab’ for sustainability across ETH Zürich

Sustainability has a long tradition at ETH Zurich, not only in research and education but in all aspects of university life. The university’s comprehensive approach to sustainability, which encompasses environmental, social, and economic dimensions, is guiding its strategic development in the core areas of research, education, campus operations and dialogue with society.

Transformations for sustainability
Committed to focusing on the world’s most urgent problems, ETH Zurich’s researchers and lecturers are working together with collaborators and partners to make progress towards sustainable development. This work is underway both at the department level and in specialised interdisciplinary research networks or Competence Centres, among them the Word Food System Centre or ETH for Development (see Competence Centres URL).

As an institution and employer, ETH Zurich aims to provide a participatory, respectful, and diverse working environment. The campus serves as a ‘living lab’ to develop and implement pioneering solutions for sustainable development, such as the initiatives ETH Net Zero, Accessibility and Respect, which address all dimensions of sustainability.

Dialogue and partnerships
ETH Zurich is also involved actively in promoting sustainable development through its innovation ecosystem, which brings together science, business development, industry and the public sector, as well as through public debates and advice. It provides valuable services for government authorities at federal, cantonal or community levels, by providing expertise to inform policy and decision-making based on scientific evidence and facts.