SDG Public Lecture Series
The lecture series "The Sustainable Development Goals in Context" offers insights into current research and practice and takes place online as a public event.
What are the major challenges and chances related to sustainability? How does ETH Zurich contribute to sustainable development?
The United Nations Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an opportunity for the international community to shape the course of sustainable development.
With their range of expertise, universities can develop the science to help achieving the SDGs. Join the Public Lecture Series and gain insights from cutting edge science and leading societal actors.
REGISTER NOW
for the Fourth Edition: 27 September to 13 December 2023
Are you an ETH student?
If you would like to enroll to get credit points, please REGISTER for this course 701-0900-00L The Sustainable Development Goals in Context to get access to the Moodle.
Are you a guest?
If you would like to attend the Public Lecture Series as a guest, please REGISTER using the form.
Programme of the Fourth Edition
Kick-off
Wednesday, 27 September 2023
HG E 1.1, 18:15-19:30 hrs CET (please note that the in-person sessions start at 18:15 hrs not at 18:00 hrs)
Keynote
How has the Agenda 2030 changed international cooperation?
Nicole Ruder
Ambassador, Vice Director, Head of Multilateral Affairs and NGO Division, Swiss Development Cooperation (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, FDFA)
Guided tours: open your eyes photo festival with ETH Sustainability
Wednesday, 4 October 2023
13:00-19:00 hrs CET, Zurich Old Town
The open your eyes photo festival is currently taking place in various locations in the Zurich Old Town and lake promenade. Each SDG is featured at its own theme island, where it is illustrated by breathtaking photography and cutting-edge science. ETH Sustainability is offering guided tours starting at every hour between 13:00 and 19:00 hrs. external pageFind the locations and register for the event.
Global inequalities
Wednesday, 11 October 2023
HG E 1.1, 18:15-19:30 hrs CET
Scientific perspective
Isabel Günther
Professor for Development Economics (D-GESS, ETH Zurich)
Panelist
Joachim Merz
Programme Responsible Development Cooperation (Solidar Suisse)
Panelist
Andreas Missbach
Managing Director (Alliance Sud)
Health and Inclusivity
Wednesday, 18 October 2023
18:00-19:30 hrs CET (Zoom, please register)
Scientific perspective
Roger Gassert
Professor for Rehabilitation Engineering (D-HEST, ETH Zurich)
Panelist
Annegret Kern
Co-Head CYBATHLON (ETH Zurich)
Panelist
Jonathan Baltensperger
Programme Coordinator (Christoffel Blindenmission)
Food Systems and Food Policy
Wednesday, 25 October 2023
18:00-19:30 hrs CET (Zoom, please register)
Scientific perspective
Eva Meemken
Professor for Food System Economics and Policy (D-USYS, ETH Zurich)
Panelist
Aline Roth
Sustainability Food Project Manager (Coop)
Panelist
Arif Husain
Chief Economist and Director of Research, Assessment and Monitoring (World Food Programme)
Construction, Sustainability and Preservation
Wednesday, 1 November 2023
18:00-19:30 hrs CET (Zoom, please register)
Scientific perspective
Silke Langenberg
Professor for Construction Heritage and Monument Preservation (D-ARCH, ETH Zurich)
Panelist
Chrissie Muhr
Architect, Curator, Researcher, Artistic Director Arch Week Basel
Panelist
Daniel Baumann
Head of Department "Building Division Administration Culture Security" (Canton of Zurich)
Circularity and Decarbonizing in the Building Sector
Wednesday, 8 November 2023
18:00-19:30 hrs CET (Zoom, please register)
Scientific perspective
Catherine de Wolf
Professor for Professor of Circular Engineering for Architecture (D-BAUG, ETH Zurich)
Panelist
Satwik Mudgal
Principal Sustainability Strategist (Quantis)
Panelist
Ryan Roberts
Head of Sustainable Construction (Holcim)
Energy and Energy Access
Wednesday, 15 November 2023
18:00-19:30 hrs CET (Zoom, please register)
Scientific perspective
Tobias Schmidt
Professor for Energy and Technology Policy (D-GESS, ETH Zurich)
Panelist
Churchill Agutu
Derisking Renewable Energy Investments Specialist (United Nations Development Programme)
Panelist
Tobias Ruckstuhl
CEO (Persistent Energy)
Conflict Mediation, Transitional Justice and Collective Memory
Wednesday, 22 November 2023
18:00-19:30 hrs CET (Zoom, please register)
Scientific perspective
Simon Mason
Head of Mediation Support Team (Center for Security Studies, D-GESS, ETH Zurich)
Panelist
Catherine Marchi-Uhel
Head of International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (United Nations)
Panelist
Nicolas De Torrenté
Senior Adviser in the Task Force Dealing with the Past and Prevention of Atrocities (FDFA)
Water and Sanitation
Wednesday, 29 November 2023
18:00-19:30 hrs CET (Zoom, please register)
Scientific perspective
Bernhard Wehrli
Professor emeritus for Aquatic Chemistry (D-UYSY, ETH Zurich)
Panelist
Bernita Doornbos
Head of Water, Nutrition and Climate (HELVETAS)
Panelist
Silvan Staufert
CTO and Co-Founder (Oxyle)
Career Event - Postponed to 27 February 2024, 18-20h, venue at ETH Zurich
Panelist
Dr. Michaela Wenner
Scientific Associate (Statistics of Development Finance, SDC (FDFA))
Panelist
Samira Amos
Project Manager Swiss Food Policy (Biovision)
Panelist
Karin Hilfiker
CEO and Founder (Waldstudio)
Panelist
Roberto Rigobello
Head of Sustainability (Novo Nordisk - International Operations)
Panelist
Dr. Sebastian Kahlert
Sustainability Manager (ETH Sustainability)
Technology and Climate Change
Wednesday, 13 December 2023
18:00-19:30 hrs CET (Zoom, please register)
Scientific perspective
Jan Wegner
Professor of Science for the Sciences (University of Zurich)
Keynote
Flavien Joubert
Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Republic of Seychelles
Previous editions
Three editions of the Public Lecture Series "The Sustainable Development Goals in Context" were organised in the spring semesters 2020, 2021, and 2022. They were organized by D-USYS in cooperation with ETH Sustainability and ETH4D.
For previous programmes and speakers see below.
Host
BERNHARD WEHRLI
Professor for Aquatic Chemistry, D-USYS
Host
OMAR KASSAB
ETH Sustainability, Office of the President, ETH Zurich
DANIEL DUBAS
Delegate of the Federal Council for the 2030 Agenda
RIKE TEUBER
Co-President, Sustainability Week Zurich (NHW)
MAXIMILIAN FORBERG
Head of Development Team, Student Sustainability Commission (SSC)
STEFANO BRUSONI
Professor of Technology and Innovation Management, D-MTEC, ETH Zurich
ANIK THALER
Co-Founder, fyn foods
MICHAEL BESMER
CEO, onCyt
GNANLI LANDROU
Co-Founder, Oxara
URSULA RENOLD
Professor of Education Systems, D-MTEC, ETH Zurich
WILFRED ELEGBA
ETH Alumnus, Plant Scientist (based in Ghana)
REEM MANSOUR
Jordan Country Manager, Kiron Open Higher Education
SIMON SOMMER
Co-CEO, Jacobs Foundation
HUBERT KLUMPNER
Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, D-ARCH, ETH Zurich
ULRIKE STURM
Head of the Institute for Sociocultural Development, HSLU
ANDREA WIELAND
Managing Director, Building cooperative "mehr als wohnen"
JÖRG WORLITSCHEK
Professor and Co-Head of the Competence Center for Thermal Energy Storage, HSLU
BARBARA SCHWICKERT
Co-Managing Director, Trägerverein Energiestadt
DOMINIK BREM
Head of Engineering and Systems, ETH Zurich
NICOLAS GRUBER
Professor of Environmental Physics, D-USYS, ETH Zurich
PHILIPP WAND
Team Lead 2021/22, Swissloop
FABIEN FIVAZ
Member of the Swiss Parliament
EMANUEL FLEUTI
Head of Sustainability and Environment, Zurich Airport
MARCO MAZZOTTI
Professor of Process Engineering, D-MAVT, ETH Zurich
FELIX FINKBEINER
Founder, Plant-for-the-Planet and Doctoral Student at ETH Zurich
CLEMENS WÖGERBAUER
Head Commercial and Sustainability, Holcim (Switzerland)
NINA BUCHMANN
Professor of Grassland Sciences, D-USYS, ETH Zurich
JUDITH ELLENS
Co-Founder, Eaternity
PHILIPP CHRISTEN
Operations Group Leader, Compass Group
DÖRTE BACHMANN
Sustainability Manager, SV Group
JANET HERING
Professor for Environmental Biogeochemistry and Director of Eawag
MARK FLETCHER
Global Water Leader, Arup
Silvia Oppliger
Project Manager, Swiss Association of Water Protection Experts (VSA)
ELIZABETH TILLEY
Professor of Global Health Engineering, D-MAVT, ETH Zurich
DOULAYE KONE
Deputy Director Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
GABRIELA FRIEDL
WASH Expert, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
MARCEL TANNER
Public Health Expert, President of Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, former Director of the SwissTPH
FREDROS OKUMU
Director of Science, Ifakara Health Institute
MELISSA MCRAE
Senior Researcher, UREPH, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
STEFANO MINTCHEV
Professor of Environmental Robotics, D-USYS, ETH Zurich
PÉTER FANKHAUSER
CEO and Co-Founder, ANYbotics
DOMINIC ROSER
Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy, University of Fribourg
MARCEL SALATHÉ
Professor of Digital Epidemiology, EPFL
MICHAEL LEHMANN
Professor for Medical Informatics, Bern University of Applied Science
MARIE-CLAIRE GRAF
Vice-President, external pageSwiss Youth for Climate
CHRISTIAN POHL
Co-Director TdLab, D-USYS
ADINA ROM
Executive Director, ETH4D
SOBHI TAWIL
Director, Future of Learning and Innovation, UNESCO
JULIA DANNATH-SCHUH
Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership
ETH Zurich
IRIS NIL
queer*z
SAMIRA CABDULLE
Master student, D-BAUG
BERNHARD KOLLER
IT Expert, D-HEST
MARTIN ACKERMANN
Professor for Microbial Systems Ecology, D-USYS and Head of Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force
TANJA KRONES
Head Physician of Clinical Ethics and Executive Secretary of the Clinical Ethics Committee, University Hospital Zurich
ROLAND SIGRIST
Head of CYBATHLON
NASER MORINA
Psychotherapist and Co-Head Outpatient for Victims of Torture and War, University Hospital Zurich
RETO KNUTTI
Professor of Climate Physics and Associate Vice President for Sustainability, D-USYS
THOMAS VELLACOTT
CEO, WWF Switzerland
JANE CARTER
Senior Advisor, HELVETAS
PETRISSA ECKLE
Executive Director external pageSustainability in Business Lab, D-MTEC
CHRISTOPH BEUTTLER
CDR Manager, external pageClimeworks
PHILIPP FURLER
CTO, external pageSynhelion
CHRISTIAN SCHAFFNER
Executive Director, Energy Science Center
ACHIM WALTER
Professor in Crop Science, D-USYS
DAVID BRUGGER
Head of Crop Farming Unit, Schweizer Bauernverband
JULIANE HOLLENDER
Head of Department for Environmental Chemistry, Eawag
LAURA NYSTRÖM
Professor of Food Biochemistry, D-HEST
MICHELLE GRANT
Founder, The Great Full
LUKAS BÖNI
Co-Founder, Planted Foods
ARNO SCHLÜTER
Professor of Architecture and Building Systems, D-ARCH
RAINER ZAH
Head of Business Unit Environment, City of Zurich
DOMINIK BREM
Head of Building Technology and Sustainability, ETH Zurich
KAY AXHAUSEN
Professor for Transport Planning and Systems, D-BAUG
STEPHANIE PENHER
Head of Transport Policy and Campaigns, Verkehrsclub der Schweiz
SUSANN GÖRLINGER
Project Lead Air Travel Reduction, ETH Zurich
LORENZ HILTY
Professor for Informatics and Sustainability Research and Sustainability Delegate, University of Zurich
RES WITSCHI
Responsible for sustainable digitization, Swisscom
GUDELA GROTE
Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology, D-MTEC
STELLA HARPER
University Politics, VSETH
PEPPINA BEELI
Team Lead Political Foundations
Unia
NORA WILHELM
Co-Founder, external pagecollaboratio helvetica
MICHAEL STAUFFACHER
Professor and Co-Director TdLab, D-USYS
MICHAEL GERBER
Former Ambassador, external pageSwiss Special Envoy for Global Sustainable Development 2012-2018
ISABEL GÜNTHER
Professor of Development Economics and Director of NADEL, D-GESS
LUCIE REJMAN
Student Project House
LEVIN KOLLER
external pageNetzwerk Plurale Ökonomik
MARIE-CLAIRE GRAF
Vice-President, external pageSwiss Youth for Climate
SIMONE SCHÜRLE
Professor for Responsive Biomedical Systems, D-HEST
JÜRG UTZINGER
Director, external pageSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
WOLFGANG LANGHANS
Professor of Physiology and Behaviour, D-HEST
MARTIJN SONNEVELT
Executive Director, World Food System Center
LUKAS BÖNI
Co-Founder, external pagePlanted Foods
SONIA SENEVIRATNE
Professor for Land-Climate Dynamics, D-USYS
RUPA MUKERJI
Advisory Services, external pageHELVETAS
FRANZISKA HEIDENREICH
Climate Protection Projects, external pagemyclimate
PETRISSA ECKLE
Executive Director external pageSustainability in Business Lab, D-MTEC
CHRISTOPH BEUTTLER
CDR Manager, external pageClimeworks
PHILIPP FURLER
CTO, external pageSynhelion
CHRISTIAN SCHAFFNER
Executive Director, Energy Science Center
ACHIM WALTER
Professor in Crop Science, D-USYS
SHRUTI PATEL
Programme Officer, external pageBiovision
JUAN GONZALEZ VALERO
Head Sustainable and Responsible Business, external pageSyngenta
THOMAS BERNAUER
Professor of Political Science, D-GESS and ISTP
KATHRIN AMACKER
Former Head of Communications, Policy and Sustainability, external pageSBB
GERHARD SCHMITT
Professor of Information Architecture and Director of the Singapore-ETH Centre in Singapore
MATTHIAS MAST
Engineering Team Lead, external pageAmstein + Walthert
MARTINA BLUM
Deputy Energy Commissioner, external pageCity of Zurich
MYRIAM CAVELTY DUNN
Senior lecturer for security studies, D-GESS
DANIEL GASTEIGER
CEO, external pageprocivis
SABINE DÖBELI
CEO, external pageSwiss Sustainable Finance
ROSY MONDARDINI
Managing Director, external pageCitizen Science Center
LOTHAR THIELE
Professor of Computer Engineering and Associate Vice President of ETH for Digital Transformation, D-ITET
RUEDI NOSER
Member of the external pageSwiss Parliament
MICHELLE GRANT
Education Director, World Food System Center
JUDITH ELLENS
Co-Founder, external pageEaternity
