The online magazine of the University of Bern

Uni Bern Magazin: Thema Sustainability

Climate, Biodiversity, Land use

Sustainability

The UN's Sustainable Development Goals specify which societal challenges are to be solved by 2030. With research on climate change, adaptation to extreme events such as floods, biodiversity and sustainable land use, the University of Bern supports the search for concrete solutions in both the global North and the South.

Current

“A diverse, regional food supply makes us more resilient”

Whether global warming, the pandemic, or the war in Ukraine: today’s crises also endanger our food supplies. Sabin Bieri and Theresa Tribaldos of the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) call for a transition away from uniform food production and processing.

Marketing

These are the tricks that motivate us to buy at the supermarket

Claude Messner researches how we can be persuaded to buy healthier and more sustainable food. On a tour of a supermarket, the psychologist explains how marketing influences our consumer behavior.

«One Health»

For healthy soil, plants, animals – and people

One Health is an approach that links the health of humans, animals and the environment. What sounds a little esoteric is a term from scientific circles that operate more with hard facts than with subtle vibrations.

Bernese Innovations

The food revolution has begun

What we eat is changing fundamentally. This, at least, is the conviction of the four Bernese trendsetters, who have their say here in cooperation with the Forum for University and Society. With their bold business ideas, pioneering spirit, a flair for tinkering and a great deal of patience, they pursue the same goal: To make the food chain more environmentally friendly, ethical and thus more promising for the future.

History

Hunger – the everyday tragedy in abundance

Every day, around 25,000 people die from the direct and indirect consequences of hunger. And yet hunger would be the biggest solvable problem for mankind. There is no shortage of food, knowledge or financial resources. The only thing lacking is political will.

New technology revolutionizes the analysis of old ice

Ice cores are a unique climate archive. Thanks to a new method developed by researchers at the University of Bern and Empa, greenhouse gas concentrations in 1.5 million year old ice can be measured even more accurately. The EU project “Beyond EPICA” with the participation of the University of Bern aims to recover such old ice in Antarctica.

People

Climate

Tufted grass, bush crickets and climate change

Based in Bern, Suz Everingham coordinates a global research network called the Bug-Network. This is the unusual story of a young biologist who has moved from the ocean in Australia to the River Aare.

Biochemie

Adapting to the rise in temperature of our planet

Biochemist Rodrigo Siqueira Reis studies how RNA structures function in the adaptation of plants to higher temperatures. The aim is to gain a better basic understanding of how plants adapt to the circumstances of climate change.

The marine scientist and climate change

Charlotte Laufkötter is researching what is known as the biological pump, a mechanism that transports large amounts of carbon from the ocean surface into the deep sea driven by tiny plankton organisms. Her research project BioCycle aims to contribute to a better understanding of the world’s oceans and climate change.

Political science

Moving slowly towards an environmental law

What is politics doing to make the environment a better place? Political scientist Karin Ingold is examining which processes and mechanisms lead to a new law. She freely admits that it is often non-political influences that bring about changes in behavior or stricter legislation.
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