COPERNICUS Alliance

The Bern tertiary students’ association for sustainability, BENE (Verein für nachhaltige Entwicklung an den Berner Hochschulen), has just issued an app for sustainable consumption in Bern. Named "BENE Stadtplan" (BENE city map) and featuring over 170 businesses in Bern, this online guide is the outcome of a project supported by swissuniversities, the University of Bern, and the SUB (student association of the University of Bern). The dedicated small team who created the app were motivated by a desire to help everyone in Bern make conscious decisions about consumption and lifestyle, based on sustainability criteria.

The proceedings of the joint IRDO Conferences on "Socially Responsible Society", which took place virtually on 10 and 11 June 2021, have been published. The event was supported by the COPERNICUS Alliance with a Micro Fund and featured a contribution by Anne Zimmermann and HES2020 colleagues on "Creative virtual conferencing and networking to advance higher education for sustainable development".

The University of Girona will award the distinction of honoris causa to former CA President Prof. Daniella Tilbury. Her work has contributed significantly to the progression of sustainability as a key agenda for the future of higher education, not least of all through her research and policy work in the field of Education for Sustainable Development, where she is one of the world’s lead experts.

The University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) together with the Social Innovation Center ArantzazuLab is developing a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) to foster transition skills that are necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. With financial support from a CA Micro Fund, a workshop was organized with Prof. Jorge Riechmann (Autonomous University of Madrid). The keynote is also available as a video.

The Volunteering Program of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) is a project that seeks to channel and promote students' concern for solidarity. More than a decade ago, the UPV/EHU implemented a plan for the recognition of optional ECTS credits in undergraduate studies, which resulted in over 150,000 hours of voluntary work in cooperation and social action programs so far.

University employees have a big responsibility as role models and multiplicators when it comes to sustainability, both at professional level and in their private social environment. Adapting new habits and integrating sustainable routines in daily life starts with knowing about it. The University of Graz added three new courses to its further education programme for staff members to raise awareness for sustainability issues. Both academic and administrative employees can take the courses for free and obtain a certificate.

Over 230 participants from 35 countries gathered online for the Virtual Higher Education Summit 2020 (HES2020) from 31 August to 2 September 2020. People from various communities interacted with each other to achieve a more systemic and effective understanding of how to enable transformative learning for sustainable development while also assuring quality at higher education institutions. We asked some of the conference organizers and speakers to reflect on the event and selected a few snippets – take a look at the video report! In addition, material and session recordings continue to be available to registered participants on the conference website.

A multiplicity of educational experiences, programs, and approaches exist or are currently being designed in, on, or for mountains. This focus issue of Mountain Research and Development (Vol 40, No 4), offers some answers to the question of how education can contribute to sustainable development in mountain areas. Articles present examples and insights from around the world. Covering a wide range of formal and informal education at all levels, including practical training and lifelong learning opportunities, they provide a basis for future research, policy, and action.

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A movement of French researchers invented "Camille Noûs", an imaginary scientific author intended to embody the collective dimension of scientific research. His creation seeks to underline that the sense of collective work has been devalued and forgotten during the last decades in academia, through various neoliberal research policies that prioritize competition over cooperation, and thereby favor individualism at all levels. Their manifesto points out important dimensions of research sustainability.

The book "Developing Sustainability Competences Through Pedagogical Approaches. Experiences from International Case Studies" edited by Prof. Rodrigo Lozano and Dr. Maria Barreiro-Gen (both University of Gävle) integrates practice-based original research on how sustainability is incorporated in curricula, the competences being developed, and the pedagogical approaches being used to develop the competences.

The face mask has become part of our daily attire and most likely will continue to be so for some time as the main measure of protection against COVID-19. Its use has led to a considerable increase consumption and production of plastic and other materials, with a serious negative impact on the environment. The University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) has joined forces with two Basque companies to give a second life to used masks.

The pandemic has made it abundantly clear: The gravest threats we face today transcend national boundaries, are inextricably linked, and demand joint, knowledge-based actions in response. The Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at the University of Bern and its longstanding partners have refined an effective and transformative approach to help solve current sustainability crises and train the next generation of change agents. In a policy brief (available in English and German) they outline lessons from CDE’s long-term experience in tackling shared challenges and addressing inequalities through inclusive, globe-spanning research and education.

On 4 February 2021, the cross-faculty Institute for Sustainable Development and Learning at Leuphana University Lüneburg (ISDL) hosted Distinguished Professor of Education Heila Lotz-Sisitka from Rhodes University to speak at its inaugural dialogue series on ESD for 2030. The dialogue mobilized members from education and sustainability learning communities from around the world focusing on the theme "Building forward better through ESD for 2030: The next chapter for sustainability learning" to generate conversation on the role of the new framework in recovery and reconstruction from the pandemic.

As the first university in Austria the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna recently published a Sustainability Report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. The report focuses on five areas: teaching, research, exchange with society as well as operations and organizational culture in the context of sustainability. The full sustainability report is available online (in German). 

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The Global Universities and Colleges Climate Letter is now official partner to the UNFCCC Race to Zero. As a proud signatory of the Global Climate Letter the CA encourages its members and friends to sign up and be part of the Race to Zero. The aim is to get as many networks and institutions as possible on board in order to showcase the commitments towards the attainment of SDG 4 (Education) and 13 (Climate Change). 

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Researchers at the Wuppertal Institute, Leuphana University of Lüneburg and Freie Universität of Berlin developed a handbook for the promotion of transformative and transdisciplinary competences within the framework of a new learning format called "Transformative Innovation Lab".

The University of Bern has set itself the goal of becoming a climate-neutral institution by 2025 in all areas in which it has direct influence. This ambitious goal is not only a necessity for the University of Bern due to continuing unchecked global warming, but also a question of credibility, as it is one of the world’s most acclaimed research institutions in climate change research. Furthermore, in its Strategy 2021, the University of Bern commits to integrating sustainability as an interdisciplinary issue in all areas of the university and promoting the respectful use of ecological, economic and social resources.

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The CA is an official partner of the International Transdisciplinarity (ITD) Conference “Creating spaces and cultivating mindsets for learning and experimentation”. The #itdconf2021 will take place online from 13-17 September 2021 and we invite CA members to attend! The conference aims to provide a platform for engagement, discussion, and action that links transdisciplinary research, learning, and practice. It is co-organized by the Transdisciplinarity Lab (TdLab), ETH Zurich, and the Network for Transdisciplinary Research (td-net) of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. The Call for Contributions will open in January 2021.

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