About us

Students4Sustainability is jointly supported by the Universities of Teacher Education (PHBern and PH NMS Bern), the University of Bern and the University of Applied Sciences (BFH). The hub also participates in other cross-faculty SD activities such as the Sustainability Day of Bern’s higher education institutions or the Core Group ESD.

Boardmembers:

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• Prof. Dr. Roland Stähli (Bern University of Applied Sciences)
• Nina Simonett (PHBern)
• Dr. Jonas Steiger (PH NMS Bern)
• Dr. Lilian Trechsel (University of Bern)

Welcome to Students4Sustainability!

We are a new, cross-faculty hub for Bernese higher education institutions. Since the beginning of 2024, our aim has been to support students in their commitment to sustainable development (SD).

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What we do

• We pool the strengths of Bernese higher education institutions to build up student engagement in sustainable development.
• Through our work, we enable more activities and reach more students.
• The national funding scheme U-Change ends in December 2024. We will then take on its role and continue supporting student sustainability projects.
• We are not stationed at a particular location, but rather aim to be in the very places where ideas are born: in all higher education institutions and in the minds of engaged students.

What sets us apart

• Our platform offers students the opportunity to exchange ideas, learn from each other and develop sustainable development projects together.
• We work closely with BENE, a sustainability association which has a foot in all Bernese higher education institutions.
• Students4Sustainability is Switzerland’s first and only cross-faculty hub for student engagement in sustainable development. Thanks to the combination of individual experience with student commitment and the joint development of a new, innovative collaboration, the Bernese higher education institutions are taking on a pioneering role throughout Switzerland.

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History

Our journey began in response to the growing awareness and commitment to sustainable development at Bernese higher education institutions. Moreover, the national U-Change funding programme is due to end in December 2024. With this in mind, Swissuniversities suggested that higher education institutions in Switzerland should take over the role of supporting SD platforms and student sustainability projects. Against this background and motivated by BENE’s substantial work in this field,the vision of a central, cross-faculty hub, and of a merging of existing platforms such as Psst! and BFH SUSTAINS, was born. The growing commitment to sustainability in higher education institutions is also in line with the students’ wishes, as the results of the FOEN survey on sustainable developmentat Swiss higher education institutions (2021) show.

Focus Sustainability is the national centre for student engagementwith sustainability in Switzerland.

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BENE is the association for sustainable development of theBernese higher education institutions.

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