Habits for the future – Newsletter January 2023
Dear members and friends,
What menu was on your table at Christmas? The same as last year, probably. The festive season is marked by traditions.
The most popular Christmas dish in German-speaking Switzerland is the Fondue Chinoise. Which sheds an interesting light on our concept of tradition. As the name suggests, Fondue Chinoise has roots in East Asia. In Switzerland, it only came into fashion around the 1970s.
Traditions and habits change, sometimes quite quickly. And that’s good news. According to scientists, a change in certain eating habits is inevitable for the sake of our livelihoods and food security in the long term. The food system in its current form is a strong driver of climate change and biodiversity loss, and if we do not address these issues quickly and consistently, future crises will force us to change our habits in much more serious ways.
Making the food system more sustainable is a task for politics, stakeholders, society, and every individual. Some of them we are going to bring together at the Food Systems Summit on February 2nd.
In the meantime, right now in my fridge, there is a vegan fondue waiting to be tasted by me for the first time in my life. To be honest, I don't necessarily expect it to replace cheese fondue on my menu in the long term. But it's worth a try – there’s nothing to lose and a lot to gain from more sustainable eating habits.
On behalf of the entire team at SDSN Switzerland we wish you a Happy New Year with openness to positive change!
Niklaus Salzmann
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Niklaus Salzmann, Communications Manager SDSN Switzerland
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Politicians meet scientist and citizens
Switzerland's food system is linked to a broad range of political issues. Therefore, on November 29, no less than six Parliamentary Groups (among them the Parliamentary Group on Sustainable Development Goals, whose secretariat is run by SDSN Switzerland) jointly invited to a meeting in Berne. Politicians met with scientist from the Scientific Panel Future of Food Switzerland and with members of the Citizens' Assembly on Food Policy and discussed on suggestion for a more sustainable food system. A brief report of the meeting is available in German.
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126 recommendations by the Citizens' Assembly
During five months, the members of the Citizens' Assembly on Food Policy were looking for solutions to make Switzerland's food system more sustainable. On November 5th and 6th, the Assembly held its closing votes. The result is a list with 126 recommendations, available in German, French, and Italian. While that weekend the assembly came to a conclusion, the process is far from over. Some of the citizens will also be on stage at SDSN Switzerland's Food System Summit (see above).
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The role of sustainability science
What are research challenges for sustainable development thirty years after Rio? This question was at the heart of an event organised by the University of Zurich, the Swiss Academy of the Sciences (SCNAT), and SDSN Switzerland on October 27th. A summary of the speeches and discussion can be found here. A week later, at the Sustainability Forum 2022 by SCNAT, SDSN Switzerland co-director Carole Küng had the opportunity to present the initative "Future of Food Switzerland" in a session on policy making. You can read more about this event in the conference report.
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SDSN's Europe Sustainable Development Report
In addition to its yearly Sustainable Development Report, SDSN also issues a report focussing on Europe. It uses more local data than the global report and relies on refined indicators to focus on more issues pertinent to the European context. In the Europe Sustainable Development Report, you can find out behind which other European countries Switzerland is trailing in terms of sustainability (and it's not only Northern Europe that is performing better than Switzerland).
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SDSN Networks in Action Report
If you would like to catch a glimpse of other national and regional SDSN networks' activities, we invite you to have a look at Networks in Action 2022. In this report, you can learn about projects, initatives and events, e.g. an exchange on community based sustainable tourism at SDSN Amazonia or the "Universities for SDG 13 Award" at the SDSN China Hub.
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FOEN: Switzerland's footprint must be reduced
According to a study commissioned by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), Switzerland's per capita environmental impact is still far too big. "Based on Switzerland's environmental goals and legal limits, the total environmental impact would have to be reduced by about two-thirds compared to today, according to the study", says the FOEN. On our website, you can find a brief statement by SDSN Switzerland including the link to the study.
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Buch am Mittag: Ernährung und Politik – Städte als Triebkräfte für mehr Nachhaltigkeit?
Universitätsbibliothek Bern, mit Evelyn Markoni, Hochschule für Agrar-, Forst- und Lebensmittelwissenschaften HAFL, Berner Fachhochschule, und Bettina Scharrer, Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Universität Bern
10. Januar 2023, 12:30 Uhr - 13:00 Uhr
Bibliothek Münstergasse, Münstergasse 63, 3011 Bern
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Would you like to announce your upcoming events in our next newsletter? Please use the button below to contact us.
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SDSN Switzerland
Secretariat c/o Biovision
Heinrichstrasse 147
8005 Zürich
Tel. +41 (0)44 512 58 60
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