26 Nov 2025
09:00  - 17:00

Eventforum Bern, Fabrikstrasse 12

Organizer:
SCNAT Initiative für Nachhaltigkeitsforschung (SRI)

Sustainability Science Forum 2025

The Sustainability Science Forum 2025 shows ways in which a fair and sustainable net-zero society can be shaped.

The path to a society with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions requires more than just technological solutions - it also requires far-reaching social change. For this change to succeed, it must be fair, socially acceptable and economically viable.

At the Sustainability Science Forum 2025, experts from academia, politics and practice will discuss how this can be achieved, focusing on political frameworks, social innovations, potential conflicts of interest and strategies for fair structural change.

✨ The conference program is now online: Discover exciting keynotes, diverse sessions and inspiring speakers who will open up new perspectives on the path to a sustainable future.

 

Conference program

08:30 Arrival

09:00 Welcome

Sebastian Wörwag, President Bern University of Applied Sciences
Jürg Pfister, Secretary General SCNAT

09:15 Setting the Stage
Keynotes

Prerequisites for the net zero transition: A political science classification
Karin Ingold (University of Bern)

Steering just transformations: The welfare state in the field of tension between socio-ecological inequalities
Aurore Fransolet (Université libre de Bruxelles)

09:55 Moderated discussion, questions from the audience

10:20 Break

10:50 Focus on sectors: challenges and solutions
Short inputs and discussion

Food: Justice in the coffee trade
Janina Grabs (University of Basel)

Housing: Putting the social dimension at the center of energy renovations with Eco21
Nicolas Velebit (SIG - Services Industriels de Genève)

Mobility: How to make climate-friendly mobility affordable for all
Stéphanie Penher (VCS Swiss Transport Club)

11:40 Humorous review of the morning
Improvisational theater: TAP Theater am Puls Bern

12:00 Lunch

13:15 Parallel sessions

Session 1: Equity inCO2 capture, use and storage
Hosts: Ivo Wallimann Helmer, Markus Gusset (saguf)

Session 2: Towards a Research Agenda on Just Transition in Switzerland
Hosts: Nils Moussu, Johanna Huber (Durabilitas)

Session 3: Social innovation as a lever for just transition
Hosts: Nicola Blum (BFH), Stephanie Moser, Björn Müller (CDE)

Session 4: Justice for Everyday Consumers
Hosts: Philippe Thalmann, Juanjo Villarejo (E4S)

Session 5: Mission Impossible? Sufficiency and social justice
Hosts: Jeannette Behringer (UZH), Leonard Creutzburg (One Planet Lab, WWF)

Session 6: Beneath the Surface
Hosts: re-source | Sustainability in the Arts (ZHdK)

14:30 Break

14:45 Looking at the transformation from different angles

The judge as savior of the climate? Climate lawsuits - opportunities and limits
Raphael Mahaim (Lawyer and National Councilor)

Labor market and justice in the transition to net zero economics
Michaël Aklin (EPFL)

The role of companies in a just transition
Barbara Dubach (engageability)

15:45 What we have learned and where we are going
Fishbowl
16:05 Thoughts on a just and climate-neutral Switzerland
Jonas Lüscher (Author)
16:30 Aperitif


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