CDE is Switzerland’s centre of excellence for sustainable development. One of the University of Bern’s strategic research centres, we are tasked with mainstreaming sustainability throughout the university’s research and teaching.
We conduct research and teaching on behalf of a more sustainable world. Our aim is to chart pathways to sustainable development and to initiate transformations in line with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In our strategy, we show how we are committed to implementing the 2030 Agenda through our theory of change. We combine sound research with inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to analysis and transformation. Our research agenda is created within long-standing partnerships spanning the global North and South.
CDE is launching a new study programme. This cutting-edge MSc seeks to train students to become sustainability specialists. Students will be equipped to critically analyse sustainability issues in interconnected dimensions and develop comprehensive practical solutions at local, national, and international levels. The programme starts in the autumn semester of 2024. Apply now!
Coffee Corner, Blog post
Invitation to the award celebration on 20 March at the University of Bern
What’s the impact of reduced working hours on hospital employees? A study by CDE researchers suggests that reducing working hours can be an effective way of at least partially easing the burden on staff and improving working conditions, thus addressing the shortage of skilled labour. (Read more in German)
The cocoa industry has long suffered from the problem of poverty among small-scale cocoa farmers. This new project aims to foster peer learning and sharing of knowledge about pricing schemes targeting a living income in the cocoa value chain.
New research project
22. March 2024
18:00
UB Bibliothek Münstergasse 63, Bern
Talk with Theresa Tribaldos, CDE (in German).
Pressures on landscapes driven by soaring global consumption call for innovative solutions to enable sustainability. Many consumption-related harms are especially acute in countries of the global South where commodities are produced. Businesses – especially multinational companies – have major potential to enable more sustainable use of corresponding landscapes. This policy brief highlights the promise and challenges of landscape approaches involving the private sector and how to improve them.
The prices of food we see on supermarket shelves rarely reflect the real costs to the environment or human health. This is because the real costs of cheap food are “externalised”. In this new project, CDE and its partners are exploring how best to implement true cost accounting in Switzerland for a more sustainable food system.
The government of Laos has committed to a socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth strategy. In practice, however, problems implementing this strategy abound. Export-oriented land investments, for example, still often have undesired environmental and social impacts. A new project aims to improve the sustainability of land management and governance in Laos by means of enhanced knowledge, capacities, and processes in both government and the private sector that promote quality investments and climate-resilient practices.
Research project
Mittelstrasse 43 3012 Bern
Phone: +41 31 684 88 22 info.cde@unibe.ch