The Sustainability Week St. Gallen is a week dedicated entirely to sustainability and how individuals can make better and more sustainable choices. The overarching themes of the week were Food, Fashion, Mobility and Education & Transparency, with events ranging from insightful panel discussions to keynote presentations or interactive formats like cooking classes. The Competence Center for Social Innovation had the possibility to contribute to three events: Tobias Fehr-Bosshard, PhD Student at the CSI-HSG, shared his current research project at the “Academic Poster Session for Sustainable Research”. A total of 37 research projects were showcased, demonstrating a fascinating diversity of sustainability research at the University of St.Gallen – from Action Research for Social Innovation to Ecosystem Innovation for tackling Climate Change or the role of food waste apps in shaping sustainable household food practices. The university’s sustainability ecosystem unfolded relevant research on various sustainability topics with highly promising potential for future developments.

Another event was the "Sustainability Thesis Slam" organized by ECOnnect and the Responsibility & Sustainability team, where a total of 14 institutes & centers of the University of St.Gallen pitched their research topics in three-minute presentations to interested students. The aim was to create an overview of different sustainability topics so students could approach different institutes and centers. Following the pitches, there was an opportunity for exchange. Dino Darmonski, PhD student at CSI-HSG, represented our competence center there and experienced promising and stimulating conversations with interested and impact-oriented students.

Finally, Dr. Rachel Brooks, Head of Executive Education at the CSI-HSG was invited to moderate a panel discussion about transparency and its role in shaping customer behavior. She was joined by three representatives from Migros, B Lab Switzerland and Product DNA and they had a lively debate about how transparency can positively contribute to a more sustainable consumer behavior and, at the same time, means a risk for the respective companies. In front of an interested crowd at the newly built SQUARE, they discussed the roles of companies, policymakers, academia, and individuals in the transition towards a sustainable economy. Thereby, the panelists showcased the point-of view of their organizations in this transformation and shared some valuable experiences.

We would like to thank oikos St.Gallen and Sustainability Week Switzerland for the initiative and the organization of this week and are glad to have contributed to its content.

Photo credit: Dr. Tabea Bereuther of HSG Responsibility & Sustainability, picture taken by oikos St.Gallen