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Archive Sustainability 2024

21 articles

Jahresauswahl

Article list Sustainability

  • Biodiversity

    Plant Diversity Enhances Soil Carbon Retention

    A new study shows that increasing plant diversity in agriculture can be used to improve the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural soils. As the agricultural sector strives to reduce its carbon footprint, promoting biodiversity in agricultural practices could be the key to more sustainable and climate-friendly food production systems.
  • Sustainable development and conservation

    Rapidly Increasing Industrial Activities in the Arctic

    More than 800,000 km2 of the Arctic were affected by human activity in 2013, according to an analysis of satellite-derived data on artificial light at night. On average, 85% of the light-polluted areas are due to industrial activities rather than urban development. This is crucial for sustainable development and nature conservation.
  • Plant protection

    Reducing Herbivore Damage Using Biodiversity

    Pesticides aren’t always necessary: researchers at the University of Zurich have conducted a comprehensive field study showing that damage from herbivores can be reduced by using biodiversity within a plant species.
  • Behavioral economics

    Public Discourse Promotes Socially Responsible Behavior

    Public discourse campaigns often promote social responsibility, but do such discussions also impact our market behavior? Economists at the University of Zurich have published a new study that shows that engaging in public discourse increases socially responsible market behavior – regardless of participants’ social norms and values.
  • Earth System Science

    Coffee in the Shade

    Farming coffee can be both ecological and profitable at the same time, according to the research of Earth system scientist Maria J. Santos. The key is to combine the crops with trees.
  • Financial Engineering

    “Climinator” vs. Greenwashers

    Companies like to act “green” by publishing thick environmental sustainability reports replete with photography of pristine landscapes, but precious few of them keep their promises. Finance professor Markus Leippold is using AI-based tools to fight greenwashing.
  • Genetic diversity

    Inheriting the Ability to Adapt

    Genetic diversity enables plants to adapt. Research conducted by plant geneticist Ueli Grossniklaus on the epigenetic inheritance of traits is opening up new opportunities for breeding crops.
  • URPP Social Networks

    Values and Sustainability

    The way people behave in complex social relationships over time can now be analyzed in great detail thanks to methods developed by the URPP Social Networks.
  • Animal research and 3Rs

    UZH Researchers Win Swiss 3R Awards

    This year’s awards from the Swiss 3R Competence Centre all go to UZH scientists whose research contributes to replacing, reducing and refining animal experiments.
  • URPP Global Change and Biodiversity

    "Biodiversity is our life insurance"

    Ecosystems are more stable and productive when they contain more species. This has been demonstrated impressively by researchers from the URPP Global Change and Biodiversity. The successful program is committed to ensuring that the value of biodiversity is better understood and appreciated in society.
  • Financing Climate Risks

    Crucial Gaps in Climate Risk Assessment Methods

    Researchers from the Universities of Zurich, Vienna and Utrecht have uncovered significant flaws in current climate risk assessment techniques that could lead to a severe underestimation of climate-related financial losses for businesses and investors.
  • New issue of the UZH Magazine

    Tipping Points and Sleeping Beauties

    Climate change is putting a lot of stress on the Earth’s ecosystems. The potential collapse of these ecosystems will have serious consequences for life on our planet. The latest UZH Magazin explores the links between climate change and biodiversity and how nature’s ingenuity could help us adapt to the changing environment.
  • URPP LightChEC

    “Making the catalysts work for us”

    “The scientific strides we’ve made will hopefully allow us to kick-start the long-awaited technology of producing energy from artificial photosynthesis,” says director Greta Patzke in describing what’s been achieved thanks to the URPP LightChEC.
  • World Biodiversity Forum 2024

    “Climate change and biodiversity are closely connected”

    The third World Biodiversity Forum (WBF), organized by UZH, is taking place in Davos this week. In this interview, UZH earth system scientists Maria J. Santos and Gabriela Schaepman-Strub explain how biodiversity and climate change influence each other and what needs to be done to overcome the climate and biodiversity crisis.
  • Una Europa General Assembly

    Europe Visits UZH

    From 19 to 21 June, the University of Zurich (UZH) will become the heart of the Una Europa European university alliance. More than 250 participants from around Europe will come together for the Una Europa General Assembly, on the theme of One Earth, One Future. The aim is to break down barriers and to build a shared University of the Future.
  • Biodiversity Day

    New Beech Trees for Switzerland’s Forests

    Climate change is afflicting indigenous beech trees in Switzerland. Researchers at UZH now want to find out what Swiss beech forests might look like in the future. To do that, they are taking an experimental approach, using spectral data to investigate the biodiversity of the beech forests.
  • Evolutionary Biology

    Limited Adaptability Makes Freshwater Bacteria Vulnerable to Climate Change

    Freshwater bacteria with small genomes frequently undergo prolonged periods of adaptive stagnation. Based on genomic analyses of samples from European lakes, UZH researchers uncovered the surprising evolutionary strategies. Understanding these evolutionary dynamics is key to safeguarding ecosystem services.
  • Study program “Biodiversity”

    Master’s Program in Biodiversity to Launch in the 2024 Fall Semester

    The new Bachelor’s program in biodiversity – the first of its kind in German-speaking countries – launched at UZH last fall. Following its success, with more than 140 students enrolled, the Master’s program in biodiversity will be offered for the first time starting this Fall Semester.
  • IceAgeCam

    Experience Ice Ages and Climate Change Up Close

    The new IceAgeCam installation on Felsenegg gives an impressive demonstration of the human influence on climate change. Visitors can immerse themselves in an interactive experience of the changing glacial landscapes. It is the result of an interdisciplinary project involving researchers from UZH, the University of Lausanne and the Zurich University of the Arts.
  • Initiative Sustainable Finance

    Building Bridges

    The Department of Finance at the University of Zurich has launched the "Initiative in Sustainable Finance". Its aim is to become a leading global center for research in this area and to promote dialogue between science, business, politics, and society.
  • Scientific Research Stations

    Researching in the Wild

    UZH’s Faculty of Science operates research stations in far-flung places, where researchers analyze the effects of climate change or observe mountain chimps and meerkats in their natural environment, among other things. Five of these stations are presented below.

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