Our Focus & Goals

What is Engaged UniBE?

A bridge between the university and society

Engaged UniBE is an initiative by the University of Bern that aims to strengthen the university’s role in society and actively promote the exchange between science and the public.

The University of Bern collaborates with stakeholders from the city, the region, the canton of Bern, and beyond to help shape societal developments. Sustainability is not seen as an isolated topic, but as a cross-cutting issue that affects all areas of the university. This systemic understanding forms the foundation of Engaged UniBE’s actions: sustainability should be conceived, shaped, and lived on multiple levels – moving toward a lived sustainability that is tangible in everyday life and enjoyable.

Our society faces major challenges: climate change and adaptation, biodiversity loss, demographic shifts, and the impacts of digitalization. There is no single best solution to these challenges. Instead, approaches should be developed collaboratively with societal actors – creatively, transdisciplinarily, and based on sound science.

Engaged UniBE provides space, resources, and inspiration for this. Turning knowledge into impact – and research into societal change.

Engaged UniBE connects research, teaching, and practice with the questions and challenges of our time. At its core: transdisciplinary work, genuine collaboration – and the joy of making a difference.

What We Aim to Achieve – Our Goals

1. Conduct transdisciplinary research, find solutions together

👥 Cross boundaries – share knowledge
Researchers from various disciplines collaborate with partners from society, politics, and business to tackle complex challenges together. Innovation arises where perspectives intersect.

2. Put knowledge in motion

🔄 Societal knowledge transfer & co-production
Knowledge doesn’t stay in the ivory tower: Engaged UniBE promotes mutual exchange between the university and society. Insights actively flow into practice – and vice versa.

3. Learn for the future

🎓 Transformation in teaching
Engaged UniBE strengthens education for sustainable development and creates spaces for problem-oriented, cooperative learning. Students are encouraged to become active shapers of change.

4. Connect regionally – move forward together

📍 Strengthen connections, seize opportunities
Through partnerships with regional stakeholders, projects are realized that bring sustainability to life locally – in the city, canton, and region of Bern.

5. Shape change effectively

🌱 Contributing to the socio-ecological transformation
Engaged UniBE supports impactful research: projects aimed at sustainable transformation are specifically promoted – with a focus on methods such as real-world laboratories, participation, and the CO₂ handprint principle.

Engaged UniBE is about more than just research: we create spaces where knowledge has an impact, people connect, and solutions for tomorrow emerge.
Our goals? Clear, concrete – and always with an eye on a livable future.