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Based on a response to the position paper by Nölting et al. (2025), Mayer emphasizes: universities are already important drivers of sustainable development today. However, the path toward becoming a consistently impactful, transdisciplinary, and transformative institution is long, demanding, and shaped by institutional diversity.

Using the University of Bern as an example, the article shows what progress is possible when sustainability is strategically embedded – through strong research traditions in climate and development, through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), or through clear political and institutional mandates. At the same time, Mayer openly addresses the challenges that accompany this transformation.

A central element of this development is the initiative Engaged UniBE. It represents a conscious opening of the university toward society and new forms of collaboration between science and practice. Engaged UniBE supports transdisciplinary projects in which researchers work together with actors from civil society, politics, and business on concrete solutions for sustainable development. The article describes how this initiative emerged from a critical engagement with climate compensation and today deliberately invests resources in projects with societal impact.

In addition to opportunities, Mayer identifies three key hurdles on the path to sustainability transformation in universities: a lack of resources in times of tight budgets, a science culture still strongly shaped by quantitative metrics, and the perception of the university as an inaccessible “black box” for non-university actors. Transformation, the central message makes clear, cannot be achieved through individual flagship projects alone. It requires long-term political support, appropriate incentive structures, new forms of research evaluation, and above all the willingness of universities to actively engage in societal processes.

The article underscores: an engaged university does not emerge overnight. But with initiatives like Engaged UniBE, a changing scientific culture, and the courage to open up, it can become a driving force for a sustainable future.

👉 The full article is Open Access in GAIA 34/4 (2025).

👉 Artikel als PDF in German

On the occasion of the Dies academicus 2025, a video was released entitled “How the University of Bern Creates Economic Value.” It vividly illustrates how the University of Bern has an impact regionally, nationally, and internationally – and what contributions it makes to society, the economy, and politics.

In the second half of the video, Engaged UniBE takes center stage. It shows how transdisciplinary collaboration, regional anchoring, and dialogue with societal actors are actively practiced. In doing so, the video reflects key ideas from the speech of Rector Prof. Dr. Virginia Richter: international networking and societal engagement are not opposites, but two sides of the same responsibility.

Engaged UniBE exemplifies this understanding of a university that not only produces knowledge, but also shapes the future together with partners – dialogically, co-creatively, and sustainably.

👉 Watch the video „Wie die Uni Bern wirtschaftlichen Mehrwert schafft“

Do you study or work at Mittelstrasse 43, or are you one of our neighbors in the Länggasse district? Then take part in this survey and share your opinion on the sustainable development of Mittelstrasse. The survey takes about 10 minutes, and by participating you have the chance to win one of 20 vouchers worth CHF 10 each for the “Bistro Mitti.” Join in by December 15, 2025.

Link to survey

The project Engaged Mittelstrasse explores the role of sustainability in everyday university life, using the site at Mittelstrasse 43 as an example. In this vibrant building with institutes, offices, a library, and a bistro, people from research, studies, teaching, operations, and the local community come together. Over the coming years, Engaged Mittelstrasse will address the topic of a sustainability culture from different perspectives. Through an open-ended process that brings together various actors, the aim is to create a transdisciplinary understanding of sustainability culture at the site and to foster appreciation of the diverse contributions.

The GreenCampus project is part of Engaged Mittelstrasse and focuses on greening the building’s courtyard to contribute to climate protection, promote biodiversity, and enable new integration into the neighborhood.

Engaged Mittelstrasse is carried out by the Centre for Development and Environment in cooperation with the Vice-Rectorate Quality and Sustainable Development within the framework of the Engaged UniBE initiative. The project is part of the national project RealTransform, funded by the swissuniversities program Strengthening a Culture of Sustainability at Swiss Higher Education Institutions (PgB 2025–2028), which investigates at several universities how so-called real-world experiments can contribute to sustainable transformation. The goal is to test new forms of collaboration, promote shared learning, and establish transdisciplinary spaces at universities.

How do we move from scientific knowledge to action for a sustainable future? What educational models are needed – and what forms of collaboration between universities, politics, society, and business? At the Sustainability Day of the Bernese Universities on October 31, 2025, around 250 participants engaged in intensive discussions on these questions. A review in 16 images.

Artikel just in German: Hier zum Artikel!

The Vice-Rectorate Quality and Sustainable Development is calling for projects that are in line with the Climate Roadmap 2030. We are looking for innovative projects that use transdisciplinary methods to promote climate protection and involve social actors in the Bern region in new and effective ways.

To the call for proposals

The Vice-Rectorate Quality and Sustainable Development is calling for projects that are in line with the Climate Roadmap 2030. We are looking for innovative projects that use transdisciplinary methods to promote climate protection and involve social actors in the Bern region in new and effective ways.

To the call for proposals

The first "Wissenschaftsapéro", a co-production of Engaged UniBE and the “Altes Pfarrhaus” meeting place in Muri, took place on March 12. Professor Dr. Dr. Claus Beisbart from the Institute of Philosophy spoke on the topic of “Thinking AI. A future technology from a philosophical perspective” and entered in a discussion with the audience. We would like to thank all participants for the interesting evening and look forward to the next Wissenschaftsapéro on May 21.

The first "Wissenschaftsapéro", a co-production of Engaged UniBE and the “Altes Pfarrhaus” meeting place in Muri, took place on March 12. Professor Dr. Dr. Claus Beisbart from the Institute of Philosophy spoke on the topic of “Thinking AI. A future technology from a philosophical perspective” and entered in a discussion with the audience. We would like to thank all participants for the interesting evening and look forward to the next Wissenschaftsapéro on May 21.

On January 20, 2025, the exciting cross-university project “RealTransform: Real-world laboratories as transformation spaces for sustainable development in universities and society” was launched. In the coming months, we will set the course for real-world experiments that could mark the start of real-world laboratories.

Dr. Lilian Julia Trechsel, Jonas Niederberger and Dr. Claudia Saalfrank are looking forward to working with Dr. rer. pol. Jeannette Behringer, Linde Warland from the University of Zurich, Dr. Sarah-Jane Conrad, Dr. Moritz Gubler and Nina Simonett from the Bern University of Teacher Education, Dr. Clemens Mader, Prof. Dr. Mark Krieger and Dr. Christoph Küffer from the Ostschweizer Fachhochschule, Dr. Stefan Müller from the Network for Transdisciplinary Research and Leonie Barnsteiner from the University of Zurich Student Sustainability Commission and the resulting opportunities for sustainable development. 🚀

At the beginning of December, representatives from the Länggasse, the municipality of Köniz, the Diemtigtal Nature Park and the University of Bern met to discuss projects and key points of transdisciplinary collaboration.

The workshop took place ‘at the gateway to the Diemtigtal’ on the premises of the Diemtigtal Nature Park in Oey.

On October 24, Hugues Abriel (Vice-Rector Research and Innovation), Elmar Anhalt (Dean of the Faculty of Humanities) and Sébastien Hug (Head of the Innovation Office) opened the University of Bern's Ideas Lab.

The Ideas Lab on Fabrikstrasse is an open project and creative space that is available free of charge to all students, researchers and employees of UniBE.

An inspiring place for #EngagedUniBE!