“Making sustainability work”: this is the heading under which participants in the <link https: actis.myclimate.org yes-switzerland-2016-early-bird-application external-link external link in current>YES Switzerland Lab will focus on the big, international developments and political framework conditions at the same time as trying to develop local solutions. The framework for this is set by international sustainability and climate protection experts as well as local firms and networks.
International and Swiss speakers
Some outstanding speakers have been brought on board for the YES Lab. These include Dr Stefan Gara, founder and CEO of leading consultancy company <link http: www.eta.at en index_e.htm external-link external link in current>ETA Environmental Management and guest lecturer at the Universities of Lausanne and St. Gallen; Dr Matthew Gardner, Director of <link http: www.sustainserv.com en external-link external link in current>Sustainserv and lecturer at the University of Harvard; Michelle Grant, Director of <link http: www.worldfoodsystem.ethz.ch external-link external link in current>ETH World Food Systems Center, and Professor <link http: www.tobiasluthe.de external-link external link in current>Tobias Luthe, Head of the Research Institute for Tourism and Leisure at HTW Chur. Some of the lecturers have previously been YES participants themselves.
Swissness as a particular bonus
The choice of Switzerland as a location for this was a deliberate one. “Switzerland is a pioneer in many fields relating to sustainable development and environmentally friendly technologies. With specific examples locally, as with the <link http: www.htwchur.ch en.html external-link external link in current>HTW Chur or in the area of the <link http: www.weissearena.ch en external-link external link in current>Flims-Laax-Falera White Arena Group, we aim to provide inspiration for society to head in the direction of sustainability on a global level”, explains <link https: actis.myclimate.org the-team external-link external link in current>Dominik Mösching, Programme Manager for YES at the myclimate Foundation. Alongside the abovementioned destinations, further excursions in Graubünden and Zurich are also on the programme.
The YES Labs 2016 in Switzerland is made possible by the support of committed partners. In addition to the United Nations Environment Programme (<link http: unep.org external-link external link in current>UNEP) and the HTW Chur, the <link http: www.stiftung-mercator.ch external-link external link in current>Mercator Foundation is heavily involved in implementing and supporting the YES Labs. YES stands for “Youth Encounter on Sustainability” and refers to an international network that promotes the exchange of knowledge on issues of sustainable development worldwide. The YES Labs were developed in 2000 with the help of the <link http: global-sustainability.org external-link external link in current>AGS (Alliance for Global Sustainability) partner universities under the leadership of <link https: actis.myclimate.org the-team external-link external link in current>Dr Roger Baud, the long-time Director of Sustainability at the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). Since January 2014, myclimate has been responsible for its organisation and execution.