We are happy to welcome Lasse van Look, who joined the University of St. Gallen’s Delegate’s Team for Responsibility and Sustainability mid January as an Assistant Manager for Co-Curriculum Development.

Lasse spent 13 years as an active scout, where he developed a passion for the environment, social justice, and sustainability. He is currently in his final semester of the Bachelor of International Affairs programme where his focus lies on preparing his bachelor thesis on carbon inequality.

Within the team of the Delegate for Responsibility and Sustainability Lasse will primarily work with the ECOnnect community for impact-driven student associations and project leaders that promotes responsibility and the UN Sustainability Goals (SDGs) at the University of St.Gallen. He will also be involved in additional co-curricular programmes such as the Impact Careers series, bringing together student associations and sustainability-driven HSG alumni.

Lasse has participated in a number of student-driven organizations of the University of St. Gallen and brings tremendous experience: He was a member of Model United Nations St.Gallen, supported the student journal Prisma for one semester, performed in the university choir and worked with several start-ups as a Student Impact consultant. Welcome to the team!

In December 2022, Julian Bömelburg joined the Delegates Team for Responsibility and Sustainability at the University of St. Gallen an Assistant. Until the end of March, he will support the team in creating the upcoming sustainability report (UN PRME) as well as with a few other projects. Julian holds a Master’s degree in Business Management from the University of St. Gallen, and has been involved previously with sustainability at our University during his time at the student association Student Impact.

Liebe Maturandinnen

Anbei findet ihr die Slides für die Gruppenarbeit.

Wir wünschen euch gutes Gelingen!

Maturandinnentag 2022 Workshop

Climate neutrality.  An important goal to limit global warming. This topic is also of great concern to the University of St. Gallen, which is why the topic of last year’s ECOnnect x SHSG Challenge was climate neutrality and how university associations can contribute to achieving this on campus. 

In the context of the ECOnnect x SHSG Challenge 2021, which created a supportive environment for student associations to become carbon neutral, the jury awarded oikos St. Gallen and START Hack as winners.  

The team pulled together best practices in climate neutral event management and produced a guide and framework for event managers. A dedicated “Framework Team” from the student club oikos St. Gallen, a chapter of the international student organisation oikos International coordinated, managed, and led the initiative in collaboration with START Hack, a HSG student association that organises Europe’s most entrepreneurial Hackathon. The project was also supported by academic advisors at the university and the Delegate for Responsibility & Sustainability team’s ECOnnect platform that supports student initiatives around sustainability, as well as the University of St. Gallen Student Union (SHSG). 

After several months of dedicated work toward the development of the framework, the START Hack event was the first to use and successfully apply the oikos framework, achieving a climate neutral START Hack 2022 event . 

Now, oikos St. Gallen has finally released the result of their work, which is represented by the first final version of their Framework for Climate Neutral Events.

The guide was especially developed for student associations in St. Gallen and will be implemented with the help of workshops held by oikos St. Gallen. Now, the time has come to spread the framework and foster sustainable actions on the HSG campus and in the event planning.

Make your events at the University of St. Gallen more sustainable and support the goal of reaching climate neutrality. 

Download the framework here and take on the challenge! 

Are you a student?

Join the first interactive workshop! Come & collaborate with Johanna Gollnhofer to identify concrete options to further integrate Sustainability in a Marketing Course at HSG.

Are you a professor?

If you are interested in this format to find ways to further embed sustainability into your existing or future course together with students, feel free to reach out to Clementine Robert to plan the next workshop.

When? Mon, November 14^th, 14.00 – 15.30

Where? SQUARE, Hilti-Room 2 (11-1081)

Registration: https://rb.gy/niz19o

With this Sustainability Curriculum Innovation Lab participate in creating a positive impact at HSG:

• Become a changemaker
• Give faculty/students direct feedback to integrate sustainability in an existing course at HSG
• Inspire faculty/students, learn from each other and co-create the future of teaching

Any questions related to the Sustainability Curriculum Innovation Lab?

Contact

This workshop is a pilot part of a bigger initiative to transform HSG by embedding sustainability action as an integral part of the HSG culture and programs.

The HSG campus on St.Gallen’s Rosenberg is certified for its near-natural design. More than 60 different plant species grow and various wild and small animals live in the University grounds.

When all the students, researchers and members of staff leave the HSG campus on St.Gallen’s Rosenberg late in the evening, the grounds belong to nocturnal animals: the large, park-like area of 47,500 square metres is home to foxes, martens and badgers. They find their habitat around the University building, where 28 tree and 38 shrub species grow. The surrounding meadows, which are mown only once a year after they have seeded, provide a habitat for insects, birds and other small animals. Fertilisers and pesticides are not used; instead, a great deal of manual work is involved. Two employees of the HSG’s Construction and Technology Department exclusively work on the maintenance of the surroundings.

In many places, this green area looks overgrown; however, this does not involve less work. Indeed, there is an intention behind this wild vegetation: on the Rosenberg campus, nature is deliberately left space to develop. Since 2007, the HSG has been certified for the near-natural design of its environment by the Nature & Economy Foundation, which promotes nature in residential areas and honours exemplary areas and environment planning. “A near-natural design does not only foster biodiversity but also ensures a high degree of exterior space and residential quality,” the Foundation writes on its website.

Façade and roof greening implemented
With progressive climate change, a green environment in cities is becoming increasingly important. At the HSG, too, several buildings have been greened: thus when the Library was renovated in 2021, a near-natural roof garden with a small biotope was created. On the SQUARE, a total of approx. 1,350 square metres have been extensively greened. And also in 2021, the façades on the classroom cabins behind the sports grounds were greened: on a wire mesh in front of the cabins, indigenous climbers grow upwards. This increases the shade, which is also intended to improve the indoor climate of the cabins.

A biologically diverse campus design also means giving preference to indigenous plants whenever possible. However, since the University area used to be owned by St.Gallen’s Kirchhofer textile dynasty, whose members brought plants home from their travels, a few exotic plants can be found here, too: the best-known examples of this at the HSG are three imposing giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum). These trees are hardy; they also resist the St.Gallen winter and thus have their firm position among the HSG’s trees. Wherever possible, however, non-indigenous species – such as decorative shrubs in front of buildings – are removed and replaced by indigenous plants. The HSG staff of Construction and Technology conduct regular inspections with external experts of biologically diverse environment design. On these occasions, they discuss options of how the campus can be edged even closer to nature and developed along these lines.

Ready more news here: Green HSG campus: habitat for many plants and animals | Knowledge | University of St.Gallen (unisg.ch)

In October 2022, Fabian Takacs joined the Delegates Team for Responsibility and Sustainability at the University of St. Gallen as a Project Manager (Sustainability Curriculum Development) and post-doctoral researcher. Fabian is passionate about environmental protection and sustainability. His research focuses on the Circular Economy and business model innovation, focusing on the entrepreneurial implementation of resource conservation and closed material loops.

Fabian works at the team of the Delegate for Responsibility and Sustainability on realizing the HSG vision and Roadmap 2025 supporting the implementation of sustainability in the curriculum at HSG. In addition, he continues to research the Circular Economy’s entrepreneurial implementation with various academic and practice partners.

Previously, Fabian worked at the Institute of Management and Strategy (IfB) at the University of St. Gallen and conducted research in an SNF research project (Laboratory for Applied Circular Economy, NRP73), for which work he received the HSG-Impact Award in 2020. Fabian holds a Ph.D. in Management (Ph.D. HSG) focusing on circular transformation through business model innovation and ecosystems. Fabian is also involved in various non-profit organizations, among others, in local culture promotion.