Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)

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26 June 2024

“People as social beings should be at the centre of our sustainability discourse”

Ben Jann, Professor of Sociology at the University of Bern, is the new President of the CDE Board as of this year. In this interview he explains how sociology can contribute to sustainable development.

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17 August 2023

New transit routes are reshaping Georgia

Roads, rails, ports – projects aimed at launching or expanding transit routes from Asia to Europe are mounting. In the middle of it all are the countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus. What does it mean for the local populations? A look at Georgia’s west–east corridor.

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1 June 2023

“Today, sustainability is also understood as a market”

Heinzpeter Znoj, professor of social anthropology at the University of Bern and president of the CDE Board, will transition to professor emeritus status. How does he view today’s sustainability debate and the role of transformative science?

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28 July 2022

Engaging with the giant

Designed to boost economic growth, mega-infrastructure projects usually allow other concerns to fall by the wayside – especially sustainable development. Therefore, CDE has launched a new, transformative research initiative. The aim is to generate scientific evidence to support local communities near large infrastructure projects.

“Sustainable development needs local knowledge and global learning”

There is lots of scientific evidence on what is going wrong in the world. But there is not enough research on how to fix it. Christoph Oberlack describes new ways in which sustainability research can transform policy and practice.

Sustainable events: On the way to zero waste?

More and more organizers of major events are taking measures to reduce waste. Still, many events leave tonnes of waste. Are sustainable events more of an illusion than a vision? A conference took a look at the sustainability of major events.

11 April 2019

“Land systems are the loci for sustainability transformations”

Ariane de Bremond, CDE researcher and executive officer of the GLP International Programme Office, discussed the role of the 4th Open Science Meeting in Bern.

“The term climate change is a sedative”

How does language shape our perception of landscapes and nature? In an interview, project leader Hugo Caviola discusses language, its role in sustainable development, and the results of CDE’s research on this question.