Starting in 2030, part of the population of Mitholz, a village in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland, will be relocated for at least ten years. CDE is accompanying the remediation from a social science perspective and examining questions related to quality of life and residents’ attachment to their home village.

In order to promote the energy transition in Switzerland, scientists from several universities and living labs have launched the “Lantern” research project. Specialists and citizens are collaborating to find solutions to foster decarbonization in people’s lifestyles and ways of working.

The project “Language Compass on Transportation and Public Space” has two goals: Raising awareness and developing a language guide for language use that portrays resource-conserving transportation forms in a positive way and promotes changes in mobility behaviour.

A North–South team of experts is exploring ways to redesign agricultural trade in the project “Agreement on Agriculture reimagined – Towards a model Agreement on Agriculture Trade for Sustainable Development”, led by CDE and partner institutions. CDE is responsible for drafting the model agreement and leading mock parliamentary negotiations in Switzerland.

The INSPIRE project unites experts from different European countries in its mission to improve the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity across Europe and beyond. CDE is leading project efforts to integrate realm- and sector-based nature protection policies. In addition, CDE is supervising the monetary valuation of ecosystem services across study sites.

Switzerland imports 96% of its fish. Given their environmental and socio-economic effects, existing measures are insufficient to ensure sustainable fisheries production – especially in terms of social dimensions such as labour and human rights. This project aims to chart a path forward towards more sustainable fish imports.

The cocoa industry has long suffered from the problem of poverty among small-scale cocoa farmers. This project aims to foster peer learning and sharing of knowledge about pricing schemes targeting a living income in the cocoa value chain.