From May 5-6, 2022 the  51st St.Gallen Symposium took place, focusing on impactful models of collective action to address interconnected challenges of global security, climate action, and intergenerational fairness. IWÖ is proud that both institute directors Prof. Judith Walls and Prof. Rolf Wüstenhagen were involved as moderators.

Prof. Walls lead the session “Mind the Gap: Protecting Against Climate Risks and Losses” (Video) with Vanessa Nakate, Climate Justice Activist, Uganda; Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, India; Florence Tondu-Mélique, CEO, Zurich (Insurance) France and also served as speaker in the workshop “A Sustainable Transformation: Co-Create a New Generational Contract” (with Zukunfts-Fabrik.2050) together with Sophie Lara Neuber, Student, University of Cambridge and Leader of Tomorrow.

Prof. Wüstenhagen had the pleasure to moderate a panel discussion on “Energy (In-)Security: Game Changer for Europe’s Energy Transition, but in what Direction?” (Video) with his guests Ben van Beurden, CEO, Shell plc, UK; Franklin Chang Díaz, Former NASA Astronaut & Founder/CEO of AdAstra Rocket Company, USA; and Kerstin Knapp, Executive Vice President, People & Culture, Vestas Wind Systems, Denmark.

We offer a 3-year PhD position at the Chair of Management of Renewable Energies, funded by Innosuisse, the Swiss technology and innovation agency, as part of the CircuBAT project. The PhD candidate contributes to the CircuBAT subproject “sustainable business model” by doing research on circular economy solutions for electric vehicle batteries using system dynamics modelling. The tasks include developing a System Dynamics model to simulate and assess business strategies for first and second life battery applications, as well as recycling. As an empirical basis for simulating business models, the project also aims at eliciting customer preferencesA second life for car batteries – a new research project improves eco-balance of electric mobility. The research project CircuBAT aims to create a circular business model for the production, application and recycling of lithium-ion batteries used for mobility purposes. Seven Swiss research institutions and 24 companies are joining forces to look for ways to boost sustainability in all stages of a battery’s life cycle. Interested? Find the full job offer HERE. 

More info: www.circubat.ch, www.innosuisse.ch, Press release 31.3.2022, or contact Prof. Dr. Merla Kubli merla.kubli@unisg.ch

“Managing the Dynamics of Social Acceptance” Looking forward to the 12th conference #REMforum 2022. With latest insights from research and new ideas on the Management of Renewable Energies. Do not miss a strong networking event for practitioners, academia, and politicians. Registration is open now – Early Bird discount until May 15, 2022 !

The Master’s certificate program in Managing Climate Solutions (MaCS-HSG) addresses one of the biggest societal challenges of our time. Climate change has been called “a trillion dollar risk, and an opportunity”, so coming up with positive solutions is key for future leaders in business and society.

Why should you consider applying for MaCS-HSG? What are you going to learn? And who are the people involved?

Sign up for this free webinar on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 to get first-hand insights about MaCS-HSG from the program’s academic director, Prof. Rolf Wüstenhagen, and the program manager, Prof. Merla Kubli. The webinar also provides the opportunity to exchange with current MaCS students. Register HERE

The research project CircuBAT aims to create a circular business model for the production, application and recycling of lithium-ion batteries used for mobility purposes. Seven Swiss research institutions and 24 companies are joining forces to look for ways to boost sustainability in all stages of a battery’s life cycle. The project is part of the newly launched Flagship Initiative of Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency.

More information: www.circubat.ch, www.innosuisse.ch, and Press release 31.3.2022

Sustainable Aviation – How does the sustainability transformation of aviation succeed?

From Insight to Impact – True to the HSG motto, a team of Master’s students and researchers from the Center for Aviation Competence (CFAC) and the Institute for Economy and Environment (IWOE) spent two years working on the sustainability transformation of aviation. As a result of the research project, the book “Sustainable Aviation – A Management Perspective” was published at the end of February.

Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Judith Walls, Full Professor for Sustainability Management and Dr. Andreas Wittmer, Permanent Lecturer for Aviation, as well as several (post-)doctoral students, a total of 7 master students from different study programs initially wrote their master thesis on different sub-areas of “Sustainable Aviation”. Through different qualitative and quantitative research approaches, a very comprehensive knowledge base was created. In a next step, the academic work was then processed into nine informative book chapters for readers from the field, which provide a comprehensive understanding of Sustainable Aviation.

The project is an excellent example of cross-institutional and cross-industry collaboration at the HSG, as well as the curiosity, commitment and competence of the students at the University of St. Gallen. We aim to concretely contribute to problem solving of a complex challenge of a key global industry by bridging the gap between academia and various stakeholders from the field and identifying possible solutions. The entire project was completely self-financed, but accompanied by companies from the practice and represents in its unique form a valuable contribution to practice-relevant teaching.

The book has been published by Springer

The project team:

Prof. Dr. Judith Walls, Editor

Dr. Andreas Wittmer, Editor

Dr. Alexander Stauch, Co-Project Lead

Adrian Müller, M.A., Co- Project Lead

Philipp Gunziger, M.A.

Juliette Kettler, M.A.

Ivan Vuckovic, M.A.

Nadine Zumsteg, M.A.

… “an ambitious, but realistic scenario”, says Prof. Dr. Rolf Wüstenhagen from IWÖ-HSG. Watch the SRF-10 vor 10 report (in German) HERE.  Swiss Radio and Television – SRF, Jan. 17, 2022.

The Chair of Sustainability Management is offering a new executive education program starting in March in collaboration with the Competence Center for Social Innovation (CSI-HSG):
Agile Sustainability Management for Business

To remain viable and thrive in the future, businesses must actively change, engaging in circular and sustainable strategic business models. This is not a simple task. Leaders must build their knowledge and skills in sustainability, while nimbly adapting to a rapidly changing, complex, and uncertain world.

The new program equips leaders and managers with key sustainability knowledge while leveraging an agile mindset, skills and tools. Participants leave with key knowledge in the field of corporate sustainability management, including driving trends, challenges and opportunities, climate solutions, biodiversity regeneration, social impact creation, circular economy business models and sustainability governance. They will be able to use agile frameworks and tools to lead and manage a useful and meaningful sustainability strategy in an environment of complexity, including foresight thinking and prototyping.

More information and registrations are available through the link below.