VSN-FDD-FSS

Swiss Association of Student Organisations for Sustainability

our projects

Who we are

We are an umbrella association of Swiss student organisations for sustainability. Our goal is to implement sustainability in teaching, research, governance, strategy, the dialog with the public and on campus

We raise awareness for sustainability among students and university employees through targeted measures, which leads to specific demands and actions. Additional projects help to achieve a nationwide impact and support the implementation of sustainability as an institutional principle, especially in everyday university life.

The VSN is a non-profit organization according to Article 60 of the Swiss Civil Code. You can check out our statutes (in German) here.

What we do

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SWS

We organise the Sustainability Week Switzerland (SWS)

The SWS is an incubator for Sustainability Weeks all across Switzerland that…

…organises a series of events on sustainability
…is actively engaged in their higher education politics
…works local cafeterias for sustainable consumption

The SWS consists of over 400 volunteers at 35 higher education institutions in 15 Swiss cities. It seeks to bring sustainability into all aspects of Swiss higher education institutions and support them to become sustainability role models for our society overall.

We organise the Sustainability Week Switzerland (SWS)

The SWS is an incubator for Sustainability Weeks all across Switzerland that…

…organises a series of events on sustainability
…is actively engaged in their higher education politics
…works local cafeterias for sustainable consumption

The SWS consists of over 400 volunteers at 35 higher education institutions in 15 Swiss cities. It seeks to bring sustainability into all aspects of Swiss higher education institutions and support them to become sustainability role models for our society overall.

HEI Politics

We actively shape higher education institution politics

We raise awareness for sustainability through measures specifically designed for students and higher education institution employees.
We plead for higher education institutions to recognise their responsibilities as role-models, and therefore implement sustainability in a genuine way.
This implementation should occur as an institutional principle in all areas of higher education institutions and public administration. To this end we developed the VSS/VSN and SWS demand papers.
We give a voice to students in the fields of sustainability.

Members Support

We support our members through our experience and networks

We facilitate connections and exchange between our member organisations and student associations.
We provide a platform for targeted knowledge exchange between our member organisations.
We maintain a constructive relationship between universities, associations, committees, individuals and organisations (from the fields of politics, private sector, etc.).
We support the engagement of our member organisations with our experiences as umbrella organisation.
Thanks to our reach we can support the VSN member organisations on a national level.

CoC

We are working on a Center of Competence for Sustainability at Swiss higher education institutions

Some of the tasks of the Center of Competence will be:

Providing a permanent contact point for student engagement for students and university employees.
Promoting student engagement for sustainability.
Fostering exchange between already existing support platforms to enhance coordination and knowledge exchange.
Facilitating collaboration between students and university employees within and between Swiss universities to advance national connectivity.

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How to Get Involved

Join us: We are always looking for new people who are eager to make the Swiss universities more sustainable! For more details check out the open positions at the VSN or the SWS. Or simply write us a mail!

Support us: As a umbrella organisation we are not directly supported by any Swiss higher education institution and are therefore dependent on grant funding and voluntary work. Your financial support allows us to organise meetings that can be attended by everybody, no matter their financial background. Should you wish to receive a donation confirmation, please contact fundraising@sustainabilityweek.ch.