Goals

We believe the MNF has the opportunity and responsibility to exemplify a main tenet of sustainability, by “meeting the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (Brundtland Report 1987). We believe it is within the many roles of scientists to lead, inform, and inspire students, colleagues, and the public on sustainability-related science and the measures we must take to in order to safeguard the global ecosystems which support us. We are committed to leading the Irchel Campus community to become more conscientious about our consumption and more forward and global looking about our impact.

The responsibilities of the committee include: 

• Acting on behalf of the MNF students and staff and advising MNF leadership on issues of sustainability. To do so, the committee has at least one representative from each MNF institute.

• Carrying out projects which raise the profile of sustainability in the faculty, university, and in our local and global communities

• Developing, monitoring, and revising the MNF’s Sustainable Travel Policy and efforts to reduce flight-based CO2 emissions

• Reducing the environmental footprint of laboratory work in close association of GreenLabs Zurich

• Investigating other areas of MNF “daily business” which result in CO2 emissions, large consumption of resources, and large production of wastes

• Coordinating with other faculties, the Mensa, and the UZH Sustainability Commission , the UZH Sustainability Team and Delegate
• Collecting feedback and ideas for future sustainability efforts (via sustainable@mnf.uzh.ch) 

While the MNF Sustainability Committee works at the faculty level, we highly recommend each of us prioritizes sustainability in our daily decision-making:

• Supporting all students and staff in their scientific, educational, and personal development, working towards a diverse and inclusive faculty in which all members feel a sense of belonging and feel empowered to contribute and lead
• Incorporating sustainability meaningfully into our teaching, for example, giving greater emphasis to topics related to the scarcity of commodities, the environmentally damaging impact of materials and technologies, and climate change. These are only some of the most obvious examples.
• Reducing the CO2 footprint of our travel by taking trains and overnight trains for all travel within Europe.
• Consider sustainability on par with scientific integrity and ethical regulations when planning and carrying out research
• Monitoring, understanding, and protecting biodiversity on our campus and at our research sites
• Eliminating meat from all catering and hosted events – opting rather for locally-sourced, seasonal vegetarian or vegan options
• Serving tap water instead of bottled water at any event 
• Walking or riding your bike to work