For nine million Swiss francs, the sponsoring foundation wants to bring astronomy closer to the general public and enable research in an "astro-park" at 950 meters above sea level. The project is officially called "Swiss Space & Sustainability Observatory".

BLIDS, the lightning information service from Siemens uses around 160 connected measuring stations in Europe to record lightning and manages the measuring network in Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Benelux, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. For the summer of 2019, data on ground lightning was collected in Switzerland.

This includes only lightning that occurs between the lower part of a cloud and the ground. Across Switzerland, 85,270 lightning strikes occurred this summer, compared to 53,430 lightning strikes in summer 2018. The highest number of lightning strikes in the three summer months - in terms of area - occurred in the municipality of Gravesano/TI.

The BLIDS system registered 16.21 lightning flashes per km2 here. Among the ten localities with the highest lightning density in the summer months, eight are located in the canton of Ticino. The municipality with the highest lightning density in German-speaking Switzerland is Jaberg in the canton of Bern with 11.23 lightning bolts per km2. In over 120 Swiss localities, on the other hand, no lightning strikes were recorded at all last summer.

Looking at the absolute numbers at the cantonal level, the canton of Graubünden recorded the most strikes with 15749 ground lightning strikes, followed by the canton of Ticino (13856) and the canton of Bern (11566). In the canton of Basel-Stadt, there were only 63 lightning strikes in the same period. By comparison, the Valais municipality of Bagnes alone recorded 1753 lightning strikes in three months.

Determination accurate to 100 meters

The high accuracy of BLIDS is based on the Time-of-Arrival (TOA) principle. The lightning location is calculated from the difference in the times recorded in the receivers. "Whereas it used to take up to 30 seconds for information about a lightning strike to be retrievable in the system, today it takes only ten," explains Stephan Thern, head of the lightning information service at Siemens.

"Today, we can pinpoint about half of the flashes to within less than 100 meters." In addition to precise localization, this measurement and calculation method also makes it possible to detect polarity and current strength as well as partial flashes within an overall flash. The more precise and faster the data, the greater the protection for people, industrial facilities and infrastructure.

BLIDS is used by weather services, insurance companies, and industrial and power companies, among others. Thanks to MindSphere, the cloud-based, open Siemens operating system for the Internet of Things, the lightning data is also available to customers on PCs and mobile devices. 

How the BLIDS system works

Every lightning bolt emits an electromagnetic signal, or electromagnetic waves. This information is registered with antennas and analyzed at Siemens' BLIDS center in Karlsruhe. The antennas are designed in such a way that they can detect from which direction the signal is coming. In combination with the information from other antennas, it is possible to determine the point of impact. The course of a thunderstorm can thus be displayed without gaps.

With the free BLIDS spy, interested parties can register under www.blids.de quickly and up-to-date information also about lightning strikes in Switzerland.

 

The Energy Globe Award Environmental Prize goes to the biocide manufacturer Reckhaus! However, this company has recognized the urgency of insect mortality and the value of the six-legged creatures and is therefore striving for a new way of dealing with insects. Trigger for the company change and the worldwide unique compensation model was the dialogue and the cooperation of several months with the Swiss concept artists Frank and Patrik Riklin.

In 2011, they confronted Dr. Hans-Dietrich Reckhaus with the question: How much value does a fly have for you as an insect killer? Their demand: Save instead of kill. The resulting counter-strategy led to a transformation process and the development of "Insect Respect".

The highlight was the joint art action "Saving flies in Deppendorf" (2012), which mobilized an entire village and took a housefly on a wellness vacation to Schloss Elmau with the world's first flight ticket for an insect.

What began in 2011 in St. Gallen in the studio for special tasks of the concept artists Frank and Patrik Riklin and caused a sensation in 2012 with the supposedly absurd art action "Saving flies in Deppendorf" now leads years later to the Energy Globe Award:

Energy Globe Award
Every year, more than 187 countries and over 2,000 projects compete for the world-renowned Energy Globe Award. It honors regional, national and global projects that conserve resources and energy. The goal is to create worldwide awareness for sustainable, universally applicable ecological solutions and to activate people to do something themselves.

About Insect Respect 

Insect Respect is the world's first quality mark for a new understanding of insect management. According to the principle "Reduce - Ecologize - Compensate insect control", society and the economy are sensitized to the value of insects and insect-friendly habitats are created. With Insect Respect, family entrepreneur Dr. Hans-Dietrich Reckhaus strives for a sustainable transformation of the biocide industry and inspires entrepreneurs in other industries to promote insects and biodiversity. In 2014, he received the German Mastermind Award for this, in 2015 the Swiss Ethics Award, in 2017 the Bertelsmann Foundation's "My Good Example" award, and in 2019 the WirtschaftsWoche "Entrepreneurial Heart" award. www.insect-respect.org

More than 150 business and opinion leaders from Switzerland, Europe and overseas are expected at the high-profile business summit (see preview of the "8th Zermatt Summit" in the current print edition (UP_2019_09)). One of the declared goals of the Zermatt Summit is: The classic economic model, which focuses on people, must be transformed - inspired by nature and taking into account the needs of all people.

What is needed is a radical departure from the throwaway economy that has prevailed since industrialization. This concept has contributed significantly to the fact that humanity will soon have exhausted natural resources. 25 globally active entrepreneurs, such as Alisée de Tonnac, who was recently nominated by Forbes Magazine as one of the leading "Social Entrepreneur under 30" or Giuseppe Lavazza, who was the first coffee market leader to launch 100 percent compostable and biodegradable coffee capsules in 2015, show in their keynotes and as panelists how they break with the traditional logic of mainstream business through innovation.

The Blue Economy focuses on basic human needs -food, water, energy and health-while regenerating nature, creating jobs, building communities and eliminating waste. "Nobody tells me that buying an organic apple from Chile here in Zermatt is sustainable. That's just not true. It's not and it never will be," explains Gunter Pauli (see clip below), himself a Blue Economy founder at the Zermatt Summit. In his view, the local economy stimulates a direct relationship between producers and consumers.

Radical departure from the throwaway economy

Using concrete examples from cutting-edge technology and modern entrepreneurship, the Zermatt Summit explains that this model does not make sense in our ever-changing climate. The projects developed at the conference not only promote a new circular economy, but create multi-income streams that decouple companies from existing core business models and turn them into more stakeholder-oriented organizations.

Platform for exchange and relationship building

Speakers who have something to say and congress participants who want to be inspired meet once a year at the Zermatt Summit. They use this unique platform to exchange ideas with "changemakers" from civil society, education, science and politics in order to bring more humanity into the process of globalization and to develop new models that serve people and the common good. The Business Summit stands for ethical business in an increasingly complex world.

Zermatt is the powerhouse for change

People need to come together to make change happen. When people meet on a personal level in an inspiring place like Zermatt, things happen that are not planned, cannot be planned. There is no online structure that can replace this experience. That's why the initiator and organizer of the Zermatt Summit Christopher Wasserman deliberately chose this venue. Zermatt is located away from the everyday hectic world. The journey to the Valais mountains requires commitment, which is what it takes if you want to make a difference. Wasserman says:

"We want to provide a place where people with a wide variety of life concepts can meet to be inspired, share innovations, network and create new business models together for a better world."

www.zermattsummit.org

 

 

More than statements: speakers at the Zermatt Summit stand for action.

- Urs Gredig interviews Gunter Pauli in the run-up to the environmental summit.

Foodwaste is on everyone's lips today, because global warming definitely affects everyone. But what impact does food waste in Switzerland have on the climate? Claudio Beretta underlined at this year's SGES: A very big one: "Food production accounts for about one third of CO2 production. That's a similar amount to transport!"

An important part of the SGES program therefore addressed the evident question of why we waste so much food and how we might do better with these resources?

Food waste in Switzerland

Claudio Beretta, co-founder and president of the foodwaste.ch association, introduced the topic of food waste at the innovation forum "FOOD: ENJOYABLE, HEALTHY, AFFORDABLE, ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE":

"The main reason for foodwaste is probably that we can afford it. On average, we spend only about seven percent of our income on food. So we're much less careful with it than older generations."

Problematically, most "waste" is produced at the end of the supply chain, i.e. at the end consumer. Beretta explains consumers' demands: "Food should always be available, we want a large variety, high-quality and immaculate products. Everything else ends up in the bucket."

Unfortunately, the appreciation of food in our industrialized countries is declining at the same time: Food should not be too expensive and should be quick.

Food waste in the industry

"Likewise, we do not know exactly from what and how the product we buy has been produced. The more problematic, he said, is that many don't want to admit that they're making food, including vegan ingredients, on an artificial basis ... or they just don't realize it, because it's a matter of small quantities each time."

This considerable amount of byproducts cannot be easily recycled and composted. This is also part of the theme of foodwaste.ch, says Claudio Beretta: Even if the nutrients go back into the cycle, the large expenditure of energy, water, land, fertilizer and pesticides for production, transport and storage would be forgotten.

For more information and tips on how to combat food waste, read the full Interviewconducted by Regula von Büren, Institute for Business Psychology at Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences.

 

The Environmental Committee of the Council of States (UREK-S) wants to hold air traffic and the financial industry accountable for climate protection. swisscleantech welcomes this step and sees potential for improvement in three areas: the domestic target, the building sector and traffic.

Domestic destination

Last week, the Federal Council adopted a 2050 climate target of net zero. To achieve this, Switzerland must reduce domestic CO2 emissions by at least 45% by 2030. As a study by econcept shows, a domestic reduction of up to 48% by 2030 is feasible and economically beneficial.

"An ambitious domestic target is scientifically necessary and realistic, because many solutions and innovative technologies are already available today to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. At the same time, it guarantees planning security and creates incentives for innovation. With these framework conditions, Swiss companies will succeed in playing an active role in decarbonization - both at home and abroad. Against this background, the domestic target formerly presented by the Federal Council is clearly insufficient," says Christian Zeyer.

Given the urgency of reducing CO2 emissions and in view of the opportunities this presents for Swiss companies, swisscleantech raised its demand for the domestic target to minus 45% at the end of August.

Building

Buildings are responsible for 26% of Switzerland's CO2 emissions. The renovation rate is too low, large efficiency potentials lie fallow. In order to reduce emissions in the building sector without delay, an emission limit value per m2 of energy reference area must be introduced bindingly and early - i.e. no later than 2023 - and then continuously reduced.

"With the majority proposal of the Environmental Commission, the Paris climate targets in the building sector cannot be achieved. At the same time, we run the risk of investing money in a non-energy-efficient building stock. This threatens high follow-up costs later on," says Christian Zeyer.

Traffic

Road traffic is still the largest source of CO2 emissions in Switzerland. It is therefore imperative that the fleet targets do not fall behind the EU regulations and also include heavy goods traffic. However, sustainable mobility requires more than low-emission and efficient vehicles. It is therefore to be welcomed that the discussion about a CO2 steering tax on fuels and the introduction of mobility pricing has picked up again in the context of the negotiations of the Environmental Commission. The next logical step would be to have this discussion fleshed out by a postulate.

"Cost transparency is urgently needed in the transportation sector. That is why it is essential to push ahead with these solutions quickly so that the transport of the future can be organized in a climate-friendly, cost-covering and efficient manner," says Christian Zeyer.

What swisscleantech now expects from the Council of States:

Higher domestic target

In order to meet the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement, which Switzerland has ratified, a significantly higher domestic target is needed than the 30% target originally proposed by the Federal Council. Last week, the Federal Council itself put this into perspective by adopting a net-zero climate target by 2050. This decision is not binding on parliament, but it points the way. In order for it to be achieved, a domestic target of at least 45% must be anchored in the CO2 Act. This is necessary from a scientific point of view and at the same time strengthens Switzerland as a business location: it creates innovation incentives and planning security for companies. As a study by econcept shows, a domestic reduction of up to 48% by 2030 is feasible and economically beneficial. An ambitious domestic target creates incentives for innovation and strengthens Switzerland as a manufacturing location.

Air ticket levy welcome

swisscleantech supports the introduction of an air ticket tax. Air traffic is growing rapidly, is tax-exempt and so far international measures have not shown any effect. An air ticket levy cannot yet steer air traffic onto a Paris-compatible path, but it is nevertheless an important step and sends a signal: price increases generally have a steering effect. They can encourage consumers to switch to more climate-friendly transport alternatives.

New climate fund

A comprehensive climate fund available for measures in the field of building modernization and energy efficiency, accelerated conversion to CO2-free heat production, support for projects to sustainably reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate damage is an idea worth pursuing further. Such a fund can provide innovation incentives for the development of climate-friendly approaches. When feeding the fund, however, care must be taken to ensure that earmarking (e.g., through the CO2 tax or the airline ticket levy) is designed efficiently and effectively.

Early CO2 limits for buildings

Buildings are responsible for 26% of Switzerland's CO2 emissions. The renovation rate is too low, large efficiency potentials lie fallow. In order to reduce emissions in the building sector without delay, an emission limit value per m2 of energy reference area must be introduced bindingly and early - i.e. no later than 2023 - and then continuously reduced. With a later introduction of the limit value, the Paris climate targets in the building sector can probably not be achieved in time.

Measures in transport are central

In the deliberations in parliament, the Council of States must now ensure that Switzerland does not fall behind the EU regulations with its fleet targets and that heavy goods traffic is also included. With a share of one third, road traffic is still the largest source of CO2 emissions in Switzerland. Emissions have even increased since 1990. With the compensation obligation for importers of fossil fuels, car importers do not contribute directly to the decarbonization of the transport sector, but they do contribute to climate protection at home.

It therefore makes sense to increase the proportion to be offset domestically to 20%. swisscleantech also welcomes the idea of reserving a small proportion of the climate protection measures financed via the fuel price for the promotion of electromobility. This will ensure that compensation projects are also carried out in the transport sector and that value creation is strengthened in Switzerland.

swisscleantech is of the opinion that now is the time to have concrete proposals for a CO2 reduction tax on fuels and for the introduction of mobility pricing drawn up by means of a postulate. Cost transparency is urgently needed in the transport sector. That is why it is important to push ahead with these solutions quickly: they are essential if the transport of the future is to be organized in a climate-friendly, cost-covering and efficient manner.

Climate-friendly financial sector is essential

The discussions in the Environment Commission have shown that the Commission recognizes the importance of financial flows for compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement. Now the Council of States must adopt concrete measures. This is because the Swiss financial sector causes around twenty times more CO2 emissions than the domestic sector. The Commission has submitted four postulates in this regard. A far-reaching reform of the sustainability of the financial industry is currently underway in the EU. Switzerland also has a role to play here. It is therefore important that concrete measures are drawn up for the revision of the CO2 Act.

Further information:

• Position swisscleantech: Increase of climate target for 2030 to minus 45%
• Study econcept: Review of Swiss climate targets according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 1.5 degree report (PDF)

TED is a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading innovative ideas. At TED conferences, leading thinkers and doers such as Elon Musk, Bill Gates or Jane Goodall are invited as speakers to present their "idea worth spreading" in 18 minutes or less. TEDx is an initiative of TED and enables individuals and groups to hold local, self-organized, independent events in the TED format worldwide.

Leading the TEDxHWZ module in the EMBA program is none other than Urs Bucher, co-founder and current presenter of TEDxZurich. His module goal is that the executives not only organize a TEDxHWZ conference as an EMBA class, but also that everyone learns how to give an inspiring talk thanks to professional speaker coaching.

 What are other highlights of the EMBA Digital Leadership?

Another special feature of the EMBA is that the master's thesis, which is written in the second and third semesters, consists of a practice-oriented Innovation Challenge. Specifically, participating executives develop an idea for a digital product or service that originates from their own company or is based on their own business idea. A business plan, prototype and pitch deck are developed in workshops, prototyping hackathons and startup coaching sessions, and pitched to a panel of experts after nine months. The module is led by Samuel Scheer, a tech entrepreneur from Israel and now a startup coach at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab at ETH Zurich.

Other lecturers include Prof. Dr. Claude Siegenthaler, who is known for setting up the "Entrepreneurial Leadership" course at ETH Zurich's MTEC, Stephanie Züllig, a long-time international executive at Siemens, now an entrepreneur and multiple board member with digital expertise in the IT, engineering, security technology and security services sectors, HSG Prof. Dr. Marcus Schögel, and Daniela Landherr, an executive with global responsibility at Google.

Executive MBA Digital Leadership

The HWZ under the direction of Sunnie J. Groeneveld and Manuel P. Nappo have created the EMBA in Digital Leadership. Now, just a few months before the start of the course in February 2020, the two have pulled off a coup: Starting in 2020, the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich will launch the EMBA Digital Leadership, a unique, three-semester program for executives who want to deepen their knowledge of digital technologies and new leadership approaches and develop a digital vision for their company. Innovative and attractive elements define a new benchmark for EMBA programs in Switzerland.

Anyone who wants to successfully lead their company through the digital transformation needs new skills and leadership approaches. These include a sound understanding of digital technologies, business models, and the ability to inspire and empower employees to embrace a digital vision. In the new EMBA Digital Leadership, leaders explore topics such as data-driven decision making, platform economics, intrapreneurship, and learn to operate in innovation ecosystems and collaborate with new stakeholders across industries. In addition to providing a sound understanding of digital technology, the program focuses specifically on the participants' personal development as well as their entrepreneurial and communication skills.

Initiator and course director Manuel P. Nappo studied international management at the University of St. Gallen HSG. After various stopovers at companies such as Red Bull and GroupM, Nappo was hired by the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich in 2010 to head the CAS Social Media Management course. Since 2014, he has been head of the MAS Digital Business and the Institute for Digital Business at the HWZ. In the same year, he was voted "Thought Leader of the Year" by the readers of Marketing & Communication magazine.

Initiator and program director Sunnie J. Groeneveld is an entrepreneur, board member and author. She founded the consulting firm Inspire 925 founded, was the first managing director of the location initiative digitalswitzerland and now sits on the board of three medium-sized Swiss companies in the IT, engineering and media sectors. She is also the author of the book "Inspired at Work" (Versus Verlag), was named one of the "Top 100 Women in Business" and was included by the business magazine Forbes on its "30 under 30" list for German-speaking countries. She holds a degree in Economics from Yale University.

www.fh-hwz.ch

Esders GmbH donates the Future Award on the occasion of its 30th company birthday. The prize money is staggered as follows: 1st prize: 8000 euros, 2nd prize: 5000 euros, 3rd prize: 2000 euros. More information is available on the Internet at future.esders.com/.

Species protection and education about native insects

Species protection and environmental education, for example, are at the center of the application of the Biotope Fund of the Emsland / Grafschaft Bentheim e.V. hunting associations. Four hunting associations from 38 hunting rings are organized in this fund. The huntsmen plan to set up a total of 38 insect hotels in the spring and summer of 2020 with information boards that provide information about the background and benefits of the insect hotels. Chairman Thomas Schomaker explains:

"Few people know, for example, that fruit trees are often pollinated by wild bees in spring, as they hatch earlier than honey bees. Likewise, they alone pollinate a quarter of all flowering plants!" The cost of 38 solidly crafted truss structures with roof and suitable material, which will serve insects as a shelter, breeding and retreat area, is around 45000 euros. The biotope fund would like to cover part of this from the prize money.

"Orchard meadows in combination with wildflower areas support between 3000 and 5000 species. We are not only creating islands to supply wild bees with pollen and nectar, but also a widely ramified biotope network," says Kai Behncke. Behncke, who holds a doctorate in geoinformatics, is working with the "Flowery County of Osnabrück" initiative to create a flowering meadow corridor in the southern district of Osnabrück. The interconnected biotope is intended to promote biodiversity and, above all, the genetic exchange of insects over a length of 35 kilometers from Melle to Hagen a. T. W.. So far, 141 flowering meadows with a total area of 260000 square meters have been created in around 7000 hours of volunteer work. "With the prize money, we could take a big step toward closing the gaps in flowering meadows," says Kai Behncke.

 

 

 

 

Biovision expresses its views on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With the 2030 Agenda as a central frame of reference, Switzerland should pursue a systemic and interconnected approach in which the fight against hunger, poverty and the alleviation of hardship are given priority.

In this way, Switzerland can make an important contribution to fair and sustainable global development.

As a development organisation with a holistic approach and a focus on sustainability, knowledge transfer and ecological development, the following points in particular are of strategic importance to Biovision for Switzerland's future international cooperation:

• IC must be consistently aligned with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and implemented with a systemic and networked approach. Possible synergies and conflicting goals between individual thematic areas must be identified and exploited or avoided in the interests of policy coherence for sustainable development. Only if the causes are addressed - e.g. access to land, seeds, knowledge and market inequalities, climate change and biodiversity loss, food losses - can hunger and poverty be eliminated and the people affected be given the opportunity to live in dignity.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Special Report on Climate Change and Land Systems of early August showed that the transformation of food systems has a central role to play in mitigating the climate crisis. Switzerland should therefore continue and expand its pioneering role in the dissemination of agroecological methods worldwide. In addition, applied research into agroecological approaches should be strengthened by establishing innovative partnerships and joint learning processes between science and practice in developing countries.
• The importance of Switzerland's international cooperation must also be reflected in financial terms. Therefore, Biovision demands from the Federal Council that the share of IC in the national income is increased to 0.7% in view of the repeated surpluses of billions in the federal treasury as well as the financing gap for the achievement of the SDGs.

As a country with a strong international network, Switzerland is directly affected by complex challenges such as climate change, soil degradation, poverty, conflicts, migration and their impacts. More than ever, politics, business, science and civil society are called upon to negotiate development paths that accelerate the change towards sustainability - globally, but also in Switzerland. The 2030 Agenda provides the necessary compass for this. Achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is an imperative of economic reason, social justice and ecological responsibility.

You can find out more about Biovision - Foundation for Ecological Development by following this link: www.biovision.ch

 

BIM is the central key technology for the digital transformation of the construction industry. In fall 2018, the Federal Council adopted the "Digital Switzerland Action Plan". The goal: The federal government and all federally affiliated companies are to use the Building Information Modeling (BIM) planning method as of 2021 for real estate and as of 2025 for infrastructure facilities on a mandatory basis. The planning, construction and management of a newly designed Open space is changing fundamentally and must be rethought accordingly.

HSR is dedicating itself to this strategic branch of research in the construction industry with a new professorship in the Landscape Architecture program: Prof. Christian Graf will take on the new educational and research topic starting in the fall semester of 2019 and teach project planning and BIM in landscape architecture. Christian Graf, originally trained in civil engineering, studied landscape architecture at HSR and then earned his master's degree in Germany. After his education, he gained experience in various landscape architecture firms in Zurich and has been successfully present with his own planning office for ten years.

The aim of the new professorship is to gain knowledge in applied research and development in the "BIM Levels 1-4" of the Swiss Stage Plan. The Step-by-step plan Switzerland is a guide developed by Bauen digital Schweiz, an organization dedicated to the digital transformation of the Swiss construction and real estate industry. The plan summarizes in four steps what the digital transformation should look like.
We warmly welcome Prof. Christian Graf to HSR and wish him a good start into the semester.

Are you interested in studying landscape architecture? Here you can find more information about the study program.