Experts see sustainable added value in the focus on resilience

(CONNECT) The Z-Forum brought together researchers and practitioners for two days in Zurich and Baden to discuss a new approach to achieving sustainability goals. In particular, they have identified opportunities that lie in the link with the concept of resilience. This refers to the ability of systems to cope with stress. If this is integrated into the design of solutions, it opens up great potential for sustainable, scalable and economical solutions. This was evident in the areas of cyber security, energy, agriculture and healthcare.

"There was a consensus among the participants that we should move away from a purely normative understanding of sustainability," explained Philipp Aerni. He is the Director of the Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CCRS), which organized the conference together with the Switzerland Innovation Park Central in Risch-Rotkreuz ZG, the city of Baden and the Basel-based MDPI Sustainability Foundation . It was also supported by the Zurich Chamber of Commerce (ZHK), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and the Universities of Zurich, Basel and Lucerne. According to Aerni, this broad partnership approach was deliberately chosen to bring together and strengthen innovation ecosystems.

According to ZHK Director Raphael Tschanz, resilience is playing an increasingly important role for economic areas today. "At the Z-Forum, we are discussing these issues at exactly the right time," he said. Practical examples from Switzerland, such as Zurich, Zug or Baden, were a recurring focus, as were international projects that were examined for application in Switzerland. "The two-day exchange among international experts was very inspiring," summarized Thomas Lütolf, Head of the City of Baden's Business Contact Point and Baden 4.0.

Specifically, the development of agriculture, for example, was up for debate. Louise Fresco, the former president of Wageningen University, called for subsidies for innovation. If fossil resources, including by-products, are no longer available in the near future, the importance of the agricultural sector will also increase. "I've been wondering for a long time where the blockchain for food waste is," says Fresco.

This also involved a comparison of innovation approaches. Author Keyu Jin discussed how decentralized the ecosystem in China is on closer inspection - an aspect of the resilience of the local economy. According to Ian Roberts, CTO of the Swiss Bühler Group, Europe would do well to learn from the Chinese perspective on scaling. Like Nora Teuwsen, Head of ABB Switzerland, he represented the Swiss economy and presented how resilience is anchored in corporate strategies. "One of the cornerstones is this: We must all learn to enter into partnerships," explained Ian Roberts. ce/yvh