A number of students at the ZHAW are contributing to the achievement of the Global Sustainability Goals with their theses. The most outstanding among them are awarded annually at the Swiss Green Economy Symposium. This time, the award-winning works focus on sexual harassment in the nursing profession, a floating photovoltaic system and special crops in arable farming.
First place this year goes to Milena Bruschini for her master's thesis in Msc Nursing. With the help of a cross-sectional study, it examined the situation of sexual harassment towards caregivers in Switzerland in order to provide a basis for the development of prevention measures.
The results of their study are alarming: more than 95 percent of caregivers surveyed reported experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace in the past 12 months. "This highlights the urgent need for action. The announcement of the figures has driven awareness of the issue," said Urs Hilber, Sustainability Officer at ZHAW, in his laudation. "Measures to increase the attractiveness of the nursing profession and thus retain nursing staff are urgently needed."
With her study, Milena Bruschini had created an important basis for promoting the health of caregivers according to Goal 3 of the SDGs and achieving gender equality according to Goal 5.
Solar plant on the reservoir
Second-place winner Alena Frehner studied the environmental impact of a new floating photovoltaic system in the Alps. In comparison with conventional PV systems, it has calculated resource consumption and emissions over the entire life cycle and identified reduction potential. LCA studies on such "floating PV systems" are generally still rare and there has been no comparable study at all on this new approach in alpine environments. The results of this master thesis in the MSc Environment and Natural Resources thus provide a first insight into the environmental impact of this novel approach, form the basis for recommendations, and help to provide a decision-making basis for the expansion of renewable energy.
Fewer emissions in agriculture
The canton of Lucerne has launched a project to promote specialty crops in arable farming in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The ZHAW checked the suitability of the twelve crops for the location. As part of his bachelor's thesis in environmental engineering, Maurice Koll conducted the site analysis for two crops. He also examined the environmental impact of all twelve crops through interviews and a literature review. The results of his investigation serve the Canton of Lucerne as an initial assessment and as a preliminary study for the implementation of a life cycle assessment. It takes third place in the SDG Award.
Special prizes for other works
In addition to the three podium places, four special prizes were awarded for equally promising work. In her bachelor thesis in environmental engineering, Nicole Waechter investigated certain barriers, incentive systems and support measures for an expansion of photovoltaic systems. In her bachelor's thesis in health promotion and prevention, Moira Trüb developed recommendations for action for young adults to mitigate psychological stress caused by the climate crisis or to prevent it from occurring in the first place. Stella Damdin and Renée Villiger's bachelor's thesis in Computer Science focused on developing and evaluating a secure data erasure tool to extend the life of used laptops while meeting data security requirements. In her bachelor's thesis in food technology, Sophia Graupner investigated how a podcast can contribute to sustainable changes in dietary behavior.
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