Z-Forum on Sustainability and Innovation
CCRS, Switzerland Innovation, Baden ist, MDPI, Swiss National Science Foundation
Programm/Ablauf
Thursday 15 January 2026 ETH Hauptgebäude, Zürich | ||
| Time | Session | Speaker |
| 08:15 | Registration, Coffee | |
| 08:30 | Welcome Address | Philipp Aerni, Director of CCRS, Max Bergman, University of Basel, and Raphael Tschanz, Director of the Zurich Chamber of Commerce |
| 08:45 | Opening Keynotes | Marianne Binder, Member of the Swiss State Council Martina Hirayama, Head of State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) at Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research |
| 09:15 | Panel 1: Infrastructure and bottom-up solutions for urban resilience | Chaired by Markus Schaefer, President of Switzerland Innovation Park Central, Zug • The future of resilient water and waste management systems, Reto von Schulthess, Partner, Holinger AG • Advanced systems of clean and safe energy production, Annalisa Manera, Professor at ETH Zurich • The importance of cybersecurity in the provision of public services, Shira Kaplan, Founder and CEO of Cyverse, Zurich |
| 11:00 | Break | |
| 11:30 | Keynote | Keyu Jin, Professor at London School of Economics and Author of Bestselling Book ‘The China Playbook’ |
| 12:00 | Plenum Discussion | |
| 12:15 | Lunch | |
| 13:30 | Panel 2: Rural-urban linkages and their contribution to an inclusive bioeconomy | Chaired by Beat Keller, Professor of Plant Science at the University of Zurich • The contribution of Buhler Group to resilient economic ecosystems in Switzerland and abroad, Ian Roberts, CTO Bühler Group • The bioeconomy as a driver of sustainable rural-urban economic linkages, Jan Grossarth, Professor of Bioeconomy and Circular Economy, Germany • Innovation in food and agriculture for stronger urban-rural bonds, Louise Fresco, Professor and former President of University of Wageningen |
| 15:15 | Keynote | Bruno Basso, Professor at Michigan State University and Founder and CEO of CIBO Technologies |
| 15:45 | Break | |
| 16:15 | Panel 3: An opportunity-driven approach to migration-induced urban growth | Chaired by Rajib Shaw, Professor at Keio University, Japan |
| 18:00 | Keynote | Doug Saunders, Award Winning Canadian Journalist, Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy and Author of Bestselling Book ‘Arrival City’ |
| 18:30 | Discussion and Wrap-Up | |
| 19:00 | Conference Dinner | |
Friday 16 January 2026 | ||
Druckerei, Baden | ||
| 08:00 | Registration, Coffee | |
| 08:15 | Welcome Remarks | Rico Baldegger and Thomas Lütolf (Baden 4.0) |
| 08:30 | MDPI OA and Sustainability | Stefan Tochev, CEO of MDPI AG |
| 09:00 | Opening Keynote | Pascale Bruderer, Vice-President of ETH Board, Founder and Chairwoman of Swiss Stablecoin AG |
| 09:30 | Panel 4: Investment in sustainable and inclusive technological change | Chaired by Markus Reubi, Federal Council Delegate for the 2030 Agenda, FDFA/STS | Deputy Head of the Prosperity and Sustainability Division • Chinese 15th 5-year (2026-2030) plan for resilient and sustainable development, Shan Jiang, Humboldt Fellow |
| 11:15 | Break | |
| 11:45 | Keynote | Eleni Gabre Madhin, Founding CEO Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, Executive in Residence at Georgetown University, USA |
| 12:20 | Discussion and Wrap-Up | Antonio Hautle, Global Compact Network Switzerland and Lichtenstein |
| 12:30 | Lunch | |
| 14:00 | Resilence in Practice | "From Baden 2.0 to Baden 4.0", Keynote Address by Nora Teuwsen, Chairwoman of the Executive Board of ABB Switzerland |
| 14.30 | Companies viewpoints | Christian Brönnimann, CEO of Dectris Guido Konrad, CEO Varian Medical Systems Imaging Lab Dr. Marjan Kraak, Jury Member of Venture Kick and Innovation Manager at KSB Innovation Park |
| 16:00 | End of Program | |