Basel Sustainability Programme

Topics like sustainability, impact, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Environment Social Governance (ESG), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) long considered as "nice to have" finally make their way to the top of the "need to have" agenda of businesses, governments and civil society. However, the complexity associated with such broad and rapidly evolving topics represents a main barrier to implementation across stakeholders and value chains. This is particularly the case for start-ups who were typically lacking access to internal know-how or external resources to tackle the complex endeavor of charting their journey towards sustainability.

The aim of this project is to address this acute need for guidance and support by providing a pragmatic sustainability-enabling approach for start-ups. FHNW School of Life Sciences aims to help support start-ups that do not yet have a concrete plan on how to align their business models with current sustainability principles:
By designing of a framework and tool-box for start-ups and their business models with regard to their sustainability performance and concrete guidance for closing the gaps.
By creating awareness among the entrepreneurial community by showcasing role models and inspiration for the transition to a more sustainable economy (events, workshops etc).