Explore our knowledge repository on interesting and insightful topics on sustainable development and more.

Knowledge for Climate (Switzerland, India, Nepal, Peru, El Salvador, Columbia) 2017 – 2020

Responding to the challenge in science and education in climate change adaptation, this international network brings together multi-disciplinary expertise from Switzerland, and from two major world regions – South Asia and Latin America. The vision is to develop an active international network of academic institutions in the field of climate change adaptation (CCA). The network engages in innovative and impact-full research and education that is salient to the needs for achieving sustainable development. Read more.

Innovative Financing in Education and Development: Case Studies and Multi-Media Material for E-Learning (Switzerland, India, China, South Africa and Argentina)

The project focuses on a topic that is severely under-examined in development studies yet has been elevated to a key feature of the SOG 2030 agenda: private sector involvement in development. The new innovative financing modalities, which often explore avenues to raise financing from private sources or at minimum use market-based approaches, have the potential to become a significant source of financing for development. In this COFER project, seven consortium partners join their varied expertise, net-works, and experiences to develop case studies and multi-media material on innovative financing in education. Read more.

Towards a “fluid” governance: hydrosocial analysis of flood paradigms and management practices in Ganges and Rhone basins (India, France and Switzerland) 01.05.2019 – 31.12.2021

This project aims to understand floods beyond technical approaches by emphasizing that inundations are strongly dependant on territorial and historicized dynamics and negotiations; imbued with politics, equity and cultural issues; and located at the intersection of sustainability and well-being. Read more.

Living with violence II: Rural livelihoods and the struggle for territory in post-war Sri Lanka 01.11.2013 – 30.09.2018

This is an extension of research previously conducted in Nepal on the differentiated impacts of various forms of violence, coercion and control on rural livelihoods in Mid-Western Nepal during and after the People’s War. The aim of this research is to gain a better understanding of the geographies of violence that underpin processes of contentious territorialization in Sri Lanka. Read more.

The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Switzerland and its post-war forms of engagement in Sri Lanka 01.04.2017 – 31.05.2019

The proposed research investigates how the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Switzerland engages in development and peacebuilding in post-war Sri Lanka. It contributes to migration-development literature by analysing how political opportunity structures shape and influence the agency of transnational diaspora. Read more.

Small cities, urban environments and governance in India 01.10.2012 – 29.02.2016

The project focuses on urban environmental governance in India because of the global demographic and ecological importance of the country’s small cities. To gauge intra-state variation and the significance of local political and environmental contexts, small cities in each of these states are studied applying mostly qualitative methods of data collection, including semi-structured interviews with different political actors. Read more.

Feminisation, agricultural transition and rural employment: Social and political conditions of asset-building in the context of export-led agriculture and alternative income generating opportunities 01.07.2017 – 30.06.2020

Transdisciplinary in nature, this project provides evidence-based knowledge for governance – knowledge that can inform negotiations of gender equality in the context of agricultural transition and rural employment, opening up pathways to sustainable development in rural areas. Read more.

Green public spaces and sustainable cities in South and Southeast Asia: Integrating needs and societal wellbeing Q3 2017 – Present

The significance of green public spaces towards sustainability is well documented in relation to both social inclusiveness and environmental promotion. Yet the relation between green public spaces, societal wellbeing, and sustainable city development is less understood. This research assumes that green public spaces can act as synergic satisfiers towards human wellbeing, in that they provide satisfaction for a diversity of needs, but how this plays out in practice may differ according to the cultural context and across social groups. With a focus on four coastal mega-cities of South and Southeast Asia, this proposal seeks to understand human needs in relation to green public spaces as a satisfier towards societal wellbeing in relation to three main questions:

How do people practice green public spaces in daily life, in relation to material arrangements, dispositions, and social norms?
Towards what needs and for whom do green public spaces act as satisfiers?
What are the implications for the management of green public spaces and urban planning, at the local and cross-regional level?

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Evaluation of global food value chains concerning sustainability: Development of a methodology and case studies of Indian products with Swiss target market 2017 – Present

The project aims to develop specific tools for evaluate global food value chains concerning sustainability with focus on the social and economic dimensions throgh case studies (value chains of Indian products with a Swiss target market): High-volume traded food products like coffee, rice and nuts with a high upgrading potential. Based on the results of our case studies, project will evaluate potentials and develop suggestions for economic and social upgrade. Read more.