Blume, Biene und Finger, der auf beide zeigt

Teaching Sustainability as a work ethic

In response to current challenges in the realm of resources and climate change, we promote collaborative action and creative thinking through project and theoretical work. Alongside what our students produce during their studies, they develop strategies for communicating sustainability in their disciplines. In so doing, they learn to incorporate eco-social wellbeing as a fundamental part of their creative process – responsibly, farsightedly, inventively.

Sustainability and self-empowerment & engagement form an integral part of our curriculum. Sustainability issues such as biodiversity, animal rights and social justice also form the cornerstone of numerous final assignments and theses. The Object Design and Textile Design majors have aligned their curricula with the UN’s SDGs. 

Photovoltaik an der Fassade

Photovoltaics on the building

Students develop photovoltaic modules for a façade on the Empa campus. Technology and design go hand in hand.

Design Prize 2023 for sustainable mattresses

Joel Hügli's graduation project on sustainable mattresses receives the Young Professionals Award at the Design Preis Schweiz 2023.

Dämmaterialien auf einem Tisch

MA in Eco-Social Design

The master’s degree in Eco-Social Design has students exploring the complex problems of living within the ecological limits of the planet and working on the challenges posed by climate change.

Person schiebt eine Schubkarre

BA in Object Design — Slow Tools LAB

Food is fundamental to our survival. What can designers contribute to the transformation of food production? Students taking the bachelor’s degree in Object Design have joined forces with a farm, NaturGut Katzhof, to develop “slow tools” for alternative agriculture.

Gebäude mit Fassade aus runden, farbigen Elementen

BA in Textile Design — Keep it Local

Many young designers and start-ups are intent on producing things locally. But what does that mean in times of global supply chains? The "Keep it Local" module in the bachelor’s degree Textile Design offers tools enabling students to evaluate and put in place what is needed for producing their own textile products.

Bäume

BA in Data Design + Art: Central theme Forest

The bachelor’s degree in Data Design + Art spent an entire semester tackling the topic of forests and woodland: woodland as a resource, as a living entity, as a point of contact with nature.

Ausgetrocknetes Luzern Seebecken

Dystopian animation film on climate change

What could Switzerland look like if we continue to ignore the climate crisis? Lukas Bieri, a graduate of the BA in Animation, offers a scenario in his short film “3.5%”.

Sustainability and self-empowerment & engagement modules

+Colabor’s interdisciplinary and varied range of modules contain broad opportunities for applying artistic and design principles to drive ecological change.