An animal experiences good welfare if its behavioural and physiological abilities to cope with stressors are not overused. The complexity of factors that influence the well-being of individual animals means that revealing clear causal relationships is an enormous task. Furthermore, the environmental requirements of fish vary tremendously between ...

The transdisciplinary project 'Landscapes of the Future' explores a new form of communication to stimulate social dialogue on possible developments of the landscape. Scenarios for the future, based on current scientific knowledge, will be communicated by artistic means. On a panoramic path above Lake Zurich, six stations make scenarios for ...

The general aim of this and future projects is to consolidate the knowledge on the application of direct greening methods on green roofs namely to adapt typical ecological restoration procedures to urban ecological design and praxis. Specific aims of this project are: 1) to set up of a first inventory  with the old, current and new green roofs ...

We are developing an agricultural risk decision assistant based on a unique model that can assess and visualize reliable weather and seasonal climate forecasts, soil data, and crop growth forecasts. Based on real-time and historical weather, climate, soil and crop data and novel learning algorithms, the system calculates expected weather and ...

Three-dimensional imagination is highly relevant for understanding the fundamentals of chemistry at university level. Especially when drawing molecular structures, it is important that students are able to imagine molecules/salts with the right geometry, so that the correct functioning in environment/biology/chemistry can be deduced. So far, model ...

The proposed seed project consists of two main parts: In the first part, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to analyze the environmental impact of tourism activities in Thailand. Based on the analysis, practical recommendations for providing these services more sustainably are developed. In the second part, the partners will co-write joint ...

Researchers from the School of Life Sciences and Facility Management (LSFM) initiated a platform to promote interdisciplinary research in the field of health. The School of LSFM supports this initiative to increase visibility of all health-research related activities in teaching, R&D, continued education, and services. The platform has the ...

In this project, photon density wave spectroscopy (PDWS) is used for the first time for the development and optimization of zeolite syntheses, where inline analysis was previously only possible to a very limited extent due to high pressures, high temperatures and high pH values.

Consumption decisions are personal and based on one's own preferences, possibilities and values. Everyone has his or her own consumer ethical values and ideas according to which he or she wishes to act. But are they being implemented? A large proportion of Swiss people state that they also pay attention to sustainability in their purchasing ...

The debates in 2004-2007 on the tax exemption of fuels from renewable raw materials focused mainly on 1st generation fuels. Consequently, the instruments are also geared to this type of fuel. At that time, however, the legislator made it possible for fuels from renewable energy sources to also benefit from the tax exemption. At the time the revised ...

Escape Rooms and Outdoor Missions are booming: Electronic scavenger hunts, foxtrails, geocaching, or mobile phone trails are a popular leisure activity among young families or young people. Our new "Eco Missions" offer is designed to do justice to these new leisure activities. In an eco mission, the various aspects of these offers (puzzles, ...

The aim of the research study is to extend the study by Eymann et al. (2015) of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) by selected substrate components and substrate mixtures which, based on defined criteria, have a high potential as peat substitutes. Analogous to the 2015 study, the present research project is intended to provide a ...

Agricultural production, consumption, trade of food, etc -- the Swiss food system is as complex as it is central to our daily lives. Our food supply has a greater impact on the environment, economy and society than almost any other area of life. And yet we are not very familiar with the structures and mechanisms that outline food in Switzerland. To ...

Fire blight is a severe bacterial disease of apple and pear that can quickly destroy whole orchards. In the last few years it arrived also in Central Asia, where pomaceous fruit plants represent the dominant species in mid-altitude forests and constitute a critical foundation for the entire ecosystem. Fire blight is thus a major threat not only for ...

ESU-services Ltd. has updated the Life Cycle Inventory models for crude and mineral oil products. Before the Life Cycle Inventory models are implemented in the KBOB database v2.2:2016 of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), it is necessary to validate these updated Life Cycle Inventory ...