ETH Zurich sets course for net zero

The task now is to raise awareness of the net zero goal within the ETH community and offer connection points to many ETH members. Zingerli knows how time-consuming transformation work can be. It is guided by questions such as: What does it mean to research, teach, and study when we are in the thick of climate change? How to approach the topic of net zero? And how to gain access to people who are more interested in topics other than climate?

For example, the last point has been raised over the last few days at several impromptu pop-up events, including martial arts on Polyterrasse and Hönggerberg. ETH students and employees organized fights involving Jiu Jitsu – a Japanese samurai martial art used for unarmed self-defense. The motto was: “Meeting the challenge.”

You may be wondering what martial arts has to do with net zero.

Pop-up fights as a dialogue opener

One connection can be drawn from the motto. Anna Knörr from the SPEED2ZERO research initiative initiated the pop-ups and explains: “Like net zero, martial arts is about facing challenges.” Jiu Jitsu symbolizes not only fighting, but also joint training, where cooperation and community are key. “There is also a link to net zero because we can only achieve the goal together,” he says.

Pop-ups are intended to arouse the interest of passers-by and encourage dialogue. According to Sebastian Kahlert, who coordinates the Net Zero program at ETH Sustainability, it worked well: “Many people took part in the role play and found the analogy interesting. In this way, we reached ETH members who were not at all familiar with our climate goal,” he says.