Programme 20 June 2025

Isabel Günther

• President KFPE/GRP-Alliance
• Head of NADEL, ETH Zurich

Description follows

Grace Kagho

• ETH Zurich

This presentation highlights how artificial intelligence (AI) embedded in human-centered digital tools can transform agricultural advisory services for smallholder farmers. Drawing on the AgriPath project and its AI-powered farmbetter app, we explore how digital innovation and delivery mechanisms can democratize access to sustainable land management knowledge and enhance resilience in smallholder systems.

Dr Kibrom T. Sibhatu

• Scientist at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe)

description follows

Dr Kebene Wodajo

• Lecturer at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zurich

description follows

Prof Dr Jakob Zinsstag

• Group Leader Human and Animal Health, SwissTPH

Dr Kristina Pelikan

• Project Associate Human and Animal Health Unit, SwissTPH

Dr Hélène Langet

• SwissTPH

Big data and data processing with artificial intelligence are increasingly seen as tools in support of sustainability transitions. However, unprotected flows of big data bear risks of being (mis)used as a grid for surveillance, commercial exploitation, or even political influence. The European Union, China, and the USA have created three major data governance realms which their trade partners need to abide by. This invokes concerns over power imbalances and colonial legacies echoing into the digital era despite laudable sustainability ambitions. We argue that governments in the Global South should more actively become stewards of their citizens’ data and call for more research on the benefits of data sovereignty and the value of big data as a new form of capital.

Dr Astrid Zabel

• Head of Sustainable Land Systems Impact Area at the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern

PD Dr Theresa Tribaldos

• Head of Just Economies and Human Well-Being Impact Area at the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern
• UNESCO Chair "Natural and Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Mountain Development"

description follows

Dr Yael Borofsky

• Lecturer at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zurich

Dr Edward Asiedu

• Development economist and a lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School

Edward Asiedu

• University of Ghana Business School

Mary-Anne Heartley

• EPFL Lausanne

Dominik Stillhart

• Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)

Peter Broennimann

• State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)