Graduate survey reports

Since the beginning of the study programme, the department has tracked the careers of its former students by regular surveys, conducted 2 and 6 years after graduation. The results provide information about the success of the graduates in the job market and are an important feedback for the curriculum. The vision of the Environmental Sciences curriculum was, however, not only to ‘pro- duce’ graduates who are fit for the job market but also personalities who assume responsibility for a change of society towards sustainability. Therefore, we conducted two studies aiming to assess the perceived societal impact of our graduates with respect to a sustainable development of the Swiss economy and society.

List of selected reports

• Brunner SH, Frischknecht P, Hansmann R, Mieg HA (2010). Environmental Sciences Education Under the Microscope: Do Graduates Promote a Societal Change Towards Sustainability? Department Environmental Sciences/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology: Zurich, Switzerland. [PDF 0.7 MB]
• Hansmann R, Mieg HA, Frischknecht PM (2012). Principal Sustainability Components: Empirical Analysis of Synergies between the three Pillars of Sustainability. Int. J of Sustainable Development & World Ecology (Submitted).
• Hansmann R, Mieg HA, Frischknecht PM (2010). Qualifications for Contributing to Sustainable Development - A Survey of Environmental Sciences Graduates. GAIA 19(4), 278-286. [PDF 0.3 MB]
• Hirsch Hadorn G, Schmied B, Frischknecht PM (2011). Transdisciplinary elements in university education: the case of the environmental science programme at ETH Zurich. In: Debru C (Ed.): La transdisciplinarité : pourquoi, comment, où? Paris: Editions Hermann. [PDF 0.6 MB]
• Mieg HA, Hansmann R, Frischknecht PM (2012). National Sustainability Outreach Assessment Based on Human and Social Capital: The Case of Environmental Sciences in Switzerland. Sustainability, 4(1), 17-41; doi:10.3390/su4010017 [PDF 1 MB]