Our values – responsibility, integrity, innovation and enthusiasm – reflect our mission: to provide access to quality education for those who are unable or do not wish to attend the more traditional universities. Lifelong learning, in all of life’s situations, guarantees lasting development, socially, environmentally and economically.
Read our objectives with regard to sustainable development (in French and German)
Our objectives with regard to sustainability revolve around three priorities: raising awareness, creating a sense of responsibility and supporting.
It is therefore a matter of raising the awareness of students and employees in respect of sustainable development, giving them the means to act and standing alongside them when they take initiatives to that end.
So, we are taking part in U-change, a programme to encourage student initiatives aimed at sustainable development. Our students can submit project proposals whenever a call for proposals is issued.
In future, we want to set up and run a platform dedicated to the contribution and exchange of ideas and initiatives for the students and employees.
Finally, our sustainability strategy provides for other measures and objectives, including setting up a centre of competence dedicated to sustainability within the Quality Assurance unit. This cross-functional unit will ensure that each UniDistance Suisse department integrates sustainability into its projects.
Tobias Schöpfer
Head of Quality assurance
tobias.schoepfer@fernuni.ch
Our flexible distance learning courses are accessible to people in situations that would not allow them to study at a more conventional university.
This concerns, among others:
Through the range of courses, programmes and services we offer, we contribute to equal opportunities and to lifelong learning.
Find out how studies work at UniDistance Suisse and get in touch with us if you require particular arrangements or support for your studies.
Our human resources policy also embodies this determination to achieve equality and balance.
Our new building meets the Minergie standards, which exceed the legal requirements with regard to energy consumption. There is plenty of natural light, reducing the need for artificial lighting. It has a ‘living’ roof planted up to absorb rainwater; most of the plot is given over to nature, with a garden planted with local tree species and water features. Parking spaces for electric cars and bicycles are provided for employees. Finally, potential for an extension to the building was taken into account at the design stage.
For the attended group classes which are held on Saturdays in different cities in Switzerland, we collaborate with other universities and use their buildings, which would otherwise be empty at weekends. In this way, we bring together our students at the most convenient time for them, while at the same time reducing our ecological impact to a minimum.
Did you know? It is estimated that around 45% of energy consumption in Switzerland is attributable to buildings – as well as a third of CO2 emissions.
Distance learning is in our DNA. So, to us, it’s only natural for journeys to be reduced to a minimum –for our teams as well as for the students. So, for example, …
UniDistance Suisse represents an opportunity for the economic development of the canton of Valais: it draws talented people to the region by creating attractive jobs. It also addresses the lack of skilled and qualified employees through its state-of-the-art programmes of studies. Finally, it offers the possibility of taking a course in tandem with work, thus contributing to the professional retraining of working people.
Did you know? The Master’s in Artificial Intelligence generated 26 high value-added jobs between October 2018 and January 2020.
Our researchers make significant contributions to the sustainable development objectives, whether it is a matter of corporate responsibility in the Faculty of Law, nutrition, lifelong learning, intercultural exchange or emotional interaction in the Faculty of Psychology, environmental and energy choices in the Faculty of Economics or postcolonial dynamics in the Faculty of History.
UniDistance Suisse supports Focus Sustainability.
Focus Sustainability is the national centre for student engagement with sustainability in Switzerland. The centre was launched in February 2021 by the Swiss Association of Student Organisations for Sustainability (VSN-FDD-FSS) and the Swiss Student Union (VSS-UNES-USU). Focus Sustainability is a centre by students, for students. The students, volunteers and project lead behind Focus Sustainability are committed to supporting all students at Swiss higher education institutions in their engagement with sustainability in the best way possible.