Gallery "Sustainability"
Gallery of submissions for the "Sustainability" category of the image contest, celebrating the 20th anniversary of FBM and FGSE.
Participants described how their work addressed the theme of "sustainability," offering unique insights into contemporary and potentially future perspectives on sustainability in the context of FBM and FGSE.
The winners of this category were selected by a jury composed of scientists, artists, and members of [Figure 1.A.]
Submissions are displayed in alphabetical order by the author's last name.
Enjoy exploring these submissions!
Training our sustainability every day
by Oscar Alfageme-Abelló
Hundreds of UNIL students, including myself, rely on the Swiss railway system for their daily commute. This photo, capturing the morning rush at Lausanne Gare, illustrates a woman boarding a train with her suitcase and morning coffee. It's a scene I witness countless times each day, a testament to how public transportation is embedded in Swiss life. For four years, I've made the daily journey from Nyon to Lausanne for my doctoral studies. The train and metro system allow me to avoid the hassle and environmental impact of a car. Its reliability and speed not only make my commute stress-free but often quicker than driving. This photo embodies the Swiss commitment to sustainability.
Winner
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Winner —
Gardens against Eden
by Leila Chakroun
Link of the work to sustainability: This triptych tells a critical stage in the life of a place cultivated according to the ethics and design principles of permaculture: the production and storage of seeds, here of cucurbits, which will be used for spring sowing. The winter season (here, in January) is punctuated by care activities of this type, less spectacular than the harvests, but nevertheless indispensable for the sustainability of the agroecosystem and its autonomy relative to the industrialized agri-food system. These carcasses of pumpkins hanging in nets to dry better reveal another aesthetic of permaculture gardens, which otherwise are reduced to their summer lushness. These landscapes recall the "gardens against Eden" of anthropologist Natasha Myers who, instead of conveying the imagination of a benevolent and docile nature, "celebrate porosity, rotting and decomposition". The challenges of sustainability require that we study the emergence of these new agricultural imaginaries and we give ourselves to see these aesthetics that will accompany the Anthropocene.
Technical details: These three photographs were taken as part of my doctoral investigations, in January 2020, in a permaculture place located in the Rhone Valley, in Valais. The device used was a Canon 60D. The reference for the quote is as follows: Myers, N. (2018). Myers, N. (2019). From Edenic Apocalypse to Gardens against Eden: Plants and People in and after the Anthropocene. In K. Hetherington (Ed.), Infrastructure, Environment, and Life in the Anthropocene (pp. 115-148). New York, USA: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478002567-007
Mention spéciale
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Mention spéciale —
My house beside the embankment
by Emilie Cremin
"My House Beside the Embankment" depicts the situation of thousands of inhabitants in villages located in the Ganges-Meghna-Brahmaputra River delta in India and Bangladesh. The house was built with traditional materials, such as mud and straws, beside an embankment made of sand and mud. This embankment is built by the government to protect the house; however, this type of infrastructure is frequently breached during cyclones and storm surges. The risk of a major flood in the area is increasing with climate change and rising sea levels. Therefore our research project ENGAGE4SUNDARBANS.org questions the sustainability of such river infrastructures and investigates to find sustainable adaptation measures with the people to enhance their resilience in the river delta. This picture has been taken in January 2024 in Kumirmari a village in West Bengal, India
Heart of Stone
by Sophia Deliyanidis
The mocking gaze of this lizard from the Davel path strikes me. Is it smiling at me? As I immortalize it, I return its smile, and I'm reminded of Andréaz Dupoué's research on the effect of global warming on these cold-blooded creatures: "The problem is that each generation of lizards will pass on increasingly degraded telomeres and the fact that they reproduce quickly accelerates their extinction." Will these sun-loving reptiles soon be born old in a too-hot world? I look at it tenderly, praying for it to continue inhabiting our walls, making our stones come alive.
Winner
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Winner —
Summum bonum
by Mrabet Deraoui Isshak
Sustainability, like the summum bonum of our existence, resonates like a sweet melody through time, illuminating our path towards a future filled with harmony. Like a secret garden that we cherish with devotion, it guides us in the delicate art of preserving our world's fragile balance. The echoes of our actions resonate into eternity, weaving an unbreakable link between yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In the endless dance of seasons, sustainability presents itself as our faithful ally, inviting us to dance in perfect harmony with nature and the beings around us. By embracing its profound wisdom, we become the benevolent guardians of a precious legacy, offering future generations a world filled with beauty and balance.
The Cormorant at Dusk
by Félix Frankl
A poetic photograph illustrating the silhouette of a cormorant resting peacefully on Lake Geneva, as the sun disappears on the horizon, inviting reflection on sustainability and our role in protecting biodiversity.
This photograph inspires the words of Vincent Munier: "The world will not die from a lack of wonders, but from a lack of wonder".
Bark
par Dominique Fumeaux
Photography and digital retouching showing the intimate and essential link between human and non-human.
Dura(r)b(re)ilité
by Valentin Jamart
Planting a tree, especially in front of a building belonging to UNIL, may seem like a trivial action. However, this tree will be far from ephemeral; it will endure over time. Throughout its life, this tree will provide numerous benefits to its immediate environment such as oxygen, a shelter for the local (micro)fauna and, more incidentally, shade for future generations of students.
Das Zwischendrin (The In-between)
by Kim Lemke
My painting is about the current difficulty many people have in dealing with the topic of sustainability. Many people - and especially as a scientist – we are aware of the consequences of climate change and realise that we need to change our daily consumption and make live more sustainable. There are many offers that are certainly sustainable, but there are also those that are offered under the label "sustainable" but are not. Furthermore, it is not always possible to realise sustainable ideas and incorporate them into your daily life for many reasons e.g. financial, political, limitation in resources, law, personal etc …
If you search for the word "sustainability" with a search engine you will often find pictures showing a young tree being carried in hands or the globe or another sphere, which surrounds trees, buildings, wind turbines, recycling symbols, etc. …all depicted in green colours and sunshine to symbolise hope and the start of a more sustainable world. I have taken up some of these symbols in my painting and depicted them - what seems to me – in a more realistic motif. Not everything is green and sunny when it comes to sustainability, as you may encounter obstacles, be misguided and struggle with your own emotions regarding the future. But that doesn't mean the path to a more sustainable life is blocked - it's just not always so easy to find.
Here are some more poetic thoughts:
Nature does not grow in our hands, we are not the reason why a tree grows (let’s neglect gardening). Rather, nature is the power that rules us and we can only control it for a certain time and a limited space, but in the end, when the human is no more, nature will still exist even if maybe in a different way. As a human being, I love this magnificent planet on which we spend our short lives, with all the beauty it has to offer. I am trying to live a more sustainable life and I am aware that I need to change my consumer behavior. I am grappling with the topic of "sustainability" and encountering many opportunities. But I also encounter obstacles of many kinds, including my own: I want to change something, and I want to consume better, but reality makes it almost impossible. I fall into my usual rhythm, then I start to forget and repress. I am hypnotised by the recurring thoughts of sustainability, they take hold of me and won't let go. But how can I manage to escape hypnosis, to change my rhythm without leaving society completely, without "dropping out"?. And then I find myself in the sea of thoughts, where thoughts come and go. I see the tree, the natural reflection of many who are concerned with sustainability, and know that the leaves will remain green.
This painting is for all those who find themselves in the sea of thoughts and hope for a more sustainable life. For all those who are confronted with the topic of sustainability in their everyday professional or private lives, who are aware of the consequences of climate change, who recognise and know solutions, but who are just as well aware of the world of thoughts of the in-between when it comes to sustainability.
I painted the painting on a 50 x 60 cm canvas using water-mixable oil colours.
#strivetogether
by Marie Méan
In this place, baptized the Synathlon, from the prefix syn- from Greek "together" and the suffix -athlon from Latin "contest", on January 25, 2024, on a beautiful sunny day, a workshop was held to converge - with the most sportsmanlike fair play - the forces and brains of scientists from various faculties within the framework of the STRIVE project call from the UNIL's sustainability competence center. This photo was taken at the exit of the workshop after a morning rich in exchanges, networking and above all a source of inspiration for a new project.
#strivetogether
On the Shore of Brenet
by Gaëtan Potin
One of the real challenges of a sustainable society is the management of wetlands. Water, essential to life, is increasingly polluted. Territory planning is increasingly focused on preserving wetlands, which purify water and protect urban areas against floods. These developments, which focus on making shorelines greener, also provide refuge for biodiversity.
The underground whisperer
by Brenda Rios Ochoa
Most terrestrial plants allow to form a symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, observed here as round brownish spores linked by transparent filaments). The host plant can benefit from the fungal activity, as this partner forages and provides water and minerals, thus working as an extension of the roots. In exchange, the plant gives synthesised molecules high in energy such as sugars and lipids. Researchers are interested in learning and understanding better the interactions between the model AMF Rhizophagus irregularis and diverse crop plants. For example, in my research as a PhD student, we aim to identify genes that are potentially regulated by the host plant and/or the fungus and which are also involved in the plant’s response to water deficit.
What's next?
by Bastien Ruols
According to recent studies conducted at the University of Lausanne, a third of the current volume of Alpine glaciers will have disappeared by 2050, no matter what. The process is already underway. However, it is still possible to save some of the remaining glaciers, but for that, action is needed. Therefore, studying the physics of glaciers is crucial, whether it's to assess their current state or predict their future evolutions. Our research group at the FGSE, the Cold Regions Applied Geophysics (CRAG), contributes to this effort by studying the internal temporal changes of Swiss Alpine glaciers, from both a hydrological and dynamic viewpoint. This photo, taken last year on the Morteratsch Glacier in Graubünden, illustrates the complex movements they are subjected to, as well as the gigantic nature of these ice giants.
Winner
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Winner —
The Reign of Fungi
by Aliki Sofos
Neither plants nor animals, fungi constitute a kingdom of their own and have been present on earth for 450 million years. They play a crucial role in the sustainability of our ecosystems and also in our daily lives by decomposing and recycling organic waste, through symbiotic associations with other plants, and through carbon sequestration in the soil. They can also degrade chemical pollutants and environmental contaminants. Finally, they are a source of food and medicine for humans. Thus, fungi are essential actors in ecological sustainability, contributing to maintaining the balance and health of our ecosystems.