News archive

Inspiration day for all employees on the theme "Balancing a changing and challenging world".
The day begins with a few words from the University Management followed by lectures on the theme by researchers at KI

The Environmental and sustainability representative at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH), Sara, shares some insights from the current work to make MedH a more sustainable department and workplace. One action currently underway is free period products at the department.

An audit of KI’s greenhouse gas emissions reveals that the greatest volumes come from the purchase of goods and official travel. KI is now upping its climate game in several areas.

The Cities Partnerships Programme Stockholm, comprising UCL (University College London) and the Stockholm trio (Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology & Stockholm University) invite you to express interest in two days of workshops 17-18 April in Stockholm.

We asked three managers at KI Biobank about the main lessons they take away from last year.

Vice President Anders Gustafsson shares his thoughts on leadership and working methods based on lessons learned from the pandemic.

Representatives from centres within Stockholm trio met at KI for a breakfast meeting and a chance to engage in conversations about activities and collaborations within the topic of climate and health. The collaboration group on climate and health creates spaces and opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation in this wide and complex field.

Karolinska Institutet signs an agreement on collaboration with Huddinge municipality – the focus will be on equity in health and prevention, for a healthy life. On Tuesday, October 25, KI's President Ole Petter Ottersen and Huddinge municipality’s Director Camilla Broo signed the agreement.

Through the Horizon Europe programme, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been granted large financial grants for approximately 20 different projects aimed at solving various societal challenges in health. One of the projects will explore the possibility of creating a common system for the reuse of already approved medicines to treat various diseases.

“Our planet, our health – an intergenerational dialogue” – the title of this year’s Rosling Seminar at Karolinska Institutet. The seminar, which was held 5 October, was jointly arranged by KI and the WHO with participants attending on site and online.

The students' association IFMSA runs the Vår hälsa brinner (Our health is on fire) campaign to raise awareness and educate about the health impacts of climate change. Students see a need to work concretely on the issue, not least during their medical training. They have made an alphabet series illustrating the impact of climate change on public health and hold educational workshops. During Politician's Week in Almedalen, they held a workshop and distributed posters with the alphabet.

During the UN Environment Summit 2-3 June called Stockholm +50, health was given a special place as the word was used in the theme of the whole conference "A healthy planet for the prosperity of all". In doing so, the health of the planet could be linked to human health and prosperity.

About half of the Swedish population feels a strong climate worry. This is normal because the climate threat is real, says researcher Fabian Lenhard, who is starting a study on climate change. The research project will be attempting to channel worry about climate change into sustainable development.

Bringing together expertise, offering attractive training and providing a hub for collaboration. This is the vision for the Stockholm Trio for Sustainable Actions - a new initiative from Karolinska Institutet, KTH and Stockholm University to further contribute to sustainable societal development.

Partnership and cooperation are necessary to accelerate the work to achieve the global goals – and this is where academia plays an important role. This emerged during the seminar "New Partnerships for Human and Planetary Health" arranged by Karolinska Institutet, KTH and Stockholm University in May.

At a joint event, coordinated by the World Health Organization, Karolinska Institutet, and several other organizations the critical interface between people and pathogens, and the health-related existential threats of climate change will be discussed. This side event occurs during the 50th anniversary of the first UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm (2-3 June).

The day before the UN’s Stockholm+50 international conference in early June, KI, Stockholm University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm Environment Institute are arranging a hybrid conference focusing on how scientists, academics and students can influence decision-makers and drive progress towards a sustainable society.

On 25 March, Fridays for Future organised climate demonstrations around the world, to raise awareness of the climate crisis among the public and policy makers. Together with the Researchers' Desk, KI employees, PhD students and students showed their support for the climate.

In november 2021, KI announced the second internal call dedicated to junior researchers who conduct SDG-related research. Six research projects have been selected in a competitive review.

Many of society’s challenges, such as the climate issue, are too complex to be solved singlehandedly by different actors. Partnership and collaboration are necessary if the work of reaching the global goals is to be accelerated – and here academia plays an important part. This is the view of representatives of the Stockholm Trio, ahead of their May seminar showcasing how they mobilise to improve the health of people and the planet.

You have initiated an ambitious drive for Karolinska Institutet to further explore the need for inner development as a means to be better prepared and equipped to meet the complex challenges organizations, societies and the world are facing. A point of departure is our engagement in the Inner Development Goals Summit April 29th.

The organisation Climate Students recently published the report Climate Action Ranking, where they rank Sweden's higher education institutions according to their climate work. In this year’s report, KI came in third place.

The South Africa – Sweden University Forum (SASUF) is hosting its 4th Research and Innovation Week which takes place virtually on 19-23 September 2022. Call for Workshops /sessions for SASUF Goes Digital 2022 is now open.

As a government agency, KI is obliged to have an environmental management system in accordance with The Ordinance (2009:907) on Environmental Management in Government Agencies. The environmental management system requires internal environmental audits to be carried out each year.

Line Gordon and Tobias Alfvén participated in Nobel Calling Stockholm 2021 with a lecture arranged by Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm Resilience Center at Stockholm University. Focusing on the United Nations Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s latest report, the current state of knowledge about climate and environmental change and how this affects the world's children was summarized and discussed.

The COP26 agreement keeps the 1.5C goal alive and for the first time mentions the role of fossil fuels. The climate transition is about the future of humankind, but medical researchers say it can also have immediate health benefits here and now.

On 31 October, the 13-day UN climate summit COP26 began with the aim of accelerating measures to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Climate Convention. Shervin Shahnavaz, member of the climate network at KI, has in recent weeks focused intensely on climate issues as a result of the meeting.

As many as six photovoltaic power installations have now been put into operation on campus Solna. The installations are located on the roofs of, among others, Widerströmska huset, A Working Lab Innomedicum and the Berzelius Laboratory. Together, the solar cells cover an area of approximately 2,100 square metres and provide the campus area with renewable energy.

On Thursday 16 September the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Health (CESH) was inaugurated. It's a digital competence center that has been established together with Makerere University in Uganda. The purpose of the center is to promote sustainable health and contribute to Agenda 2030 with the help of a long-term partnership.

Karolinska Institutet (KI) has been awarded a grant from Sida for a two and a half year capacity development project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Somalia. The project aims to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Karolinska Institutet has been granted renewed funding from the Swedish Institute (SI) to implement two capacity building training programmes for professionals in Sub-Saharan Africa. The training programmes will be offered online during 2021 - 2022.

Last autumn, KI announced an new internal funding for work on sustainable development initiatives. After fierce competition, five applications have now been selected to share one million SEK.

Karolinska Institutet has signed an agreement with Wellcome Leap that enabled KI to join the Leap Health Breakthrough Network. This global network comprises many leading academic and research institutions across six continents, that are committed to solving the world’s most serious global health challenges.

KI's President has decided on a climate strategy as part of KI's contribution to a more sustainable world. The strategy is to be followed up by an action plan with more concrete measures with everything from the purchasing of goods and services to reducing CO2 emissions from travel.

KI and Makerere University have signed an agreement to establish the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Health (CESH), a centre to promote partnerships and develop capacity, resources and tools for researchers and policy makers globally. The agreement is the next step in the deepening of the collaboration between the institutions.

The virtual SPARKS conference held on 2-3 December will gather a network of global leaders in public policy and research to facilitate the exchange of knowledge on social protection and health. Knut Lönnroth is the founder of the SPARKS Network and Professor of Social Medicine.

An extensive workshop has been held to further the vision of creating a Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Health. Karolinska Institutet is driving the development together with Makerere University in Uganda, with focus on non-communicable diseases and other high burden diseases.

At Karolinska Institutet several staff and students are deeply committed to reduce the environmental footprint. One of the many departments at KI taking an active approach to climate issues is the Department of Clinical Neuroscience.

A research and innovation conference is currently in progress in Stellenbosch, South Africa, bringing together representatives of Swedish and South Africa universities. The main topic of the week-long conference, which opened on 6 May under the STINT-financed South Africa–Sweden University Forum (SASUF) project, is Agenda 2030.

The integration of the UN’s Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals into higher education and the importance of engaging students in the process were in focus at the recent conference, “Rethinking Higher Education: Inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals”.