Prof. em. Dr. Hans Hurni (†)

Professor Emeritus

Unit Land Systems and Sustainable Land Management

Postal Address
University of Bern
Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)
Mittelstrasse 43
CH-3012 Bern

It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Hans Hurni. The co-founder and long-time Director of the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at the University of Bern passed away at the age of 75 on 27 September 2026, following an extended period of illness. 

Research

Areas of professional focus

  • Natural resource management
  • Sustainable development appraisal
  • Development of multi-level stakeholder approaches
  • Soil erosion process assessments
  • Soil and water conservation experimentation
  • Nature conservation
  • Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research
  • Methodological development

​Projects

  • Senior scientist, Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern (since 2016)
  • Founding Trustee, University of Central Asia (since 2017)
  • Independent Member of Board of Governors, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), 2014-2020
  • Founding president (2009-2013) of the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern
  • Initiator and Co-Director, together with Urs Wiesmann, of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South (2001-2013) on research partnerships for mitigating syndromes of global change
  • Member of the Swiss delegation to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), “Rio+20”, including preparations (since 2011), negotiation, and representation of Switzerland at the conference (June 2012)
  • Project initiator of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) support for Water and Land Resource Centres (WLRC) in the Horn of Africa and East Africa (2011-2019)
  • Dr h. c. in Agronomy, University of Haramaya, Ethiopia (2009)
  • Responsible for sustainable development research and education at the University of Bern (2010–2012)
  • Lead author of Global Chapter 1 of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD, 2005–2008)
  • Initiator of, and contributor to, the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) programme (since 1992)
  • Co-leader of the Eastern and Southern Africa Partnership Programme (ESAPP, since 1998)
  • Editor-in-Chief, since 2012 together with David Molden, of Mountain Research and Development (MRD, 1999-2016)
  • Initiator and leader of the Soil Conservation Research Programme (SCRP) in Ethiopia (1981–1998)
  • Initiator and co-leader, together with Eva Ludi, of the Simen Mountains Baseline Study, Ethiopia (SMBS, 1994–2000)
  • Dr phil.-nat. in Science, University of Bern (1980)

Further professional interests

  • Research management
  • Organisational development
  • Conflict transformation negotiations
  • Geographic information systems (GIS)
  • Process modelling

Field experience

Ethiopia, Thailand, Madagascar, Eritrea, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Cameroon, Kyrgyzstan, and professional visits to over 30 countries

Languages

German, English, French; and some Amharic, Italian, and Russian

Publications

Publication Year Type