Impact-Oriented Projects

Driving sustainable transformation through action

Our impact-oriented projects are where ideas meet action. Each initiative brings together diverse stakeholders to address real sustainability challenges in the St.Gallen region, aiming to create tangible outcomes that move us toward more desirable futures.

As ambitious change projects, these activities necessitate an experimental and iterative approach. The individual project pages make the current status, theories of change, and emerging outputs and outcomes transparent. But they are always open to iteration along the way.

New impact-oriented projects are launched if there are robust stakeholder constellations and resources available. If you want to collaborate on one of the existing projects or envision co-creating something new, we are excited to hear from you!

Future-Maker-Space

Co-creating desirable futures together requires physical spaces for exchange, learning from each other, and doing the work of conceputalizing and implementing projects. The Future-Maker-Space links existing offerings and creates physical infrastructure for impact-focused project development and collaboration.

THRIVE Impact Summer Schools

The THRIVE Impact Summer Schools are yearly one-week intensive programs designed to empower students to actively shape their sustainable future. Through hands-on collaboration with regional partners and sustainability experts, participants develop critical skills, build networks, and create tangible solutions to real regional challenges. In 2026, the THRIVE Summer Schools provide simulataneous offerings for university and high school students.

Partnership Catalyst

The Partnership Catalyst aims to facilitate cross-sector partnerships for tackling societal challenges. It builds on the assumption that effective collaboration requires understanding each others perspectives, approaches, and priorities and developing a shared understanding how each party can bring in their particular strengths.

Future Festival

The Future Festival aims to create a space to make different stakeholder and activities geared towards a sustainable and innovative St.Gallen region more visible and perceptible. By invovlving the public and key stakeholders, its aim is to also generate momentum for future projects and collaborations.

Impact Ideation Incubator

HSG has a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem with many offerings for early stage start-ups. Start-ups and similar initiatives with a primary focus on impact might benefit from specifically tailored incubation offerings. This is what the Impact Ideation Incubator aims to provide.

HSG Impact Scholar Community

The HSG Impact Scholar Community connects scholars aiming to conduct research that positively contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and fosters positive social and environmental change. The community organizes workshops and event and collaborates with different stakeholders around impact scholarship.

Positive Impact Collaboration

There is a broad range of activities related to sustainability and creating a positive impact for people and planet going on in the HSG ecosystem. This project aims to break down silos and facilitate interaction and co-creation across different groups such as students, researchers, and members of university management and administration.

Future Projects

The Transformation Lab supports the launch of additional impact-oriented project if a clear need is identified, a robust stakeholder constellation in place, and the resources are available to allow for the development of significant momentum.