Recovery and Rebuilding of Ukraine: How ETH Zurich Contributes to Getting Things Done

Summary

In a vital discussion on the role of academic institutions in post-conflict recovery, representatives from ETH Zurich outline their significant contributions to Ukraine's rebuilding efforts. Led by President Joel Mizo and ETH advisor Liisa Yasco, these initiatives focus on leveraging scientific innovation to restore not just Ukraine's infrastructure but also its scientific community. ETH Zurich's projects range from documenting destruction for future reconstruction to pioneering medical technologies crucial for war injuries. By fostering collaboration and utilizing advanced technology, they aim to create a resilient, innovative future for Ukraine, highlighting the synergy between academia and societal recovery.

Highlights

• ETH Zurich is leveraging science to aid Ukraine's recovery after conflict. 🔬
• President Joel Mizo and advisor Liisa Yasco discuss their initiatives and plans. 🎙️
• Innovations include digital mapping of destruction and advanced prosthetics research. 🛰️
• Projects aim to blend scientific research with humanitarian needs like health and human rights. 🤖
• International cooperation is seen as essential in rebuilding Ukraine's future. 🤝

Key Takeaways

• ETH Zurich is actively contributing to Ukraine's recovery with science and innovation. 💡
• The university is involved in nearly 10 different projects focused on reconstruction and innovation. 🔧
• Collaborations include documenting destruction, medical technology development, and AI for reconstruction data. 📊
• The efforts emphasize building a resilient, scientifically robust Ukraine for the future. 🌍
• Key projects also address humanitarian needs, such as prosthetics development and human rights documentation. 🏥

Overview

ETH Zurich is at the forefront of utilizing scientific innovation to help rebuild Ukraine after the devastation of conflict. Under the leadership of President Joel Mizo and advisor Liisa Yasco, the institution has initiated multiple projects aimed at reconstructing not only infrastructure but also the scientific community within Ukraine. Their focus is clear: to use science as a bridge to a stronger, more resilient post-war nation.

Among the key projects discussed, there's an emphasis on documenting the current destruction through innovative technologies like digital mapping and AI. This approach not only aids in rebuilding efforts but also serves as an important tool for legal and humanitarian claims. Furthermore, ETH Zurich is engaged in medical advancements, including the development of low-cost prosthetics and other critical medical technologies needed in war zones.

These initiatives underscore the importance of international collaboration. As ETH Zurich combines the strength of academia with practical recovery efforts, they highlight how science and education can pave the way toward a peaceful, sustainable future for Ukraine. This discussion sets a powerful precedent for academic institutions worldwide to play an active role in global recovery efforts.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Guest Introduction The chapter titled 'Introduction and Guest Introduction' begins by shifting the focus on Ukraine's recovery and rebuilding efforts, emphasizing the role of academic institutions such as the ETH Zurich. The chapter introduces two key figures - President Joel Mizo and Liisa Yasco, who is an ETH advisor for public policy initiatives and a member of parliament. These individuals are highlighted for their significant contributions to Ukraine's resilience.
• 01:00 - 05:00: Joel Mizo's Background and Perspective The book explores the background and perspective of Joel Mizo, opening with an interview scenario. Ukraine's involvement with Dr. Chris Lupan is highlighted as they discuss the practical measures eth3 is implementing to support Ukraine during a critical period. The chapter sets the scene for an insightful conversation led by Dr. Lupan, promising an informative dialogue about the ongoing efforts and strategies.
• 05:00 - 10:00: Role of ETH Zurich in Ukraine The chapter discusses the involvement of ETH Zurich in the recovery and rebuilding efforts in Ukraine. It emphasizes the significance of science and innovation as tools for overcoming conflict and adversity. The chapter sets the stage for insights from two guests who exemplify the real-world application of these themes, although their contributions or details are not covered in the provided transcript.
• 10:00 - 15:00: Liisa Yasco's Background and Perspective In this chapter, the focus is on Liisa Yasco's background and her perspective regarding the rebuilding of structures for the Ukrainian people. The discussion revolves around fostering a resilient, innovative, and sustainable future for Ukraine. Liisa Yasco is joined by a colleague, Shel, who invites Joel to share important aspects about himself relevant to the conversation.
• 15:00 - 20:00: Current Projects and Initiatives The chapter titled 'Current Projects and Initiatives' begins with a focus on rebuilding Ukraine. There is an informal conversation about whether to trace one's history back to early childhood or start from high school, with a humorous suggestion to avoid going that far back. The speaker shares their background of growing up in Geneva, hinting at their accent, and reflects on two transformative experiences that resurfaced when they became president of ETH Zurich approximately six years ago.
• 20:00 - 25:00: Mapping Ukraine Project The chapter titled 'Mapping Ukraine Project' discusses the increasing engagement of educational institutions with various organizations over the years. As a student, the author frequently visited several organizations, noting that there were fewer such organizations 30 years ago compared to today. A significant aspect of the chapter is the author's experience as the president of ETH, where it was a priority to deepen the school's involvement with significant organizations like CERN and the United Nations.
• 25:00 - 30:00: Future Prospects and Closing Remarks In this chapter, the focus is on the future prospects and concluding thoughts. The speaker emphasizes the role of universities in serving society. This includes forming initiatives with organizations like the ICRC and the UN to serve not just the wealthy but also the most vulnerable members of society. The chapter stresses the importance of inclusivity and global cooperation in fulfilling the university's mission to support and uplift the weak and underprivileged demographics.

Recovery and Rebuilding of Ukraine: How ETH Zurich Contributes to Getting Things Done Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 now we continue our focus on Ukraine but from a different perspectives so the role that academic institutions like the eth tourish play in recovery and rebuilding efforts in this next segment we will hear from two remarkable personalities who are at the Forefront of the a contributions to Ukraine resilience president Joel mizo and liisa yasco eth advisor for Public Policy initiatives and member of parliament of
• 00:30 - 01:00 Ukraine will join Dr Chris lupan in an interview to share their insights and the tangible steps eth3 is taking to support Ukraine in this critical time so I'm looking forward to this interview and I'll hand over to Chris lupan for to begin the interview thank you thank you thank you very much and good afternoon everybody you can hear me now it's a pleasure to be
• 01:00 - 01:30 here and to follow after such uh an interesting session it's great to see you thank you for being here for making time um I'm actually quite honored to speak with my two guests in just a minute because I think it's quite important that we demonstrate how science and Innovation are powerful tools for recovery and rebuilding in the face of conflict and adversary and this we're going to hear from from real examples it's not simply about
• 01:30 - 02:00 rebuilding structures but how to foster a resilient Innovative and sustainable future for the Ukrainian people so i' like to ask Shel my boss and he said please come down join me up here and here's going and I get I'm going to stand here you're so um first of all Joel what else do people in the room need to know about you when it comes to this conversation
• 02:00 - 02:30 around rebuilding Ukraine how far you want me to go back kindergarten or yeah how about start with high school not go that so maybe one point I grew up in Geneva as you can hear from my accent and there are two things that uh really shape me and kind of disappeared for a while and came back when I was president of eth zich since six years now first un
• 02:30 - 03:00 organizations as a as a school kid we were visiting regularly all these organizations there were not as many to 30 years ago as today but 17 I remember I had to learn by heart and the second thing is the presence of CERN and U when I became the president of eth it became clear that I wanted to engage this School more with un
• 03:00 - 03:30 organizations and that's why we launch some program with icrc we launch a global agreement with UN in New York um because I put it always the same way I said that in the introduction a role of a university is to serve Society but it's not only to serve the wealthy in our society it's also to serve those who are the weakest and the weakest we know where they are
• 03:30 - 04:00 refugees camps War regions and this is what we do with uh with our initiatives that was something new for it and we wanted to bring this at the highest level and then CERN I think it's always good to remember why CERN was founded CERN was founded just after the second world war to reshape the science in Europe to reput science at the
• 04:00 - 04:30 highest level in Europe also to have German scientist and French scientists talking to each others when diplomacy politics doesn't work anymore the last link very often is the science and when I see what happening today I'm a bit sad and so I say universities are here to build Bridges and not destroy the bridges and then finally a little
• 04:30 - 05:00 thing that happened before the war in Ukraine I went there I met your president for the Ukrainian sensy because we had a project with Ada together during the covid where you know in Switzerland we were not sure we had enough respirators at the beginning of the covid wave and then I said well if Switzerland doesn't have enough respirators what about the rest of the world so we built a very cheap spirator
• 05:00 - 05:30 nobody in Switzerland wanted to build it Stefan um maybe you can talk to your people to your companies so it turns out we through I don't go to the all um the history that thanks to the Head the the help of uh Federal Council ignatio Cassis to TSA we could have a production luned in Ukraine and so I went there to present the model that we had been bu okay the
• 05:30 - 06:00 war change a little bit the story unfortunately but you know I visited D dbas so there was a emotional attachment for me developed towards Ukraine great thank you very much Joel and Lisa who are you in the context of our conversation today you are a fascinating human as well um good afternoon to everyone um so my name is Lisa YCO yes I'm member of
• 06:00 - 06:30 the parliament of Ukraine the Foreign Affairs committee I'm also the member of our delegation to the Council of Europe for me um I want to share that um by my education I have three master's degre degrees I'm a political scientist and um around 10 years ago when I was thinking where I want to do my one of my degrees because at that stage I was working in presidential Administration running communic ation campaigns fighting Russian propaganda I
• 06:30 - 07:00 was looking um for University that would be covering Global challenges but also would have a public policy school and I was looking at IA but at that stage there were no public school so I went to Oxford o uh in that hurt that hurt this year this year we are founding you can help us yes in 2020
• 07:00 - 07:30 um I had quite in special moments um for me where I was thinking about uh Switzerland uh the philosophy of Switzerland on everything that is very much connected to my life now it's the question of Peace it's a question of War so um I remember I was in main 2022 in some Galen Symposium and actually listening to ignasio Ci's um presentation about what neutrality means
• 07:30 - 08:00 and I've heard that neutrality in Switzerland doesn't mean in action and then I was actually trying to reach IA because I thought there were so many things already destroyed in Ukraine in 2022 we need more science more technologies that would be actually helping with that and here I am now uh joining the team hopefully working
• 08:00 - 08:30 for advising on that initiatives that can breach the science and education for a real change and you you know for me uh I've heard again today something from uh ignasio cases who said that our interests is not only economy it's actually also security and peace but how to reach that and I really believe that in Academia when we actually can bring different initiatives together when we're talking about uh for instance you
• 08:30 - 09:00 talk about respirators but I can give you so many examples in medicine in in the Science Now how much do we need Prosthetics now and how much research do we need you know we are not now a country who actually lacks expertise we have a lot of expertise but what we lack we lack science and research on that so I really think the role of IA is huge on bridging philos philosophy politics
• 09:00 - 09:30 diplomacy peac making and everything together because it's all about the future and the peaceful future that's very important we shouldn't forget about that absolutely not thank you Lisa really a short anecdote there is uh we had a minute who's two Federal counselors here there is a third one that came in the play and made the link to Lisa it was alab when he moved to to um to Council of Europe exactly the were where he said maybe you should talk to
• 09:30 - 10:00 Lisa so that's how the story goes even better so um Joel we have a whole slew of projects having to do with Ukraine perhaps you could share one of your favorites or one that's on the top of mine right now having to do with reconstruction so I think we have about 10 projects ongoing and I want to talk to maybe the one that is uh um really
• 10:00 - 10:30 close to a new conference so we had the first conference last year and it's about rebuilding the science in Ukraine of course reconstruction is very important of course all what we have seen is amazing actually the projects that is done with the private sector but as you know uh science if you want to have them developed countries that is performing
• 10:30 - 11:00 uh IDs have to come from RE researchers and so on and and and that takes a long time and now there is a lot that has gone and by the way I must say when I visited Ukraine in 2020 I was amazed by the level of digitalization that the country had and I think this is one of the factor why um you were very efficient in transforming an econ into an economy of war and um I
• 11:00 - 11:30 I'm just maybe we should think about digitalization in Switzerland somehow also we could maybe also learn from Ukraine right definitely and and and um and so so um it it was a a connection through us where there are two Association in us who have launched this ID once is the Simons Foundation the Simons is one of the biggest
• 11:30 - 12:00 uh um uh Foundation that is funding uh fundamental research all over the world also at eth mainly in us and they uh they came to us and said what can we do together so we organized the first con conference last year where we presented a number of projects and that kind of pushed these 10 projects that uh that we have developed but one is about reconstruction of Science and now there is the national AC Academy of Science
• 12:00 - 12:30 who is also being participating and we are looking for other donation uh foundations to participate so we are in discussion with many of them the idea is to build a poort of money of millions of uh Euros uh to launch projects in Ukraine the next conference will be in a few weeks from now in two in two weeks from now and where we will have concrete uh decisions being taken how to move
• 12:30 - 13:00 forward so I'm very passionate about this because this is at the core of what we are doing and I think that's really thank you very much for sharing that because it's also about collaborating coordinating between the different entities to make sure that what's happening is appropriate and uh relevant for Ukraine So Lisa what's on the top of your mind when we think about this collaboration or and the Reconstruction is there certain projects or collaboration which you most favorite or
• 13:00 - 13:30 top of mine well at this stage I think we're at the stage of collecting different projects and it starts from the projects that actually can document the damage and ending with different solutions and yes there is uh one of the projects that is called mapping uh Ukraine um that's designed IA now um and we I think that's very important to encourage to to uh create and to
• 13:30 - 14:00 implement as many projects as as possible to document from different angles we were talking yesterday about the space uh we are talking from different Technologies you know just for you to explain and I never thought about that in my life until the fullscale invasion you actually start appreciating electricity Technologies and how the electricity comes to you you start actually questioning why during the blackout I don't have that and what kind
• 14:00 - 14:30 of Technology could help whether it's green not green decentralized and not decentralized when you need to go to the shelter that is safe when you need to bring um your kids to to the shelter when when there is no petrol you know in in the beginning of of the war full scale Invasion actually we usually uh like we don't have so many green cars but but it it it came as is a big problem that actually you cannot charge
• 14:30 - 15:00 a car if you have a green green green car I mentioned uh the question of prostetics and different um areas in the medicine where you know we have so many um we have so many medical conditions now in Ukraine with all the surgeries uh of our civilians and our uh military that's it's hard to say for me but that's incredible area for the
• 15:00 - 15:30 research so we really hope that there'll be more initiatives coming in and making a research for reconstruction but I want to emphasize that it's not only about Ukraine that's really like in a good way a research market for future Technologies I also want to briefly mention defense Tech in swient it's sensitive to talk about this but what we do now in defense dech is unbelievable from technology iCal point of view and
• 15:30 - 16:00 producing all these drones check it out you know what you're very it's good that you're proud of what your what Your nation's able to do and that's just really so maybe some uh do we have time or not no we've got I'm looking at the organizers we're actually done can I have two more minutes two more minutes okay we've got two more minutes it's go ahead okay so so just about this mapping Ukraine what is it about it's about using AI so we
• 16:00 - 16:30 started about a year ago with this project where the destruction has happened not only with satellite data because they are not always available but using all mobile phones everyone's pictures combining all these pictures putting this on a platform so that when the Reconstruction comes you can go back to the state before and after the war you can help civilians for example to make their claims because very often there is no data anymore and so it's
• 16:30 - 17:00 very difficult to build something uh and to know exactly what has happened so it's a very precise data we have this knowhow and we are bringing this uh to to to uh to the population of Ukraine another project that we have is you mention uh prothesis for example that's one of the project we have with the icrc and we are going with so having uh all
• 17:00 - 17:30 types of proteses very 3D 3D printing that we can give access so they are fantastic projects in that direction and many more yeah we've got lot thank you Jo Lisa you will have the final word just very quickly we were talking now about the damage on infrastructure but there is some big need to document actually human rights damages and violations of the human rights and and prisoners of War civilians deported
• 17:30 - 18:00 children so on the humanitarian sector there is also a huge need for different initiatives and I really hope that we could develop such initiatives that already exist into humanitarian sector with using technology as well that would be the future thank you so as as you can see two very passionate humans up here who I'm sure could talk for a whole hour and last week when we
• 18:00 - 18:30 were just had a very brief conversation said Lisa how are you doing he says well I'm okay the missiles just didn't hit me and it's very sobering when you're sitting here in an office in the H caboa of this wonderful institution and you're talking to someone who's in the middle of a war again very sobering this is really what we're talking about how to reconstruct a beautiful Nation so thank you very much for being here and thank you Joel
• 18:30 - 19:00 thank you thank you very much for this very interesting conversation thank you