image-gsc-gradient
image-hero-GSC

Geneva Sustainability Centre

The Geneva Sustainability Centre's purpose is to drive net zero, climate resilient and sustainable healthcare, in support of IHF member organizations.

Hospitals and healthcare services need to become significantly more proactive in leading the transformation to net zero carbon emissions. This will build climate resilience and sustainability into their services, working with and for the communities they serve. The impact on quality of life, resilience, and the wellbeing of communities will improve health for all. The journey to net zero will also reduce the burden on hospitals and health systems.

image-whoWeAre-GSC

Who we are

Established in 2022, the Geneva Sustainability Centre supports hospitals and healthcare services to address the sustainability challenges of today and tomorrow. We will equip current and future hospital leaders with the information, tools, and skills to drive this sustainable transformation at leadership, management, and institutional levels.

icon- GSC - vision

Vision

Our vision is to support hospitals to become leaders for sustainability in their communities.

icon- GSC - Mission

Mission

Our mission is to equip hospital leaders with the information, tools, and skills to deliver a net positive impact for a healthy and resilient future.

Core offerings

What we are working on

The Geneva Sustainability Centre supports hospital and health system managers to become leaders for sustainability in their communities. Our team delivers the information, tools, and skills to drive transformation at leadership, management, and institutional levels.

Workshops and training

Developed specifically for hospital CEOs, our workshops and training build awareness and action for sustainable health systems.

Workshops and training

Toolbox

Enabling healthcare leaders to chart their sustainability journey, our kits include the Sustainability Accelerator Tool, case studies, a glossary, and our ‘Getting Started’ guides.

Sustainability toolbox

External resources

We’ve gathered useful links and resources in one handy list so you can find helpful articles, reports and guidance on sustainable healthcare.

Sustainability resources

Highlights

JCI and Geneva Sustainability Centre collaborate on international environmental sustainability standards for hospitals

The goal is to develop evidence-based standards that will adhere to core principles of sustainability that are applicable in most settings. They represent an essential step in reducing the carbon footprint of hospitals while also addressing quality and safety. The JCI sustainability standards will focus on five areas including governance, employee engagement, procurement practices, infrastructure, and use of environmental resources. A thorough review process will take place in the coming months and culminate in the publication of a new chapter in JCI’s hospital standards in mid-2024.

Read full press release

Navigating Net Zero – an overview of the Geneva Sustainability Study Tour for Polish Hospital Executives

On 1–2 May 2023, the IHF’s Geneva Sustainability Centre was pleased to welcome the Polish Hospital Federation (PFSz) for a 2-day study tour on sustainability. Here’s a round-up of highlights from the event and how joining a masterclass or tour with the Centre supports hospital leaders to become climate leaders.

Find out more

A march for climate commitments

Find out more about this initiative by Swiss collective 'La Marche Bleue' which began on 1 April in Geneva and will continue until 22 April.

From the Geneva UN Headquarters to the Swiss capital city Bern, Swiss women march for climate commitments

Our activities in 2023

Here's a quick guide to the programmes and activities coming from the Geneva Sustainability Centre in 2023: tailor-made to support hospitals and healthcare services to address the sustainability challenges of today and tomorrow.

What to expect in 2023

GSC Sustainability Accelerator Tool

Hospitals in every region, country and community are beginning their journeys to sustainability from different starting points. So we developed the GSC Sustainability Accelerator Tool and launched a teaser version during the 45th World Hospital Congress in Dubai. Find out more...

GSC Sustainability Accelerator Tool

Carbon challenge of healthcare: IHF partners in action

At the 45th World Hospital Congress, an IHF partners' workshop focused on net zero, climate resilient, and sustainable healthcare. Attendees learned and exchanged on concrete ways of delivering net zero in a hospital or healthcare setting.
This tabletop exercise was led by The Joint Commission, and chaired by their President and CEO, Dr Jonathan B. Perlin. Invited participants came from IHF partner organizations including the World Economic Forum, WONCA and ISQua.

Find out more

Preview of Geneva Sustainability Centre's CEO Sustainability Masterclass

A special masterclass preview opened Day 0 of the 45th World Hospital Congress in Dubai. Taught by Prof. Andrew Garman, Senior Leadership Development Advisor, the session was developed specifically for hospital chief executives to demonstrate some of the ways the Geneva Sustainability Centre plans to engage with the IHF community more deeply – building collective capacity to lead on sustainability goals.
The preview showcased different modules for a sustainability masterclass to invited hospital CEOs from around the world. The Geneva Sustainability Centre was created to equip current and future hospital leaders with the information, tools, and skills to drive this sustainable transformation at leadership, management, and institutional levels.

Find out more

Addressing climate change as an integral part of healthcare delivery

We join our voice with those recognizing the impact of the healthcare sector on the environment and human health. We equally recognize that good leadership is paramount to drive the organizational changes which will generate positive impact for the generations to come.
This statement illustrates the conviction of IHF Members that every hospital and healthcare organization has a role to play in its community in addressing the sustainability challenges. We also consider it as the starting point of our long-term engagement to take action on climate change.
Through our newly established Geneva Sustainability Centre, we are committed to responding to your needs and to equipping current and future hospital leaders with the required information, tools and skills.

Find out more

Meet the steering committee

Members of the Global Steering Committee are drawn from the IHF’s international community.

The Committee supports the Executive Director and her team to develop a purposeful detailed, multi-year work plan for the Centre, to include measurable objectives and indicators of success.

Andy Garman

Geneva Sustainability Centre

Andrew Garman

Senior Leadership Development Advisor

Andrew (Andy) is an industrial psychologist, professor, award-winning author and educator – bringing decades of experience facilitating learning programmes to his consultancy role.

Andy Garman

Geneva Sustainability Centre

Andrew Garman

Senior Leadership Development Advisor

Andrew believes our healthcare institutions will play a pivotal role in the future healing of our planet. An industrial psychologist by training and a professor of health systems management at Rush University in Chicago, USA, Andrew is an award-winning author and educator. He has decades of experience facilitating learning programmes for a wide range of leadership and clinical audiences, including the American College of Healthcare Executives, GE Healthcare, Healthcare Financial Management Association, International Hospital Federation, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Practice Greenhealth, Ontario Hospital Association, and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Andrew has contributed to over one hundred research articles, book chapters, major reports, and books on a breadth of leadership development and foresight topics. His most recent book, Healing our future: Leadership for a changing health system, emphasizes the catalytic role of healthcare institutions in addressing complex social challenges such as climate change.

Andrew received his bachelor degree in psychology/mathematics emphasis from Penn State, his masters in personnel and human resource development from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and hisdDoctorate in clinical psychology from the College of William & Mary / Virginia Consortium.

Deloitte Consulting Switzerland

Carlo Giardinetti

Sustainability Senior Advisor, Deloitte

Carlo splits his time between academia and consulting. His 25 years’ multidisciplinary experience includes being a Harvard instructor, learning designer, leadership coach and sustainability advisor.

Deloitte Consulting Switzerland

Carlo Giardinetti

Sustainability Senior Advisor, Deloitte

Carlo splits his time between academia and consulting. His 25 years’ multidisciplinary experience ranges from professional footballer, hotel and resort manager, Harvard instructor, learning designer, leadership coach and sustainability advisor.

University of Queensland / Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association

Dr Christian Gericke

Professor of Medicine, Queensland

Consultant neurologist, epileptologist and public health physician, Medical Director of Communicable Diseases (Queensland Department of Health), and Professor of Medicine at the University of Queensland.

University of Queensland / Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association

Dr Christian Gericke

Professor of Medicine, Queensland

Professor Christian Gericke, MD PhD MPH (Cantab) MSc MBA FRACP FAFPHM, is a Consultant Neurologist, Epileptologist and Public Health Physician. He is Director of Neurology at the Prince Charles Hospital, Medical Director of the Communicable Diseases Branch in the Queensland Department of Health in Brisbane, and Professor of Medicine at the University of Queensland.

Munich Municipal Hospital Group & University of Cape Town / German Hospital Federation

Prof. Dr Edda Weimann

Medical Director, Munich, and Honorary Associate Professor, Cape Town

Internationally renowned professor of child health and a public health specialist, with a medical degree, formation in paediatrics and a masters degree in public health...

Munich Municipal Hospital Group & University of Cape Town / German Hospital Federation

Prof. Dr Edda Weimann

Medical Director, Munich, and Honorary Associate Professor, Cape Town

Edda Weimann is an internationally renowned professor of child health and a public health specialist in the field of health systems. She obtained her medical degree at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, her formation in paediatrics at Goethe University, Frankfurt, and her masters degree in public health (international health systems) at the University of Cape Town.

Deloitte

Dr Elizabeth Baca

Managing Director, Deloitte

Dr. Elizabeth is a clinician and strategic leader providing systems thinking and insights to healthcare and life science clients to support care delivery innovation to...

Deloitte

Dr Elizabeth Baca

Managing Director, Deloitte

Dr Elizabeth is a clinician and strategic leader providing systems thinking and insights to healthcare and life science clients to support care delivery innovation to foster total health and wellbeing recognizing health equity and sustainability are central to this work. She served in both administrations of Governor Brown and Governor Newsom, first as Senior Health Advisor and then Deputy Director. She has worked on a variety of projects to foster health through land use planning, systems change, food systems, precision health, precision medicine and big data. Much of her work is about connecting the dots; she loves working across sectors to foster participant-centred design and collaboration.

Aga Khan Development Network

Dr Fawzia Rasheed

Senior Adviser to Director of Health, Aga Khan

Fawzia leads the work on decarbonizing health operations for Aga Khan Health Services, across 8 countries and involving over 500 health facilities. Innovations developed through...

Aga Khan Development Network

Dr Fawzia Rasheed

Senior Adviser to Director of Health, Aga Khan

Fawzia leads the work on decarbonizing health operations for Aga Khan Health Services, across 8 countries and involving over 500 health facilities. Innovations developed through this experience are being shared with governments across the world in collaboration with the World Health Organization. Tackling the climate and environmental crises are her priorities.

Catalan Hospital, Health and Social Services Association

Dr Jaume Duran

Chief Executive Officer

Dr Jaume Duran has been the CEO of a non-for profit institution, Fundació Sanitaria Mollet (FSM), for more than 13 years.

Catalan Hospital, Health and Social Services Association

Dr Jaume Duran

Chief Executive Officer

Dr Jaume Duran has been the CEO of a non-for profit institution, Fundació Sanitaria Mollet (FSM), for more than 13 years. Thanks to its 1500 professionals, FSM delivers social and health public services to a more than 165.000 citizens of reference in Barcelona metropolitan area, by managing 85 annual million € on average per budget.

Trained as general practitioner and holder of a Master’s degree in Business Administration, Dr Duran has occupied various executive positions in Catalan hospitals. He is also involved in governance and lobbying activities for the Catalan health sector, as the Secretary of the Director Committee at the Catalan Union of Hospitals.

Focused on increasing services to their customers by adding value thanks to quality improvement processes, Dr Duran has a solid interpersonal, collaborative and teaching skills.

Dr Duran became a member of the IHF Governing Council in February 2021.

American Hospital Association

Michelle Hood

Executive Vice President & COO, AHA

In love with the sciences since youth, Michelle Hood earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Purdue and began graduate school in neurophysiology. That’s when...

American Hospital Association

Michelle Hood

Executive Vice President & COO, AHA

In love with the sciences since youth, Michelle Hood earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Purdue and began graduate school in neurophysiology. That’s when she realized her work life needed more human interaction. At a faculty advisor’s suggestion she pivoted and earned a master’s in healthcare administration. Today she is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the American Hospital Association.

NHS England and NHS Improvement / NHS Confederation

Dr Nick Watts

Chief Sustainability Officer, NHS England

Dr Nick Watts is the Chief Sustainability Officer of the NHS, responsible for its commitment to deliver a world-class net zero emission health service. Based...

NHS England and NHS Improvement / NHS Confederation

Dr Nick Watts

Chief Sustainability Officer, NHS England

Dr Nick Watts is the Chief Sustainability Officer of the NHS, responsible for its commitment to deliver a world-class net zero emission health service. Based in London, he leads the Greener NHS team across the country, which focuses on improving the health of patients and the public through a robust and accelerated response to climate change and the broader sustainability agenda.

Ronald-Lavater

International Hospital Federation

Ronald Lavater

Chief Executive Officer

Ronald leads the IHF Secretariat, managing the team and its performance, with responsibility for all day-to-day activities, and executive reporting.

Ronald-Lavater

International Hospital Federation

Ronald Lavater

Chief Executive Officer

Ronald Lavater, MPA, FACHE is a healthcare executive with 25 years of leadership experience in public and investor-owned healthcare companies in the United States and international markets. With extensive knowledge in hospital operations and ambulatory services including retail urgent care, Ronald has a deep and broad-based understanding of the healthcare services sector with a global perspective.

Before joining the IHF, he has served as CEO of WellStreet Urgent Care headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. From 2014 to 2016, he was the CEO for Al Noor Hospitals Group, Plc. He also worked for six years for Johns Hopkins Medicine International, serving first as CEO of Corniche Hospital in Abu Dhabi for five years and later as a senior executive representing many of the company’s interests in the Middle East.

Ronald began his healthcare career in 1993 as an analyst for senior management of insurance company Blue Cross and Blue Shield. After a few years, he was recruited by Hospital Corporation of America where he held several leadership roles in U.S. hospitals, including CEO and COO. He has also served as a Non-Executive Director for Optegra Eye Health Care.

Ronald holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in public administration from Florida State University. He is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and previously completed a two-year term as president of the Middle East & North Africa ACHE group.

University Hospitals of Geneva / H+ Suisse

Sophie Meisser

Sustainability Lead, University Hospitals of Geneva

Mazzetti

Walt Vernon

CEO, Mazzetti

Walt is CEO of Mazzetti, a global planning, design and engineering firm and an IHF Premier Associate Member.

Mazzetti

Walt Vernon

CEO, Mazzetti

Walt is CEO of Mazzetti, a global planning, design and engineering firm and an IHF Premier Associate Member. Walt has over 30 years of experience in the research, planning, and design of healthcare facilities. He is also the founder of the non-profit organization, the Sextant Foundation. Alongside these roles, Walt’s industry contributions include serving on the board of both Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm. He was also was principal author for the World Health Organization’s Health in the Green Economy, as well as AHA’s Sustainability Roadmap for Hospitals – A Guide to Achieving Your Sustainability Goals.

News and insights

Look into our latest...

Getting started: Getting the Board on board

Hospitals play an important role in communities, however, they also have a significant environmental impact. Embedding sustainability into a governance...

Navigating Net Zero – an overview of the Geneva Sustainability Study Tour for Polish Hospital Executives

On  1–2 May 2023, the IHF’s Geneva Sustainability Centre was pleased to welcome the Polish Hospital Federation (PFSz) for a...

Getting started: Green spaces in healthcare

Sustainable hospitals and healthcare delivery settings can use their surrounding environments to strive for better health outcomes. Green spaces (in...

Getting started on sustainable food in healthcare

Food has an essential role in our lives, including nourishment and cultural significance, and it also has an impact on...

Ideas to improve the sustainability of conferences

Conferences are great opportunities for knowledge exchange, learning and networking. However, they can also come with high costs for the...

Why does your organization need a Chief Sustainability Officer?

An important first step in your organization’s sustainability journey is to designate someone to lead these efforts. You may wonder,...

Abu Dhabi and Geneva Sustainability Centre join forces on healthcare sustainability

As part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2023, on 18 January the Geneva Sustainability Centre signed a strategic memorandum of...

GSC Sustainability Accelerator Tool

At the Geneva Sustainability Centre, we are thrilled to see that interest and attention on the intersection of climate and...

Carbon challenge of healthcare: IHF partners in action

Climate change impacts human health in different ways, increasing the demand for healthcare services. Ironically, the healthcare sector itself is...

IHF Statement on Sustainability

Addressing climate change as an integral part of healthcare delivery Hospitals and healthcare organizations hold a unique responsibility to provide...

Preview of Geneva Sustainability Centre’s CEO Sustainability Masterclass

A special masterclass preview opened Day 0 of the 45th World Hospital Congress in Dubai. Taught by Prof. Andrew Garman,...

Checklist for climate-friendly events

The IHF and the Geneva Sustainability Centre are committed to making the World Hospital Congress a climate-friendly event, and we...

Host:
Members

Date:
19 March, 2023

ACHE Congress on Healthcare Leadership: Sustainability bootcamp

Pursuing environmental sustainability is not only the right thing to do for human health but also can be very good...

Host:
Partners

Date:
23 November 2022

ISSA Webinar on Social security, health care and environmental protection: Gaps and strategies

This second ISSA webinar on social security, healthcare and environmental protection allowed participants to dive deeper into the gaps and...

Host:
Partners

Date:
23 to 24 November 2022

5th Saving Lives Sustainably Global Forum

The virtual event is organized by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Sustainable Healthcare Coalition (SHC), Health Care Without Harm, and...

Host:
Partners

Date:
22 to 23 November 2022

Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience: Global Summit

The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience (PHSSR) Global Summit took place on 22 and 23 November 2022, and...

Ride for their lives

Host:
IHF

Date:
18 October 2022

Ride for their lives 2022

Joining global healthcare workers taking action for planetary health.  Through the #RideForTheirLives relays, the global healthcare workforce raises awareness of...

Host:
Members

Date:
20 to 22 October 2022

APAH 11th Value Conference: “Green Hospitals and Sustainability”

The Value Conference is a regular gathering for APAH’s membership, providing an opportunity to identify solutions to face present and...

Host:
Partners

Date:
21 October 2022

Climate Countdown: How to accelerate decisive action?

Hosted by the Climate Action Accelerator, this gathering of partner organizations brough together the aid sector and other key actors...

Host:
Partners

Date:
7 October 2022

Greening the Healthcare Sector Forum

The overarching theme of the Forum was ‘Driving systems change for sustainable healthcare'. 

Date:
16 to 20 January, 2023

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

With the theme ” Cooperation in a Fragmented World”, the Annual Meeting will convene leaders from government, business, and civil...

Date:
1 to 3 February, 2023

6th Green Hospitals Asian Conference

The 6th GHAC will be hosted by the Centre for Chronic Disease Control/Public Health Foundation of India and co-hosted by...

Join our mailing list

Subscribe to our newsletter to hear our latest news, and to find out about our events and resources.

Join now