Benno Werlen is an internationally renowned Swiss social geographer who holds the UNESCO
Chair in Global Understanding for Sustainability at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. He is
also the founder of the Jena Declaration (TJD), a Fellow of the World Academy of Art &
Science and the Chair for Sustainability of the Academia Europaea – The Academy of Europe.
He was the initiator and Executive Director of the 2016 International Year of Global
Understanding (IYGU), which was approved by a specific resolution of the UNESCO General
Conference. In 2023, he was appointed by UNEP and the International Science Council (ISC)
as a member of the European expert group responsible for establishing a forward-looking
culture and program of sustainability policy for the ‘UN Summit of the Future’ in autumn
2024. He has recently been awarded the title of Distinguished Fellow of the Year by the
International Engineering and Technology Institute for his “remarkable and pioneering
contributions to global sustainability”, and, in line with the United Nations’ International Year
of Volunteers for Sustainable Development, he has been awarded an “Icon of Change 2026”.
He has also been nominated by The Royal Club U.K. as non-executive director for its
sustainability program.