Swiss Stories

Solarkiosk © Andreas Spiess, SOLARKIOSK AG / ZHdK

Can Swiss design save the planet?

Environment
Social design looks beyond the material nature of an object in order to tackle the major economic, environmental and societal challenges of today and tomorrow. The practice is taking off in Switzerland and changing the face of design.
Eagle

Setting up wind turbines with the help of eagles

Environment
Thanks to biologists from the University of Bern, golden eagles are becoming invaluable co-workers in the development of wind farms in the Swiss Alps. The large birds are equipped with GPS tags to transmit data that can limit their risk of colliding with the future turbines.

by Lea Huszno

90% of our food comes from the earth © Agroscope, Gabriela Brändle

Swiss Soils: A Treasure to Protect

Environment
Seemingly motionless yet very much alive, essential for the ecosystem yet fragile: as a natural resource of great ecological value, Swiss soils are at the very heart of the concerns of Agroscope and the Swiss Soil Monitoring Network (abbreviated as NABO).
Lausanne Flon © Presence Switzerland

Greening Swiss cities

Environment
With the introduction of living roofs, pocket parks and flower meadows, Swiss cities such as Geneva and Lausanne are using urban nature to help deal with climate change.
© Photo: Fabian Biasio.

A Swiss chef cooks up the forest

Environment
'Wizard of Entlebuch' Stefan Wiesner cooks with stone, earth, ash, wood – and ants.
wormup home

Worm composting comes to Swiss cities

Environment
A new start-up in Zurich is developing worm compost systems for domestic use. With these systems, organic waste can be easily and practically converted into excellent fertiliser at home.
Centovalli Express, Intragna, Ticino. © Swiss Travel System AG

The hidden gems of Switzerland’s public transport

Environment
Gornergrat? Been there. Glacier Express? Done that. Fans of Switzerland already know and love the country’s public transport gems. But there are many trips and means of transport that are less well known. So, now’s the perfect time to discover some of these hidden treasures – and Switzerland has plenty.