Swiss Stories

The Swiss consortium for water and sanitation strives to provide dignified sanitation infrastructures adapted to the mobility of everyone in Mali © Terre des hommes

Water access: a fundamental human right

Environment
The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a reminder that better access to water and hygiene for everyone is essential – especially for improving global public health. Nearly 2.5 billion people around the world have no access to sanitary facilities. The 9th World Water Forum in Dakar aims to draw attention to such inequalities. Switzerland, which has worked for six decades to support equal and sustainable access to water and hygiene, will send a delegation to the forum.
Rita Christen

Rita Christen, the first female president of the Swiss Mountain Guides Association

Society
Rita Christen is the first woman to be elected president of the Swiss Mountain Guides Association (SMGA) in the organisation's more than 100-year history. This 54-year-old from Disentis is a mountain guide, a lawyer and much more besides.
© KEYSTONE/TI-PRESS/Francesca Agosta

Gori: from Ticino to the United States

Society

Did you know that the Swiss & Italian Festa

NASA

Switzerland’s role in the first moon landing

History
Even today, not many people are aware of Switzerland's participation in this historic achievement. And yet, Swiss technological know-how played an important role in the success of the Apollo 11 mission.

by Mehdi Atmani

Ida Hofmann

Monte Verità: the Swiss early hippie colony

History
As a young woman, Ida Hofmann was a successful piano teacher and glamorous socialite in Russia, Austria and Montenegro. She then made a radical new beginning in Ticino and founded the soon-to-be legendary Monte Verità.
Barbara Piatti

by Barbara Piatti

gottardo

A green tunnel

Environment
With UNESCO World Heritage sites, nature reserves, an arboretum and a highly active Swiss league for nature protection, wildlife conservation is of concern to the Swiss. The plans for the Gotthard Base Tunnel were drawn up with this in mind. 152 kilometers of shafts and passages were excavated with minimal environmental damage.
Startup

The top minds in Swiss innovation

Economics
The “Top 100 Swiss Startup Award” rewards Switzerland’s one hundred most promising start-ups. Nearly one hundred experts (companies, foundations, business incubators and higher education institutions) met in Schlieren, in the canton of Zurich, on 14 September to unveil the list for 2016. An overview of the three award-winners.