Swiss Stories

Sofia de Meyer

Reaping the fruits of success

Society
Swapping her business suit for an apron, Sofia de Meyer abandoned her career at a corporate law firm in London and founded an eco-responsible juice company in Switzerland. This is the remarkable story of a Swiss woman who has made a success of more than one business idea.
Olympic torch, Glacier 3000

Lausanne 2020

Society
After St Moritz back in 1928 and 1948, Switzerland is now set to host an Olympic event for the third time. The sixth Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will get under way shortly in Lausanne. Former IOC President Jacques Rogge is the inspiration behind the youth event which was launched in 2008. The YOG, which take place this year from 9–22 January, bring together the world's best athletes in the 15–18 age group to compete in 8 sports, 16 disciplines and 81 medal events.
Christmas tree and cookies

Christmas and New Year traditions in Switzerland

Society
December is full of magic, festivities and light – although every now and then something other-worldly can emerge. It is a time of year well known for its particularly abundant end-of-year celebrations, especially Christian traditions such as Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) and Christmas.
Barbara Piatti

by Barbara Piatti

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.
Football field

Four Swiss coaches dazzling the world of football

Society
Three Bundesliga teams have Swiss coaches – Lucien Favre, Urs Fischer and Martin Schmidt – while Bernard Challandes is currently the manager of Kosovo, one of the standout teams during this year's Euro 2020 qualifiers. The Swiss touch is winning over football fans!

by Bertrand Monnard