Legally speaking, local electricity communities (LEC) are economic schemes improving the profitability of solar PV. However, they also offer the prospect of a human-scale energy transition by creating the narrative of a shared renewable resource. This project embodies this vision into a cooperative providing knowledge sharing and decision spaces. Relying on data collected through LEC operation, it will create information and advice services, making system challenges tangible and actionable by all.
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“Veggies for All!” tackles declining vegetable consumption in Switzerland by addressing structural barriers to healthy eating. The project combines vegetable box subscriptions with inclusive pricing approaches and further measures (e.g., providing recipes or cooking support) to make healthy food affordable, accessible, and routine-based, especially for disadvantaged households. By linking public health, social inclusion, and local food systems, it aims to create lasting dietary changes and scalable impact.
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We develop a practice-oriented “Energy Community Starter Service” that helps neighbourhoods initiate integrated electricity–heat energy communities. The project focuses on the social challenges arising from shared heating infrastructure, such as scepticism, fairness and coordination in local nano-networks. By combining social design methods with technical planning, we develop practical tools and processes that enable socially inclusive and scalable cross-sector energy communities in Switzerland.
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In CH, healthy and sustainable food is unaffordable for around one third of people, while organic shops and small producers face strong economic pressure. A solidarity based food fund enables citizens to reclaim governance of the food system, ensure access to good food for all, and drive the transition to a sustainable & resilient food system. Participants receive a fixed monthly amount in a dedicated currency, redeemable only at selected shops. We plan a pilot in Zurich—the first in the DE-speaking region.
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This project explores how municipalities can enable citizen-driven local energy communities from the outset. Using Buckten as a pilot, it develops a governance and service model where citizens act as co-producers and the municipality as facilitator and anchor consumer. Through analysis, workshops and/or surveys, the project aims to co-create a scalable approach that increases participation, inclusivity and collective use of PV potential. The model could be replicated by other municipalities and by citizens.
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millefoli is a community-based herbal tea and medicinal plant project in Zurich. Together with local residents, we cultivate herbs, process them into fresh tea blends, and experiment with a solidarity-based subscription model that reconnects people with local food production. The project combines climate-friendly urban agriculture, biodiversity, neighborhood participation, and affordable access to healthy plant-based products while testing new models for food commons and local food infrastructure.
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The goal is full energy autonomy, heat and electricity, for 150 homes across 10 PPEs (condos) in Prangins. Electricity structures are clear (CEL, RCP, RCPv); citizen district heating renovations are not. Governance models integrating existing co-ownership, individual-owner-versus-PPE liability, financing, and decision-making is a gap in Switzerland. This research develops options to bridge both energy streams into one coherent, socially acceptable legal and financing structure, scalable to other projects.
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GovLab develops and tests a scalable governance model for Swiss energy communities by institutionalizing a new role: the "Community Energy Steward". We propose a two-tier structure where a sovereign, open-source digital platform managed by a central association supports autonomous local communities. Each community recruits its own Steward, trained and certified by the central structure, to bridge the gap between technical infrastructure and social adoption.
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Regional food is available, but rarely convenient. The Food Production Hub – a consortium of a socially oriented production enterprise, regional shops and network NGOs connecting farms and gastronomy – builds shared infrastructure that turns raw materials into ready-to-use products: fresh, prepared and frozen. We test whether collaborative, partnership-based production of convenience products makes regional food easier to access and economically viable for everyday kitchens, shops and community catering.
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Food Commons Oberbaselbiet reinvents how collective catering and regional producers meet - as a socially designed practice, not a procurement transaction. In the Commons-Werkstatt format, kitchens, producers, and food-system actors articulate concrete needs and contributions face-to-face. Hosted by Genossenschaft Lebensmittel Netzwerk Basel (LMN), moderated by FHNW research, the booster pilots this in Oberbaselbiet as transferable social infrastructure for resilient regional food systems.
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90% of Swiss population is willing to eat local and seasonal. There are however few incentives to do so. The Franc Paysan (FP) addresses this issue by supporting farmers offering direct sales while making local food more accessible. With more than 90 farmers and around 50k FP in circulation, a solid foundation has already been set. We want now to extend to cities. Our aim is to identify the best partners and strategies for proposing an attractive offering in cities, thereby strengthening local value chains.
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The TOURNESOL is a social innovation initiative that supports residents in creating local energy communities while improving efficiency and flexibility. Through participatory workshops and open-source digital tools, it tests, in real world conditions, an innovative approach enabling residents to play an active role and collectively generate and use energy more efficiently, supporting the energy transition. The project will take place in the “Le Courvieux” neighborhood in Martigny.
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With speculative artifacts, we promote dialogue about social innovation. In cooperation with one or two FUS projects on the topic of sharing, we create ambivalent objects that inspire thought and open up new narratives. The aim is a playbook on methodology that makes social innovation understandable, tangible and connectable — not instructive, but dialogic, irritating and inspiring.
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“Superblock Mainstreaming” works out criteria for how “superblocks” can be successfully implemented in Basel and other cities in the Swiss context in order to make them more livable and resilient. Existing studies, with a focus on density or development, are supplemented with processes and “soft” aspects such as the needs and concerns of residents and stakeholders. Findings from international Superblock projects and the experience of stakeholder groups and experts in Basel are identified and evaluated with project partners.
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Ting is a Swiss community that enables collective sharing of money and knowledge to promote individual development and social change. More than 650 members distribute more than 39,000 CHF per month. This so-called community income is available to members for a limited period of time to implement personal or professional projects and social changes — provided that they make a contribution in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs: Sustainable Development Goals). During FUS InnoBooster, we develop a data-based scaling strategy with HSLU along the sine milieus and SDG preferences of the population. We test target group-specific communication and marketing measures as well as non-monetary sharing services. In the end, an evidence-based roadmap is available to bring collective resource sharing out of the niche and into the mainstream and create the basis for a larger Innosuisse innovation project.
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The preserving mobile — a mobile preserving kitchen based on a cargo bike — brings processing to where food is produced. In this way, surpluses can be responded to in a targeted manner and woken up spontaneously on site. “Preserving professionals” travel flexibly to various locations and reach new target groups outside the classic “anti-food waste bubble.” The approach is intended to scale canning activities and is aimed at actors with little planning security — for example in solidarity agriculture, community gardens or in urban areas. Instead of bringing ingredients, appliances and participants to a central location, the kitchen comes directly to the place of use: whether garden, field or courtyard. This saves transport routes and time, simplifies organization and creates more flexibility for everyone involved.
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PostFossilCities - the game about climate-neutral Switzerland - is a scientifically based simulation game from NFP73 that shows decision makers and citizens where, what, with whom and how urgently we need to act for net zero in order to achieve the goal of net zero with the carbon budget that is still available. It makes complex relationships tangible, activates group intelligence and promotes cooperation. This project develops an urban debriefing, builds a community of practice and supports the implementation of workshops with the aim of making PostFossilCities accessible as a multipliable format for communities, NGOs & initiatives.
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The aim of the project is to investigate whether easier access to shared kitchen spaces and a visible network of specialists and service providers can promote “Basel Foodpreneurs” (in particular startups) and contribute to sustainable practices in gastronomy and food production. For this purpose, a prototype platform is being built that makes underused catering kitchens and additional services and support offerings visible to food preneurs (“yellow pages”). As part of the project, usage interests and scenarios for underused catering kitchens will be identified and supporting service providers and specialists will be made visible in order to create the basis for a sustainable shared kitchen model in Basel. The Basel Food Factory association manages and is responsible for the project. The FHNW is supporting the project scientifically and the Basel Food Network and the Market Hall contribute experience and network.
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Vegetable farming combines the potential for good value creation, regional development and networking of production and consumption. The Tiny Farms Academy co-farming program is a practical incubator model for innovation in vegetable production. Prospective gardeners establish a test area on a commercial enterprise in order to develop their operating model as a prototype and test it in practice. Through targeted advice/support from experienced gardeners on site, they are supported and trained in implementing their projects.
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RepairShare is a repair fund financed by solidarity that makes everyday repairs accessible and affordable for everyone — regardless of the place of purchase. Members pay a small contribution into a joint fund and receive fair repairs from local companies. Initiated by the Zurich.REPAIR network, RepairShare wants to promote adequate consumption, strengthen craftsmanship and make the sharing of responsibility visible — not as a sacrifice, but as a sustainable attitude. In the booster, we develop a financing model, clarify legal structures and develop a well-founded impact model with the CAS Sustainable Management at HSLU. TING.community supports the technical and content implementation. RepairShare shows: Not only can things be shared — but also responsibility, care and the future.
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In self-harvest gardens, vegetables are grown by a garden operator with the support of selbsterntegarten.ch. Subscribers can harvest their vegetables without further obligations. The self-harvest gardens created so far in rural areas have shown what behavioral changes towards sustainable nutrition are possible when consumers harvest their own vegetables. The project is intended to lay the foundations for bringing self-harvest gardens to cities as well.
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“Food Quartiere” is a participatory pilot in the Basel area of activity to design healthy, sustainable food environments within a 10-15 minute radius. The pilot shows how food can be used locally as a lever for climate, biodiversity and health. The aim is to create effective choice architectures at district level — supported by companies, multipliers and administration, through modular target agreements, local food hubs & agroecological principles — scalable to larger cities.
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Fortunately, more and more places are being created where items can be passed on. At the same time, non-commercial sharing in the digital space is also increasing rapidly. The link between these two worlds is still missing. As a result, analog offerings remain in a niche and digital solutions do not represent an important part of non-commercial sharing. We are developing an intuitive solution to digitally capture and distribute items in analog circulation zones. This will give existing sharing offers more visibility and existing digital sharing spaces will be filled with additional items. Together with our partner organizations ERZ and ZHdK, we are testing the solution on 2 specific circular offers. This project is part of a larger vision of the World of Plenty association to create an independent digital infrastructure for the non-commercial sharing of items. As part of this vision, a team of volunteers is currently building the WOP app.
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The aim of the project is to develop a scalable and innovative sharing solution for rooftop solar systems on buildings with shared ownership. A pilot roof makes the advantages of sharing a solar system directly tangible and motivates others to take sustainable, climate-friendly action. Whether apartment buildings in condominium ownership or industrial buildings with several owners - the shared ownership of a building is always an obstacle to the construction of solar systems, which often have great potential. However, in order to achieve Switzerland's and Basel's climate targets, as many of the existing - and unused - roofs as possible should be used to produce electricity instead of building new areas, e.g. in the Alps, with solar installations. Which win-win situation can motivate communities of owners to agree to a solar installation? How can the solar power produced be shared simply and fairly? The pilot solar installation as a lighthouse project then helps to market the idea.
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The project idea CO-IMAGINE 5'D (jointly enriching the city of short distances) proposes innovative processes and instruments for redesigning public spaces according to the concept of 5-minute districts (5'D). As part of a real-world laboratory methodology, key stakeholder groups are involved co-creatively and participatively in use cases aimed at reducing motorized traffic and CO2 emissions. In particular, open source visualization and planning tools as well as participatory financing platforms are used to not only imagine the city of short distances but also to realize it together. The proposed solutions should not only be based on technical innovations, but also primarily on social innovations.
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In Swiss cities, there are many existing players and infrastructure that could be used to deliver objects quickly and professionally: In addition to courier services, this could also include public transport actors and infrastructure. We find out for which objects and applications a professional, short-term and rapid handover makes economic and ecological sense and use them to develop new business models for the sharing economy.
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Circular Living 2040 creates an attractive vision of a circular society — which can be experienced as an everyday moment in a near circular future. The project is in two parts: 1: Co-creation with organizations & companies. Here, networked concepts for the practices, structures, processes and offers of a nearby circular society are designed. 2: A future apartment as a public space of experience & discourse. Here, the results from part 1 are presented in a lifelike way and can be experienced and discussed with pleasure.
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Circular economy, recycling and waste disposal are complex and require a high level of knowledge from the population. The ERZ Smart Assistant uses advances in image recognition and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify objects with a smartphone and suggest the ideal circular process from the connected ecosystem: sharing, exchanging, repairing, selling, recycling, and more
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In the discourse about the socio-ecological construction turnaround, it is often heard that “you can't build any other way than with a demolition-new-construction.” In order to initiate a public rethink, alternatives must therefore also be presented in specific cases. A first initiative was created in 2022 using the example Bergacker (http://www.beispiel-bergacker.ch/). We want to follow up with a second example, about the Küngenmatt residential area. We want to calculate under which circumstances a socio-ecological project is possible there.
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The use of photovoltaics is increasing, but systems are often used inefficiently and recycled at an early stage, leading to a waste of resources. High initial investments make access to climate-friendly energy production difficult. The proposed OSS model addresses these problems through a disruptive, circular Solar Contracting business model that enables local second-life applications and makes the implementation of PV systems more flexible, attractive and inclusive.
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In Switzerland, the climate crisis is closely linked to the housing crisis. However, political levers often fail due to civil majorities in the canton or at federal level. We would therefore like to find out which arguments could be used to mobilize a conservative voter base. In direct discussions, we identify factual, emotional, social, financial,... hurdles against reformist ideas (pre-emption law, regulation, tenancy control) and far-reaching approaches (land reform).
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Warm Data Labs (WDL) are participatory workshops that are carried out in the residential area of the net-zero pilot district (Binz/Alt-Wiedikon) as prototypes for an understanding of climate-friendly living. The labs promote a deep understanding of the interactions between our habitat, nature, and social justice.
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Climate-friendly living in urban areas includes access to safe outdoor areas. KIM is committed to ensuring that we can continue to use gardens, balconies, terraces and public common areas in the future. The aim of KIM, in cooperation with the population and the public sector, is to prevent the spread of disease-transmitting mosquitoes in Zurich (and gradually in large parts of Switzerland) while protecting the health of biodiversity and people.
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HANDS ON is a prototype in which we develop, research and test (implementation) communication strategies to sensitize young people to the topics of sustainability in relation to fast fashion. Using artistic strategies, we develop and test educational formats that give young people fun access to sustainability issues in the area of fashion consumption through action.
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“Zurich shares” promotes sharing and social interaction among Zurich residents. With a mobile app, residents close to home can be asked for a required item and arrange a handover appointment.
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Where residential buildings are being renovated, 94% of tenants lose their homes, and even more with replacement constructions. Considering the current housing and climate crisis, we urgently need to learn to convert and expand our houses in such a way that their inhabitants can stay. An important strategy here is the division of construction phases. We use good practices to research what is important and disseminate the findings in such a way that planners and owners can find and apply them directly.
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