Innovation Booster Future Urban Society

What does the future of life look like in urban areas in Switzerland?

How does the good life work within planetary limits? How can we live in a climate-friendly way in the future? How can we travel affordably, climate-neutrally — privately and professionally? How do we make it possible for everyone to eat as regionally and environmentally friendly as possible? These questions can only be answered together, co-creatively and with a new understanding of innovation.

The Innovation Booster Future Urban Society promotes radically new approaches to catapult the best ideas in the interconnected areas of housing, mobility and nutrition out of their niche. Bring along your solutions and develop them further with other experts and innovators. Help mainstream eco-social innovations and secure yourself and your team for jointly developed ideas methodological and financial support.

More about the basic idea of Innosuisse's Innovation Booster

Selected projects

From 45 ideas, 10 were selected and these are now being supported in our Innovation Booster.

Discover all ideas

Circulation of things

HANDS ON – Selbstwirksamkeit im Konsumchaos

Maison Shift
ZHDK

HANDS ON ist ein Prototyp, in dem wir Vermittlungsstrategien für die Sensibilisierung von Jugendlichen zu den Themen Nachhaltigkeit in Bezug auf Fast Fashion entwickeln, erforschen und erproben (Umsetzung). Mit künstlerischen Strategien entwickeln und testen wir Vermittlungsformate, die jungen Menschen über das Tun einen lustvollen Zugang zu Nachhaltigkeitsthemen im Spannungsfeld Fashionkonsum ermöglichen.

To the project
Climate-just housing in urban areas

«example Küngenmatt» – Alternatives to Demolition

Verein Mieten-Marta
ETH

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.

To the project
Circulation of things

Circular Living 2040

Cerca
FHNW

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.

To the project

Events

The following events and workshops still await us during the next couple of months:

20/3/25
Ideation Workshop «Stadt der kurzen Wege»

In the workshop, participants present their scaling approaches and the booster team presents central concepts of systemic change based on collectively developed obstacles and success factors. In addition, the workshop offers space to develop paths to radical change and climate-friendly urban life through creative networking and discussions and to identify potential partners for joint funding applications.

To the event
20/3/25
Ideation Workshop «Sharing Sharing Sharing»

In the workshop, participants present their scaling approaches and the booster team presents central concepts of systemic change based on collectively developed obstacles and success factors. In addition, the workshop offers space to develop paths to radical change and climate-friendly urban life through creative networking and discussions and to identify potential partners for joint funding applications.

To the event
31/3/25
SHIFT Vaud 2025 - La Soupe de potentiel

On March 31, SHIFT Vaud returns to Lausanne under the motto “La Soupe de Potentiel”: an event that aims to combine ideas, expertise and innovations to jointly find concrete solutions for the future of our food system. The Innovation Booster Future Urban Society offers a workshop on the challenge “The Edible City”.

To the event

Calls

The theme for 2025 is food, mobility and sharing. We are looking for the best approaches, ideas and proposed solutions from all over Switzerland for our three challenges.

Submission-Phase

submission deadline:

25/5/25

Startdatum:

February 5, 2025

Sharing Sharing Sharing

Sharing Sharing Sharing — Sharing as a social innovation. How does sharing things become a matter of course in everyday urban life?

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Submission-Phase

submission deadline:

25/5/25

Startdatum:

February 5, 2025

City of short distances

City of short distances — spatial development for a better quality of life. How could we contribute to a high quality of life in Swiss cities and agglomerations through short distances?

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Submission-Phase

submission deadline:

25/5/25

Startdatum:

February 5, 2025

The edible city

The edible city — How we get back to our taste. How can we promote our own health and that of the planet by growing and enjoying local food?

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Finished

submission deadline:

8/9/24

Startdatum:

May 7, 2024

Climate-just housing in urban areas

How is climate-just housing possible in urban areas? We are looking for promising existing approaches and new ideas that can be realised quickly, are accessible to many people and affordable. These should be strengthened and multiplied in their effectiveness.

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Finished

submission deadline:

8/9/24

Startdatum:

May 6, 2024

Circulation of things

How could we encourage the general public to reuse or to pass on things rather than disposing of them or buying new ones by "strengthening" the existing, promising initiatives, services and offers for sharing, passing on and repairing?

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We need systemic approaches

Climate crisis, destruction of biodiversity, energy crisis — we live in a world of multiple crises. Mastering these challenges requires radically new ideas and approaches, both technologically and socially.

Whether it's sharing, repairing, or DIY, many innovative approaches, projects, and ideas for climate-friendly living in urban areas remain small. This isn't because they fundamentally don't work, but because they often touch on various aspects of our lives, making it difficult to change our habits and involve diverse stakeholders in the implementation. The stabilization or distribution of integrative approaches works differently than purely commercial offerings. Therefore, we want to strengthen and scale eco-social innovations in our Innovation Booster to establish them in the mainstream.

“What concerns everyone, only everyone can solve.” Friedrich Dürrenmatt (The Physicists)

The major challenges of our time can only be overcome by working together with people from different sectors of society. That is why the booster uses an open innovation approach. Over the next four years, we will bring together key actors from civil society, science and business with city administrations, currently from Zurich, Basel and Lausanne. Together, systemic problems are researched and radical ideas for sustainable solutions are developed.

Be part of the solution and receive methodological and financial support

To enable and accelerate innovation, we connect cities and administrations with eco-social innovators as well as stakeholders from the private sector and science. We can financially support ideas that arise and/or are developed through the Innovation Booster Program with methodological and financial support, including vouchers for expert advice and coaching. In this way, we make it possible for promising innovations to be further developed and tested in urban areas of Switzerland. In addition, together with our partners, we are working to ensure that further implementation of the innovations after the booster is likely.

The first submission phase is over and no further projects can be submitted at the moment.

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Who is behind the project?

Meso Innovation Alliance
The Booster Future Urban Society is supported by Meso as a Co-Leading House and is characterized by the expertise of the following organizations:

Team

Björn Müller
Björn Müller
Programme Director | Meso Innovation Alliance / Stride the unSchool
Samuel Eberenz
Samuel Eberenz
Concept & Stakeholder Engagement | Stiftung Risiko-Dialog / Meso Innovation Alliance
Mirko Fischli
Mirko Fischli
Project Manager Booster | Dezentrum / Meso Innovation Alliance
Katrin Hauser
Katrin Hauser
Concept & Facilitation | Scaling4Good / Meso Innovation Alliance
Nicola Blum
Nicola Blum
Concept & Research | BFH
Pascal Dey
Pascal Dey
Research | BFH
Sarah Bleuler
Sarah Bleuler
Project Manager & Communication | Dezentrum
Yann Bartal
Yann Bartal
Communication | Dezentrum
Anaïs Sägesser
Anaïs Sägesser
Anchor Basel | Scaling4Good
Barbara Tank
Barbara Tank
Project Lead and Communication Fachstelle Klima | Kanton Basel-Stadt

City Partnerships

Urban innovation is only possible through strong partnerships with cities and municipalities. That is why we are particularly proud of our implementation partnerships:

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