Five Swiss impact hubs join forces to become a national player

 

The newly founded umbrella organization «Impact Hub Switzerland» bundles the activities of all five Swiss impact hubs and allows the hubs to launch nation-wide projects such as the incubation program Circular Economy Transition. The merger will be celebrated with events in all five cities.

 

The Impact Hub Switzerland association was founded in May 2019 by the five Swiss Impact Hubs with a total of seven locations in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich. The merger of the five Swiss Impact Hubs comes, according to a press release, as the logical consequence to the previous joint activities of the five hubs. It also reinforces the growing importance of the connections between the different regions in terms of innovation. This also means that in the future, the hubs’ services will be standardized: Members will be able to use the co-working spaces, rent meeting rooms, and network with the local community in any of the locations. «We can now act as a unified national playerand expand and develop existing as well as new partnerships, initiate new large-scale projects and thus advance Switzerland more efficiently as a location for innovation», explains Christoph Birkholz, Co-President of Impact Hub Switzerland. The first major joint project is already running successfully: The incubation program of the Circular Economy Transition (CET) initiative. Currently, 26 Circular Economy startups with both ecologically and economically sustainable business models are being promoted throughout Switzerland. «CET shows us how much we can achieve if all Swiss locations work together with other partners towards a common goal», says Amanda Byrde, initiator of CET and Co-President of Impact Hub Switzerland. To celebrate the merger throughout Switzerland, the five Impact Hubs in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich are organizing events with high-ranking guests during the week, such as Marina Carobbio Guscetti, President of the National Council, Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler, Chief Digital Officer at Swisscom, or Thomas Vellacott, CEO of WWF Switzerland. Impact Hub GenevaMonday, 13 May, 6pm - 9pm Impact Hub LausanneTuesday, 14 May, 6pm - 9pm Coworking Space of Impact Hub BaselWednesday, 15 May, 5.30pm - 9pmMünchensteinerstrasse 274A, 4053 Basel Impact Hub BernThursday, 16 May, 5.45pm - 9.30pm  Kraftwerk ZürichFriday, 17 May, launch event 5.30pm - 8pm, launch party from 8pm on(Bild: ZVG)