Catalyst Daniel Gut - SDG 16 & 17

Daniel Gut from Zuchwil (SO) could actually enjoy a lot of free time now. The business economist had a successful career as a specialist and manager in different organisations and retired in 2018. But Daniel has other plans: For years he had been preoccupied by the fact that political processes repeatedly led to bad compromises instead of satisfactory solutions. "Far too often, political decisions are brought about that in the end are not really satisfying for anyone. But the way politics is debated today can hardly lead to a better result. We have to learn to really listen to each other across political parties and to work out solutions by thinking together," says Daniel Gut. And as it's not his style to just complain, he took action and formed a non-partisan dialogue group in his home canton together with cantonal councillors. After his retirement, he decided to apply for the Catalyst Lab to further develop his project. He was guided by the question of how politics should be shaped so that an exchange between the participants could take place and sustainable decisions could result from co-creating. During the Catalyst Lab, Daniel founded a project team that develops citizen talks on a community and on a cantonal level. The team is supported by Campus Democracy and UNESCO. The first citizen talks are to take place in February 2021. It is important to Daniel and his team that the discussions remain open. They are primarily intended to strengthen trust in politics and show the cantons how they can benefit from greater citizen participation. In the Catalyst Lab, Daniel has benefited from the contacts within the group but also within the extended network. The process of the Theory U was a good framework for Daniel to give form to his project and to concretize his ideas. "The stakeholder approach, but also the method of Theory U, where you let things emerge instead of pushing them, was very helpful to me. I gained clarity during the Catalyst Lab. That was crucial to move my project in the right direction."

“again and again politicians take decisions which in the end are not really satisfying for anyone. But the way politics is debated today can hardly lead to a better result. We must learn to really listen to each other across party lines and work out the solutions by thinking and creating together.”

Daniel Gut
SDGs 16 & 17
Participant of The Catalyst Lab 1st cycle

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