Collaboratio helvetica designed and facilitated an international and multilingual workshop for the Biodiversity Lab, a project by the Swiss association Brainforest.

Organisational learning is important for all contexts, yet more important still for innovative, action research-based, prototype driven initiatives. Dedicated to catalysing social change in Switzerland, collaboratio helvetica designs and runs prototypes and experiments in order to find ways to achieve this goal, and often the learnings from these are the most valuable outcome of the projects.

The Theory of Change framework is designed to aid social innovation projects to hypothesise about the outcome and impact of their work, in order to be able to respond to rapidly changing contexts and emergent insights while remaining accountable to stakeholders and funders.

Systemic change is needed to successfully implement the 2030 Agenda and achieve the SDGs in Switzerland as well as to tackle the deeper laying root causes that are driving today's polycrises. In collaboratio helvetica’s understanding, this can only happen with inclusive and participatory approaches and partnerships across sectors and topics. We are convinced that Switzerland has a unique potential to build on its history of collaboration and dialogue across language, religions and other barriers to enable societal transformation.

How to prepare, design and hold space for emerging and transformative collective action. Read here our findings and learnings of the Nova Helvetia journey.

“You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.”

― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed

Our vision is that organisations in Geneva and beyond leverage their full potential to use innovation to respond to societal needs by transforming their employees into intrapreneurial leaders, connected to a wider community of changemakers and disruptors that are paving the way for the new economy.

3D sculpting is an exercise that invites people to look at the reality of a system from different angles and perspectives with the aim to help identify the key strategic leverage points in changing the current system.

How do you arouse the enthusiasm of your audience? As a change maker, you need to onboard your stakeholders. Let’s have a look at how Erik Turner, participant of the Catalyst lab cohort 2020/2021, pitched his idea of creating a sustainability certificate at the Zurich sustainability week.

From sometimes being overly naive and just believing whatever people were telling me despite evidence to the contrary to being worried and criticised for not “trusting” someone - I’ve had all kinds of experiences related to trust. Do you trust people always?

Factory farming, animal suffering and agricultural practices that harm the environment shape my daily life, privately and at work. The Catalyst Lab presented me with the opportunity to open a dialogue space and expand my view on how others perceive the problem around these issues through a generative dialogue – a challenging and fascinating endeavour.

Dedicated attention to a personal and ongoing practice is more of a necessity than a luxury in these times of navigating unprecedented changes. In this blog, we share a 5-fold approach to personal care in order to nourish our inner wellsprings and maintain a sense of groundedness and calm during these times.

The ultimate goal of the Catalyst Lab is to prepare participants to apply what they learn at the Lab in their own context, and activate systemic change processes in different segments and sectors in Switzerland

When a deeper examination of oneself and the society is needed – the principle and values of extinction rebellion and why I joined them.

An interview series with Gender and Diversity experts across sectors in Switzerland. How do they relate to their own gender? What are the current challenges and opportunities they see and what inspires them? The aim of this series is to bring awareness to gender and diversity work and inspire further action towards creating inclusive workplaces in Switzerland.

I am not a techno-optimist. I agree with Doug Tompkins that over many millenia, technology has made us disconnected from nature, and paved the way for the Anthropocene, a newly defined geological era in which humans are shaping the planet to their immediate benefit, having lost sight of the deep, finely tuned interconnectedness of all living beings that created our planetary eco-system.

An interview series with Gender and Diversity experts across sectors in Switzerland. Our second interviewee, Gilles Crettenand, is based in Sion and tells us what gender equality work looks like from the angle of men working amongst men.

Die Veränderungen, die in der heutigen Zeit geschehen möchten, brauchen Pionier*innen, die bestrebt sind, den klaren Verstand, das offene Herz und die starke Hand miteinander zu verbinden. Dies ist ein tiefgreifend persönlicher und kollektiver Prozess: Weisheit und Mitgefühl miteinander zu verknüpfen und dann auch noch mit alltäglichem Handeln und Wirtschaften umzusetzen.

This is the story of a facilitator who recognised and stepped into her role as a change agent. It is also a practical guide to inspire fellow process facilitators to reach out and support a different type of politics in their local area.

We have started interview series of Gender and Diversity experts across sectors in Switzerland. How do they relate to their own gender? What are the current challenges and opportunities they see and what inspires them? The aim of this series is to bring awareness to gender and diversity work and inspire further action towards creating inclusive workplaces in Switzerland.