Newsletter «Zurich International»

The City of Zurich has been active in international cooperation and humanitarian aid since the early 1970s. What has started with a few hundred thousand francs per year since 1972 under the title «Entwicklungshilfe im In- und Ausland» has now received sound financial support and a new institutional basis with the municipal resolution of November 17, 2019. Between 0.3 and 1.0 percent of the tax revenue per year will be available for international cooperation. This corresponds to an amount of between five and 18 million francs. The international cooperation will be integrated in the foreign affairs section at the Office for Urban Development. There are the necessary synergies, the experience and competencies to support not only development cooperation projects and organizations, but also to build up longer-term city cooperations with an expanded model for the allocation of funds. More information will be available in spring 2021.

In an online event, Barcelona and Zurich shared their experiences in the field of digital participation. The guiding question was: «How can digital platforms support the participation of the population at the municipal level?».

The City of Barcelona has been using its open source participatory platform «Decidim» since 2016. Arnau Monterde, coordinator of Decidim, was able to demonstrate its benefit both for Barcelona and for other cities and organizations. The City of Zurich is also using Decidim as a tool for the implementation of the pilot project «Quartieridee» and other participatory processes as part of the strategic focus area «Smarte Partizipation erproben».

Based on a reception of the Mayor of Sarajevo by the Mayor of Zurich followed by a Memorandum of Understanding, the City of Zurich will enter a project cooperation with Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2021. The  «Urban Transformation Project Sarajevo» funded by the State Secretary of Economic Affairs (SECO) will contribute to modernizing the system of integral urban planning in the Canton of Sarajevo and creating better conditions for a sustainable and climate-resilient socio-economic development. Well done urban planning, which considers the needs of different population groups and various stakeholders, helps to create the conditions for broader social prosperity and an improved livelihood. We will keep you posted during the course of 2021 about further developments.

The aim of the event series «Zürich meets…» is to present Zurich abroad as a vibrant city of culture, an excellent hub for research as well as an innovative business location. Due to current travel restrictions, this year’s edition has taken place in Zurich under the motto «Zürich meets Zürich» to shine a light on one major event in Zurich's cultural agenda:  the Zürcher Theaterspektakel.

The Foreign Affairs team of Urban Development Zurich wishes you a wonderful Advent season, a peaceful Christmas with your nearest and dearest and a smooth transition from this year to the next. Thank you for your interest over this past year and we wish you all the best for the New Year 2021!

Director Anna Schindler, Christina Wandeler, Karolina Merai, Daniela Meyer, Ariane Früh, Dominika Kvetanova, Antoine Schnegg, Simon Maurer