SWI swissinfo

Mike Müller in the role of mayor at a town hall meeting(André Albrecht) A few times a year, the locals of some small and medium-sized Swiss communities get together to discuss the community’s budget, the aual accounts, tax rates, a new school building or anything else that’s going on. The discussions are often heated, and afterwards the people cast their votes by raising their hands.+ How can communities improve the appeal of town hall meetings?Four-fifths of Switzerland’s communities still have this tool of direct democracy which forms the legislative arm instead of having a parliament.In his comedy “Town Hall Meetings Today”, Müll...

Keeping a bucket of water close by is a necessary ritual when using real candles to light a tree.(Keystone) A bright ChristmasOn December 24, 1999, the year that swissinfo.ch came into existence, we reported that nine out of ten Swiss households put up a Christmas treeexteal link, with most preferring real candles rather than electric bulbs.In 2008 we wrote that candles not only illuminate trees in family homes but also in many churchesexteal link, even though open flames are baed in public places where more than 100 people can gather. The article stated that candles caused some 1,000 fires a year.Electric bulbs may save property an...

Representatives of Switzerland's youth party take part in a debate. Youth parties are the only ones who receive direct financial contributions from the Swiss state. (Keystone) State funding for Swiss political parties does exist, despite popular belief. Two young political science researchers estimate the state’s contributions at about CHF20 million ($20.6 million) - but most of the funding ...

This content was published on August 22, 2017 5:00 PMAug 22, 2017 - 17:00The ten-day Badenfahrt festival happens just once every ten years – transforming the spa town of Baden into a party animal’s playground. The theme for 2017 is “opposites” and the festival features various purpose-built structures to highlight that concept. Food, drink, music and a fun fair draw a million people to Baden, which has a population of 19,000. Located along the River Limmat, Baden is a 15-minute train ride from Zurich. Established in 1923, the Badenfahrt festivalexteal link is an example of intangible cultura...

Swiss shoppers can be reimbursed VAT in the Lago shopping centrein the German border town of Constance (Keystone) Many Swiss consumers shop in nearby towns on the other side of the border to avoid high prices at home. Now, Swiss border towns want to form an alliance to put an end to the pract...

Three-wheeler dealer Express cheese delivery in Be There's one fewer delivery van on Be's streets. Kurt Staudenma from the Chäsbueb cheesemonger now uses a cargo bike. (Video: Peter Siegenthaler) See in other languages: 3 Whether it’s dropping off kids at nursery or goods to...

Almost like civil war: Riot police clash with separatist demonstrators in the town of Moutier in 1977 (Keystone) It may have been just a local ballot, but it marked a decisive stage in a long-term Swiss territorial conflict. Here’s why the town of Moutier’s June 18 vote to join canton Jura wi...

In the saddle: Yvette Meisser rides cowboy style in the US (zvg) Yvette Meisser left Switzerland intending to move to Mexico, but instead ended up in small-town Texas. Life is very different from the Alps, but she says she could never go back to her homeland. “We don’t want to go back to Swi...

A school gym hosts a town hall assembly: Citizen of Wolfenschiessen in central Switzerland meeting to discuss a storage site for spent nuclear power rods in 1994 (Keystone) Town hall meetings in Switzerland are generally poorly attended, undermining their political legitimacy. Researchers have revealed details about a form of direct democracy with a long tradition. Four-fifths of Switzerland’s roughly 2,300 municipalities, particularly in the German-speaking part of the country, hold regular town hall meetings. They are a key element of citizens’ participation in local politics and to some extent take the role of elected local parliaments. But attendance has been decreasing over the past...

What an Engadine workspace for digital nomads could look like (MiaEngiadina/Andrea Badrutt) This article on Switzerland you are about to read was actually w...

Here are the stories we’re following the week begiing August 1. (swissinfo.ch) Monday It’s Swiss National Day and to celebrate swissinfo.ch mined more than 22,000 images on Flickr and shows you the most popular ones – and they’re not all chocolate-box landscapes. (swissinfo.ch) Wednesday Lights, camera, action! Switzerland’s Locao Film Festival starts on August 3. Each year it shows many 16mm and 35mm films. swissinfo.ch has been following the work of the professionals who look after and prepare these films – a dying breed, due to the rise of digital. (Keystone) Wednesday and Thursday Of the 107 Swiss Olympians heading to Rio, 58 have Twitter accounts. On Wednesday, two days before t...

Citizens vote in the snow inAppenzell (Stephanie Hess) The Swiss canton of Appenzell Ier Rhodes has the oldest form of direct democracy. But how democratic is it really? Once a year in Appenzell, the golden helmets are polished, the big flags with the family crests are hung and the black robes are dusted off, all for the “most important day of the year” – the so-called “Landsgemeinde”, an open-air assembly where voters get together to have their say in public. The smell of grilled sausages hangs in the air as the snowflakes fall, alongside the scent of traditional hazelnut cakes made just for the event. Citizens flood the narrow streets of the 6,000-person town. All roads lead to the La...

More long-distance bus companies are operating on European routes. They are a serious competitor to trains.(SRF, swissinfo.ch) Private long-distance bus providers have been steadily increasing their European network and passengers now have a bigger choice of how to travel in Europe. Statistics from the Swiss Federal Office of Transport show a fourfold increase over the past five years in licences awarded for routes, from 64 to 266. Customers are attracted by much lower prices, direct coections and shorter travelling times. That's bad news for the Swiss Federal Railways which is finding it hard to compete with the cheaper fares. In one example, a bus company providing direct coections between...

Nature already needs extra protection, like the Rhone glacier where tarp is used to help prevent ice melt (Keystone) Switzerland’s essential alpine character stands little chance of surviving predicted man-made global warming, even if the Paris agreement succeeds in putting the world on a low-carbon diet. Top scientists predict no more glaciers, more frequent rockslides and browner landscapes. They envision hotter summers, fewer ski areas and more thunderstorms on the horizon. Those projections are based on the work of a Nobel Prize-wiing group of climate scientists who keep track of global warming. Switzerland’s glaciers will almost certainly vanish within 100 years, says Zurich geolog...