Tag Archives: Culture

Celebrating individual and team successes and encouraging team bonding are among the best ways of improving workplace culture. Employees who feel appreciated regardless of the team they are in are more likely to be highly productive, ensure their team succeeds, and be more motivated and energetic in the workplace. Here are a few ways your business can celebrate successes, make employees feel appreciated, and elevate company culture. Celebrate Milestones and...

Blossoming cooperative ideas: a common economy, consumer protection and equality of the sexes. Dora Hauth-Trachsler/Schweizersiches Sozialarchiv The word “cooperative” is everywhere in Swiss daily life. What’s often forgotten is that cooperatives were once at the forefront of a worldwide movement that advocated for consumer rights, affordable rents – and world peace. In his opening speech at the tenth international congress of the International Cooperative Alliance...

German-born Stefanie Hessler, 35, will head the Swiss art space starting in May. Her appointment is part of several rearrangements in institutions run by the pharma billionaire Maja Hoffmann. Last October, the Swiss Institute, a non-profit contemporary art space in New York, announced that board chair Maja Hoffmann, one of the heiresses of the Roche pharmaceutical company, had been elected president of the board of trustees. Soon afterwards, in November, the former...

This old farm building in the Valais has been converted into a holiday home. Hallenbarter AG Many people dream of owning a mountain home, especially in Switzerland, where the Alps are within easy reach of major towns and cities. But few come on the market and, when they do, they can be quite expensive. Trained as a picture journalist at the MAZ media school in Lucerne. Since 2000 she has worked as a picture editor in various media concerns and as a freelancer....

Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch Despite the demise of many antiquarian bookshops in Switzerland, the trade is alive and well in the Alpine country. Dealers in Geneva, Basel and Zurich give a glimpse into this exclusive business, where a gentleman’s code still rules. Thomas Kern was born in Switzerland in 1965. Trained as a photographer in Zürich, he started working as a photojournalist in 1989. He was a founder of the Swiss photographers agency Lookat Photos in 1990....

The way that the Swiss watch television today has changed a bit since the 1960s. akg-images In a little over a year Play Suisse, the streaming service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), has become a major player in the Swiss digital landscape, surpassing platforms like Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. Critic Max Borg looks at the strengths and weaknesses of Play Suisse and its rivals. To mark the first anniversary of Play Suisse, the SBC, SWI swissinfo.ch’s...

Futuristic architecture sketches from Pascal Häusermann, 1970. Competition in Cannes, private urban atmosphere. Collection Frac Centre-Val de Loire / Donation Pascal Häusermann Swiss architects were swept up in the movement to build bubble houses out of concrete and plastic in the 1960s. While the bubble movement burst decades ago, many of the original structures are still standing to this day. Need more space? Why not just build an extra room on the side of your...

The pandemic looms over the Swiss documentary festival, but is far from being the main topic. Some films tackle the social effects of quarantine, such as Pacho Velez’s “Searchers”, which explores how social networks helped to compensate for the loneliness of isolation. Visions du Réel After last year’s record edition during the Covid-19 lockdown, Visions du Réel – Switzerland’s largest documentary film festival that opened on April 15 – faces the challenge of...

The Covid-19 pandemic demands the creative management of public funds but some authorities are finding this difficult. (Image: Cildo Meireles, ‘Zero Dollar’, 1978-84) Cildo Meireles Cildo Meireles The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the Swiss arts scene. Support measures have been introduced to “preserve cultural diversity” and some cantons have even launched monthly income support schemes for artists. But will these measures be enough? These have been...

Fewer people were able to attend cinemas during the pandemic year of 2020. © Keystone / Thomas Delley Ticket sales at Swiss cinemas plummeted by two-thirds last year as venues were forced to close their doors. Of the films that could be shown, Swiss movies made up a greater share of the total offering. Official statistics out on Tuesday revealed the economic impact of Covid-19 on Switzerland’s 263 cinema theatres. Income fell from CHF193 million ($208 million) in...