A recent large donation by a Swiss alumnus of Harvard provided some food for thought for those active in Swiss-US science links. When Hans-Jorg Wyss, the founder of Synthes, decided to donate 125 million dollars to establish a new biomedical center, it was another reminder of the vital role that alumni play in sponsoring research and education in the US. At the core of every school experience in the USA is the rite of passage from student to alumnus. Graduation is an entry into a new kind of relationship with the alma mater, that of alumnae or alumnus. The value of an alumni network is essential for major universities that often tap into the rolodex or pockets of their alumni for business connections or donations.
Swiss universities have traditionally shown little interest in maintaining active relationships with their graduates. With a local community serving as the backbone of business connections, there have been few reasons for Swiss alumni to seek specific ties to their classmates.
In the last decade or so, both universities and alumni have become much more active. For example, a few Swiss science leaders such as Patrick Aebischer of EPFL have realized the value of connecting alumni with visionary projects. Also, the growing mobility of students and young professionals, combined with the power of online networks, has created new ways for Swiss alumni to connect abroad.
The US-wide email list called Swiss List (www.swiss-list.com) was an early example of an open network where Swiss-related students and professionals could discuss anything from the administrative steps to relocate to the US to career information and job offers. Christian Simm, the director of Swissnex San Francisco, also started an alumni directory under the name Swiss Talents (www.swisstalents.org). These web sites help develop a critical mass in various cities where Swiss alumni meetings are now taking place regularly. The best organized alumni clubs seem to be the ones of University of St-Gallen and EPFL/ETHZ (under the name A3SFIT). In Boston and San Francisco, these young talents are part of the community of Swissnex, the Swiss Knowledge Network, where they often participate to discussion and connect to potential collaborators or employers.
Even if, for now, Swiss universities have not yet fully deployed international alumni strategies, we might see EPFL or University of Geneva clubs emerge in the future in large cities abroad, where alumni will meet and discuss how they can help develop the next generation of leaders.
By now, everybody has used, successfully or not, one of the many active social networking platforms such as Facebook or LinkedIn. While these platforms have not put an end to traditional face-to-face networking, they certainly absorb more of the time of working people who are looking for clients, partners or their next job. The beauty of discussing and networking online lies in part in the freedom to decide on when to interact, what to say and when to stop. The social rules are clearly different when you are asking for a connection through email than when you are approaching an unknown person at a function.
As making contacts and connecting people is at the heart of our operations, I am always curious to learn more about new ways to share ideas and contacts in groups. Therefore, with great expectations, I signed up for an “unconference” on innovation a couple weeks ago. I was not sure what the “un” meant, but I soon realized that the techies who put the conference together were keen to use the meeting (I don’t think the term ‘unmeeting’ has reached the glossary of web-oriented crowds) as a test bed for new “social” technologies. The email confirmation did not come with an agenda attached or a list of participants. Instead, it directed me to create an online profile where I could and create tags to highlight my expertise and interests. A wiki also served as a virtual bulletin board allowing participants to brainstorm topics and showcase their technologies ahead of the event. All these participatory mechanisms were designed to offer each participant the chance to craft some parts of the agenda. At the first session, a moderator invited everybody to suggest a session topic. Session leaders were responsible for starting the discussion, but there were no rules on how the group dynamic should proceed. Everyone was encouraged to contribute and “bumble bees”, who roam freely from session to session, were welcome.
That “unconference” in Boston sold out with just over 300 people. All the preparation and the social technologies could not address the limits of the physical world. There was quite a bit of confusion when sessions started to take shape, and a lot of people were talking at the same time. Also, some of the rooms could not accommodate all the people who were interested.
Apart from these small problems, I found the experience very successful. The sessions provided opportunities to sit down and exchange views with many different people in a short space of time. And I have to admit that I also enjoyed leaving a session before the end to join another one. I also tried to follow several sessions in parallel. How did I do that? Easy, I just surfed the Twitter channel of the conference… but that would be too long to explain.
Water has become a top priority in much of the world. Some leaders have been vigorously crying out their worries about the potential disasters linked to possible long-term shortages. Various regions of the US are rethinking their development in part because water cannot be guaranteed for ever. In Boston, citizens are also becoming aware of the value of water since a bill allowed landlords to pass the costs of water to their tenants. Suddenly watering the lawn becomes an additional expense for households. Water is also intertwined with the landscape in Boston. Rather than the waterfront on the Ocean side, tourists like to take pictures of the river with Harvard or MIT in the background. While the river was long considered a dump for all kinds of industrial waste, the quality of the water has improved a lot and some brave people have started swimming as part of an annual 1 mile race (yes, I did join the group too).
What the efforts to clean the Charles River show is a desire to restore the river to its state of 60 years ago when beaches dotted the landscape. A large problem is the resistance of the citizens who keep in mind the old saying that if you touch the water, you are good for a tetanus shot. Environmental leaders, such as Renata von Tscharner, a Swiss who directs the Charles River Conservancy, have taken the lead in raising awareness of the importance of clean water. We recently partnered with the Conservancy to help them in their mission to promote river swimming. Based on the achievements to clean Swiss rivers, we prepared an exhibit that showcased the bath structures of different cities (Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich) and led the visitor to imagine how similar structures could enhance the quality of life in their region. A Swiss beach day was organized to share with the participants the atmosphere of relaxing along the Limmat in Zurich or enjoying great conversations at Bains des Paquis in Geneva. Pictures of this event can be found at: http://www.thinkswiss.org/thinkswim/swissbeachday.html
River swimming in large US cities would be an excellent way to create new spaces for recreation often in the middle of the city. We believe that collaboration at three levels is required to transform this vision into reality:
- environmental technologies need to be deployed to clean the river of pollutants and restore the quality of the water
- an innovative urban design strategy is needed so that bathing structures become focal points for citizens by day and by night
- the communities must embrace this idea and help with the development of programs and activities that benefit all citizens
After this first event, we realized that river swimming and bathing structures stand for real Swiss innovations. The dedication and the collaborative spirit that made this happen are signs of a successful process of planning and bringing in different experts.
On Swiss-related activities in the US to fight global warming: a lot of people talk about global warming and are mobilizing all kinds of resources to spread the word and educate fellow citizens. Some others walk the walk and there is certainly one person who can claim this as he has just finished crossing the entire US by foot. Martin Vosseler does not take planes – he crossed the Atlantic on a cargo ship – and he had to endure hundreds of miles during his “Sun Walk” from L.A. to Boston. During his trip, he met hundreds of people and slept in all kinds of accommodation, from camping out in subzero temperatures to being invited to sleep over by people he had met while walking.
He was struck by the enthusiasm he was feeling from all over the United States about the need to change our use of energy. Like we often say, it is difficult to point to exactly what or how, but there is a fundamental and fast shift in society here. People are starting to change their transportation habits, for example by commuting by bike – the local bike path in Boston is now congested in the morning – or by organizing more car pooling (a local high tech company has a matching system in place that connects to Facebook). Not surprisingly, citizens are starting to look elsewhere for solutions and inspiration to establish renewable energies and minimize environmental damage.
Switzerland is often cited as an example and Swiss organizations in the US have launched several programs to facilitate idea and know-how exchange. A good example is a climate trail, a series of outdoor posters that explains key elements of Swiss environmental and energy policy. From the Mall in Washington DC to the UN in New York and MIT in Boston, the trail has provided a unique opportunity to walk and learn about energy-reducing measures and successes. There is no doubt that the future months will see more collaborative activities about this important issue.
