Future?
We want it,
we own it,
We are able
to create it!
In 2027, Switzerland will once again host a national exhibition. It offers the ideal framework for a diverse country to reflect together on our future. However, X27 does not only want to reflect on this, it also wants to actively shape our future. We, the initiators of X27, are the individuals, groups, organisations and companies who are already doing this. X27 will show that the future in Switzerland has already begun: decentralised and diverse; from idealistic to innovative, future projects are already coming from the middle of society. Everyone around X27 is united by the conviction that shaping the future of Switzerland is in the hands of all of us.
X27 is an invitation to everyone to participate in shaping the future. And X27 is the promise that the National Exhibition 2027 will be like none before: the reinvention of Switzerland in a process that invites participation. And a stimulating festival without a beginning - but above all without an end. With a brilliant climax in 2027.
There is neither a region nor an association nor any other organisation behind X27. X27 is a loose but determined association of people from Switzerland who are convinced: The future belongs to all of us - that's why we have to shape it together.
X27 is an open system: the more people who join, the broader the idea of Switzerland as a creative society, the better X27 can reflect how the Swiss people in all their diversity approach their future.
We are carefully continuing on our path
We are using our energy to carefully continue on the path that our project initiative is currently taking. A new core team starts a new phase. The board of the X27 association is renewed. There is a lot to report and celebrate, but only after May 12. Thank you for your understanding. We will keep you up to date.
Current developments April 2024
X27 has created an opportunity to create an event encompassing all parts of the country and all areas of our living environment that could have the size and impact of a national exhibition.
The process of bringing together all four national exhibition initiatives (under the name "Expo#27"), which was called for and promoted by X27 from the outset, is still ongoing, but in the meantime also shows that this will not lead to any implementation until around 2032.
Our path
First step:
Co-creative kick-off of Switzerland's future makers on March 15, 2024, 1 to 5 p.m., in Lucerne. A meeting of all involved and interested parties with the aim of jointly defining the next steps.
Possible second step:
The sponsorship, organization, planning and financing are adapted in response to this joint, sharpened and clarified focus.
Possible third and fourth steps:
The "X27 Rendez-vous of Switzerland #8", on 12 May 2024, as a sounding event.
Use the "experimental space" Lichtensteig on Saturday, June 22, 2024.
An arc project of the X27.
How do we want to live - now and in 100 years? This central question is the focus of the year-long "Co-Habitations" project by WE ARE AIA | Awareness in Art. It deals with the idea of a future worth living, for which we have put together a diverse program of participatory workshops, talks, performances and much more for the whole family in the specially designed garden on Wilden Platz (Zollstrasse 99, 805 Zurich).
Dear X27 Community, Co-dreamer:in and Co-designer:in,
Soon it will be time for our first decentralized and future-designer:in supported Rendez-vous of Switzerland #7. We have been talking for a long time about living diversity in collaboration and collaboration in diversity - et voila!
For us, the next national exhibition starts now. We are convinced that the next Expo is ideally suited as a date and format to generate a creative culmination, synchronization and transformation moment in our society. In the face of our multiple world woes, we are no longer willing to put ourselves on the back burner. The tingles are too tight.
True, the Federal Council communicated in March that it would not make a financial decision until 2028. But we find that there are moments in life when the party just has to go on anyway. Because it is time. And because we feel the creative power and desire to do so. Now is the time for a fun, explorative and future-oriented venture. An inspired venture that invites everyone to join in.
As a decentralized bottom-up endeavor, we see it as our task to outline an initial vision and purpose and to develop a tangible attitude to open up a space for collaboration, participation, co-thinking and co-creation.
If in previous national exhibitions star architects and exhibition luminaries ran riot with iconic buildings and experiential worlds and we were privileged to admire their handiwork, today we believe we are being asked to lend a hand(work) to the architecture of our thought buildings. How, you ask?
It is probably time to capture the current zeitgeist - or to free it from its Gini bottle. In any case, we have a longing for a space of encounter and confrontation with the spirits of our time . And we have a great desire to explore and commit this encounter in an artistically refined, powerfully vulnerable, sometimes loud and sometimes quiet, both intellectually pompous and more often effectively simple way.
To this end, we would like to extend the following invitations to you (in chronological order):
Bern, May 23, 2291 Festival - Peter Sauter and Schanon Neukom have developed a wonderfully creative scenography, which will become a real Futur II space through the moderation of Alice Baumann. We will literally look back from the future to the year 2023 and ask ourselves: "What did we do right back then to ver[h/w] the zeitgeist of 2023 and shape the Switzerland of the future?"
Lichtensteig, June 30, Future Festival - The small town of Lichtensteig will be celebrating big things from June 30 to July 2: The small town in Toggenburg has reinvented itself with innovative ideas and concepts and will be awarded the Wakker Prize 2023 . On Friday, June 30, the celebrations will begin with the Future Festival, for which we have developed a spatial concept ranging from Temple, to Playa, to the Marketplace of Ideas, to umWELT. There will be many opportunities to get involved - more on that soon! On 01 June is the official celebration for the Wakkerpreis award ceremony and on Sunday the festivities will end with a lavish brunch.
Zoom, anytime, Interviews - We want to get to know you, your thoughts and ideas! Contact us for a 30-45 minute interview to tell us about your visions, projects and thoughts.
Creative urbanites are allowed to try out living in the Städtli and in return get actively involved in the community with their ideas.
The zukunft.bahnhof foundation is initiating the "Summer of Pioneers" program, which is well-known and successful in Germany, in Switzerland for the first time. In 2023, 20 creative people and digital nomads will be allowed to get a taste of the country air in Lichtensteig, St. Gallen, for six months and help to create creative forms of living and working that are suitable for grandchildren. The program starts on May 1, 2023 and runs for six months until the end of October.
The Nexpo and X27 project initiatives both have an X in their names. The common X stands for the common goal: the change towards a sustainable future supported by society.
On 25.10.2022 the letter of intent for the cooperation between X27 and Nexpo was signed in Bern. This is a very important step towards the next national exhibition. This will convince the federal government and the cantons, and hopefully also the other project initiatives.
The diversity of our organizations and approaches, is just the right thing. Under the keyword "Diversity in Collaboration", we thus represent a huge quality of our Switzerland: the diversity, and the way we deal with this diversity.
20 years after the doors opened, the anniversary of Expo02 was celebrated in Biel on Saturday evening. In addition to a tribute to the formative "Arteplages", a look into the future and towards the next national exhibition was ventured: X27 had the opportunity to demonstrate what is meant by "zukunften" with a playful project presentation in the form of an interview with TV presenter Benard Rentsch and Noémie Roten from the Service Citoyen arch project. In the subsequent stage discussion with the current national exhibition projects, association president Peter Sauter was able to make X27's point of view heard: We are convinced that nothing stands in the way of all initiatives joining forces under the common leitmotif of "shaping the future".
(Picture: René Tanner)
On May 12, the future of Switzerland was kneaded - conceptually and literally! 60 future makers rolled back their sleeves at Rendez-vous #6, discussed their ideas and visions for a future worth living and gave them a form. Between the modeling phases, the core team X27 presented the most important milestones of the last months and years, introduced the "Bureau X27" and informed about the advanced talks of a collaboration with Nexpo and Muntagna. Our conclusion: What happened at Rendez-vous #6 on a small scale has potential. Now we have to take the chance of the National Exhibition to shape the future of Switzerland together with the broad population!
(Picture: thomas fuerer fotografie)
The most important next step in the further development of our project initiative was the establishment of an office, the "Bureau X27". It started work at the end of last year. Priority tasks of the Bureau are communication, support for the development of ideas for concrete X27 projects as well as funding up to and including our 6th "Rendez-vous of Switzerland" on 12.05.2022.
From the very beginning, we have been of the opinion that the next national exhibition must be developed from the combined strength of all the movers and shakers. We want to shape our future together. This is also the great wish of the Confederation and the cantons. Joint discussions and coordinated activities of all project initiatives are currently taking place under the motto "Diversity in Collaboration". The aim here is not to harmonise activities, but to sharpen complementarity.
Muntagna / NEXPO / Svizra27
2021 digital "X27 OPEN" have always taken place on the 12th of the month.
The fact that the OPENs have been so interesting and successful has always meant a lot of work. The Équipe X27, which still works on a voluntary basis, adapts itself and its possibilities to the current project developments and challenges. At the moment, the focus is more on organisation than on communication. However, anyone who has the time and inclination to prepare and organise an OPEN should contact the "Bureau X27".
If you haven't been there yet or would like to refresh your memories of the 12th of each month, you can do so in our review.
Our current position
We at X27, together with the arch projects, remain true to our credo. We are convinced that a nationwide gathering and collaboration of all forward-looking, meaningful forces is needed now, or as soon as possible. Whether the event will then be called a "national exhibition" or not, we leave open.
Our current position
We at X27, together with the arch projects, remain true to our credo. We are convinced that a nationwide gathering and collaboration of all forward-looking, meaningful forces is needed now, or as soon as possible. Whether the event will then be called a "national exhibition" or not, we leave open.
Arching Projects are initiatives that are already working on forward-looking solutions today. They look beyond their backyards and think beyond their self-interest. We can only progress in all areas of society through coordinated cooperation.
Arching projects are called such because they look to the future. They already exist today or are still being founded. Through the framework of X27, the arching projects are made visible and tangible for the general public from now until 2027. Unlike previous expos, Expo X27 will not be "deconstructed" but will have a lasting impact.
Does that sound abstract? It is not at all! In Switzerland today, there are already hundreds, or rather thousands, of small and large arch projects that are committed to the common good or sustainability instead of short-term profit. In schools, companies and institutions, but also in self-organised citizens' initiatives, think tanks, start-ups or networked groups of artists, people are already working on concrete and realisable solutions for a future of Switzerland that is fit for children.
Arching projects have always existed; they stand for the innovative capacity, the pioneering spirit and the social commitment of the Swiss population. Now is the right time to join all positive forces so that Switzerland has a future worth living for.
Are you involved in a project working towards a liveable and sustainable Switzerland and would like to contribute to X27 as an arching project? Then get in touch here.
Are you involved in a project yourself that is committed to a livable and sustainable Switzerland and that you would like to contribute as an arch project? Then get in touch here.
Even though many small and large things will take place between now and 2027, the time will come in just a few years: X27 will be the big Swiss rendez-vous with the future, the "national exhibition". X27 is proclaiming 2027 the "Swiss Year of the Design Society" and is creating a snapshot of the future of our country in an inspiring series of live experiences, forums and events.
Instead of experts and designers planning concepts for themed and designed spaces and formats that are then filled with content, X27 takes the opposite approach. At X27, the "contents" in the form of the arch projects and their creators are networked, bundled and expanded throughout Switzerland. This gives rise to wishes, visions and ideas for activating and involving other interested parties and the wider population.
From this moment on, experts and designers with their specific skills and the desire for great moments of encounter and groundbreaking experimental spaces come into play. Only then do the digital and physical realisations and the right decentralised and central locations crystallise. So
X27 has already begun. It is a process that in the coming months and years will produce the concrete forms that we will experience in 2027. The dreams and images for this are emerging from now on, in our heads, on laptops, at kitchen and office tables. Now is the moment to let the imagination run wild. What will our meeting place look like, how will we welcome all the people who are interested in our arch project?
What is certain is that in 2027, the Swiss Year of the Design Society, there will also be a big, boisterous party to go with all the important content!
Significant societal change requires a solid organisation: genuine co-determination and broad-based decisions are not empty words but lived values. X27 works with the organisational model of sociocracy. Its principles ensure that we make decisions jointly and that mutual respect is the basis of successful cooperation. Conflicts are addressed openly and defused in the interest of our communally formulated goals at X27.
In learning together, bearing responsibility together, and feeling the power of swarm intelligence, it is evident: at X27, the future of work has already begun today.
X27 is organised in these domains:
You find this project exciting and have the time and desire to get involved in an X27 domain?
X27 has already thought about how the Swiss population can participate in a future-oriented way and contribute to the financing of the next Expo. And will also benefit directly from it.
To this end, we are developing the CUBIX, a digital currency concept that can be used to support arch projects and also serve as an avatar, admission ticket or to purchase a bratwurst in the X27 future land of Switzerland.
To date, X27 has not received any public project funding. Instead, X27 pulsates with the lifeblood of committed people. Organizing and staging a national exhibition costs money. A lot of money. Switzerland will tackle this task as part of a joint effort, like all expenditure that benefits everyone. Tax money from the public purse, contributions from the private sector and sponsors of all kinds will reinforce each other.
Landi 1939, Expo 1964, Expo.02 - Swiss national exhibitions were always children of their time. They expressed the concerns and emotions of the people in this country. This expression should be no different in 2027. X27 shows how the Swiss population is taking its future into its own hands: confidently and as a matter of course. This action is not a question of ideology, place of residence, origin, profession or age. We all want to shape our future and have a say in the Switzerland of the 21st century. Not only these supporters.
Lawyer, Enabler
Switzerland needs encounters and exchanges between people, regions, politics, innovation, technology and business. X27 has the vision for this.
Student, Coach & Facilitator
A national exhibition is an ingenious place for "us" to enter into a relationship with the "we" of our time and to negotiate together. Precisely as a bottom-up project!
Managing Director Family Business
To give people hope.
Human experience strategist
Because there is nothing braver than creating the future we dare not dream.x
Filmmaker
I have been waiting for a long time for a multicultural, transnational representation of our country, in which migrant Switzerland is a natural part of the representation.
Human experience strategist
Because there is nothing braver than creating the future we dare not dream.x
Do you also want to support X27 with your vote?
Great ideas never come about on their own. People with the will to create inspire each other, and swarm intelligence sharpens their plans and refines their concept. That is precisely how the minds behind X27 work. Some have been committed to an entirely new kind of national exhibition for years, while others were bitten by the philanthropic X27 bug only a few months or weeks ago.
I believe in a common, diverse and sustainable Switzerland. If we all join forces with our strengths and dreams, we can achieve great things. Together for a National Exhibition of Future Shapers 2027!
Contextologist | Business Psychologist
A wave of courageous creation that reaches people across borders. X27 gives many people, ideas & future projects the opportunity to blossom together for a more loving world.
Experience Shaper | World Weaver
The design society exists - it is just not yet visible as a whole. X27 connects many loose threads and sets strong signs for courage and confidence in the future from the middle of the population.
Co-Founder Zukunftbureau and ANiM.jetzt
Participation and collaboration are buzzwords.
X27 is serious and consistently breaks new ground. We believe that if we want to create something new, we can using the synergy of our talents, energy and creativity.
Are you inspired by X27 and want to become part of the movement? We look forward to hearing from you by email.
Association X27
Sihlquai 268
8005 Zurich
Email:
info@x27.ch
Email: info@x27.ch
Email: florian.eggli@x27.ch
Email: thomas.keller@x27.ch
Email: peter.sauter@x27.ch