Dear <<First Name>> <<Last Name>>

On behalf of the entire SDSN Switzerland team, I would like to wish you a healthy and prosperous 2019. This will be a year of important decisions for Switzerland’s sustainable future. Already looming are the federal elections in October. With our ballot paper we will have the opportunity to set the course for the policy decisions for the next years towards the achievement of the 17 SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement. Upcoming important policy decisions include the new Sustainable Development Strategy of the Federal Council, the Dispatches on Switzerland’s International Cooperation, and the Promotion of Education, Research and Innovation, but also the total revision of the CO₂-law or the Agricultural Policy 2022+, amongst others.

Equipped with rich experiences and valuable lessons learned during our first one-and-a-half-years of operations, we feel well prepared to help shaping these important discussions. Among our highlights of 2018 were several solution initiatives, which we launched. For example, the Circular Resources Lab in the Lausanne region produced four prototypes, which were presented to policy makers in order to bring them to scale. A challenge, however, was to keep the momentum going after our successful Launch Conference in February 2018. We could have done more to harvest from the excellent ideas that were developed and presented on that day, for instance.

We very much look forward to an exciting 2019 – which will kick-off with our (fully booked) Assembly, where we will amongst others discuss the Work Program 2019. Together with our vast and diverse network that combines expertise, innovation power and practical problem-solving skills, we are committed to accelerate the sustainability transformation in Switzerland and beyond.