Sixth Forum for Dialogue between Switzerland and Italy in Zurich

The event took place on October 21 and 22, 2022 at the Pädagogische Hochschule in Zurich, a meeting platform attended by high-level representatives from business, journalistic, political, scientific, and cultural circles of the two countries.

Crasi fra le bandiere della Confederazione Svizzera e della Repubblica Italiana
Crasi between the flags of the Swiss Confederation and the Italian Republic

After previous editions in Rome, Bern, Milan, Lugano, and Genoa, this year’s Forum, sponsored by the Embassy of Switzerland in Italy, the Embassy of Italy in Switzerland, Limes, the Avenir Suisse Study Center, and Ispi (Institute for International Policy Studies), was hosted by the city of Zurich with the support of the City Hall and the Canton of Zurich and under the patronage of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Forum for dialogue between Switzerland and Italy in brief

The first edition of the Forum for Dialogue between Switzerland and Italy was held in Rome in 2013 and aims to discuss the relationship between Switzerland and Italy.

The two neighboring countries share, in addition to the Italian language and 800 kilometers of border, an important number of citizens who have settled in each other’s countries: 330,000 Italians and Italians, plus 310,000 people with dual Swiss and Italian citizenship, (equal to more than 7 percent of the Swiss population) live in Switzerland and more than 50,000 Swiss citizens live in Italy. To these are added the approximately 76,000 Italian border crossers who, every day cross the border to go to work in Switzerland.

At the economic level, Switzerland is stably the fourth destination country for Italian exports while, Italy is the second largest supplier of products to the Swiss market: the two countries exchange goods and services worth a billion euros a week.

 

Dogana di Brogeda tra Svizzera e Italia Photo by warrenski, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Brogeda customs between Switzerland and Italy Photo by warrenski, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Italy-Switzerland Forum in Zurich

The theme of this edition was “From Dante to Fintech: Switzerland and Italy at the Dawn of 2030“: during the event, fintech and sustainable finance, health as a common field of action after the pandemic, migration between old challenges and new unknowns, climate challenge and energy issue were discussed.

The event opened with greetings from Swiss Ambassador to Italy Monika Schmutz Kirgöz and Italian Ambassador to Switzerland Silvio Mignano.

President Sergio Mattarella of the Italian Repubblica intervened virtually by sending a video message, and so did President Ignazio Cassis of the Swiss Confederation.

Speeches included those of Lucio Caracciolo, editor of Limes as well as co-founder of the Dialogue Forum, Avenir Suisse Director Peter Grünenfelder, and Giampiero Massolo, ISPI President connected remotely.

The topics explored

Fintech and sustainable finance

A financial center of global significance like Switzerland can never miss the boat.

It is no coincidence that the Confederation has become a vanguard center for fintech. A similar dynamic has occurred in Italy, particularly in the Milan area, a veritable hub of technofinance.

At the same time, the increased focus on sustainability has made fintech a valuable working tool in terms of transparency, traceability, access to credit, climate risk analysis, and more.

This evolution is possible thanks to applied science, the offspring – in Switzerland and Italy – of their respective university and research excellence.

In order for the Swiss and Italian financial centers to fully exploit the potential of technological synergy for mutual benefit, it is of paramount importance that operators and clients can have full access to each other’s banking services, with a view to open and interconnected international markets.

Finally, the cluster will also analyze the present and future impacts of these developments on society, particularly in terms of employment and prospects.

Migration between old challenges and new unknowns

At present, the labor market is being shaken on several fronts by several maxi-trends: first and foremost, digital transformation, which for employees translates inevitably into the demand for new skills, and demographic development with the consequent aging of the population, which in some sectors could expose the shortage of skilled labor born in the baby-boom years and now nearing retirement.

Challenges that equally affect both the Italian and Swiss labor markets, making comparisons of best practices and approaches even more stimulating.

A further element of discussion is workforce migration: both between the two countries and from a global perspective.

Health as a common sphere of action

Health is a cornerstone of every culturally, socially and economically advanced country. Italy and Switzerland decline it in different and complementary ways, but both with characteristics of absolute excellence.

The pandemic has been a ‘stress test’ for the two health systems, but it has also shown the way forward. It will increasingly require the involvement of new actors and the adoption of innovative and creative approaches to achieve a ‘health ecosystem’ that can best meet the needs of citizens, both patients and health workers.

Investment in research and development has again played an essential role. Affordable and quality healthcare is both an asset and a condition for full and sustained recovery from the pandemic crisis.

Future development of treatments and methodologies will need to be able to address the challenges to come from a dynamic, multidisciplinary perspective that can offer comprehensive solutions from health, social and economic perspectives.

Climate challenge, energy crisis

Climate change is here and now: temperatures are rising, droughts and wildfires are becoming more frequent, precipitation patterns are changing, glaciers and snow are melting, and global average sea levels are rising.

Both Italy and Switzerland are both perpetrators and victims. Climate change is now a key issue of public debate with an impact on all areas of policy.

The climate challenge knows no borders; a common commitment of countries, including all stakeholders, is needed. So all looking for solutions, sometimes innovative ones.

Conference Italophony and the role of public service media

Week of Italian Language in the World

Italian excellencies on exhibition in Zurich: what a success!

Award for Federalism 2022

As part of the event, the ch Foundation presented the Federalism Award 2022 trophy to the Forum per l’italiano in Svizzera.

ch Foundation president Florence Nater presented the Federalism Award 2022 trophy to Ticino State Councillor Manuele Bertoli, president of the Forum for Italian in Switzerland, praising the organization’s work and commitment to promoting Italian language and culture. President Nater also stressed that language is a means of expressing the richness and subtleties of a culture and that strengthening the Italian language means strengthening Switzerland as a whole. This is the first time the award has been given to an organization that promotes Dante’s language.

Launch of the tenth edition of the Federalism Prize

The event held in Zurich was also an opportunity to officially launch the 10th anniversary of the Federalism Prize, which will be awarded for the 10th time in 2023. The prize, endowed with 10,000 Swiss francs, is awarded to a person, institution or organization for its political, social, scientific or cultural commitment to federalism and national cohesion.

Nominations for the coveted award, which has already been given to Cirkus Knie, Arnold Koller, the easyvote project, or the Forum per l’italiano in Svizzera, among others, are open and must be submitted by Feb. 28, 2023, on the Foundation’s website ch. Nominations from other people or organizations can also be proposed. A jury of political, scientific and cultural figures will select the finalists and award the prize to the best project.

 

Source: forumperlitalianoinsvizzera; forumdialogosvizzeraitalia; Fondazione ch per la collaborazione confederale

 

climate Companies Culture Economy Finance fintech health Italian Italian language italians abroad Italy Job sustainability Switzerland technology