Newsletter «Zurich (Inter)national»

There are now 114 million refugees worldwide and 70 percent of them are seeking refuge and opportunities for a new life in cities.

That is why Mayor Corine Mauch, as a member of the Mayors Migration Council (MMC), took part in the Global Refugee Forum organized by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 13-15 December in Geneva. The MMC was co-founded by Mayor Mauch in 2019 to call for the involvement of cities in global refugee and migration policy. At the Global Refugee Forum 2023, Mayor Mauch joined mayors from all regions of the world in showcasing city solutions for refugees and calling for the central role of cities in refugee policy to be recognized.

On behalf of the City of Zurich, she also submitted two pledges to the Global Compact on Refugees: one with an international focus together with the partner city of Tyre in Lebanon to continue cooperation in the area of refugee inclusion. Another with a national focus to strengthen cooperation between the federal government, cantons, and cities in the tripartite asylum system. The second one has the support of the State Secretariat for Migration, cantonal representatives (SODK and KKJPD), the Swiss Association of Cities and individual cities (including Geneva, Bern and Basel).

From January 2024, a four-year cooperation in the field of waste management will begin between the City of Zurich and the cities of Santa Cruz in Bolivia and Cali in Colombia.

Concrete measures supported on the ground by the partner organization Swisscontact as well as targeted technical exchanges between the two cities with Entsorgung und Recycling Zürich (ERZ) and with each other should contribute to closing the cycle in the waste systems of the two partner cities. Waste disposal and separation by consumers should lead to more efficient and safer waste collection by the largely informal waste pickers, which in turn should increase the recycling of valuable materials.

The overarching goal is to improve the ecological living conditions in the partner cities by reducing environmental pollution and the consumption of raw materials. A particularly central concern of the cooperation is improving the working conditions of informal waste pickers, who are a key factor in the waste value chain in both Cali and Santa Cruz.

NEXPO – the initiative of the ten largest Swiss cities for a new Expo – is working together with the other existing Expo initiatives Muntagna, Svizra27 and X27 to streamline the Federal Government's Expo timetable.

The initiatives have now been successful: After Motion 23.3966 (WBK-S) «National Exhibition» was already approved by the Council of States in September 2023, in November, the National Council's Science, Education and Culture Committee SECC-N also clearly supported the political initiative, paving the way for the next Expo.

The motion instructs the Federal Council to clarify the Confederation's financing intentions and project selection for the next national exhibition by summer 2026 and to define the framework conditions for an Expo that would take place from 2030 onwards.