"Switzerland ends after Winterthur." There is hardly anyone in Eastern Switzerland who has not heard this saying before. "With our cross-cantonal Eastern Switzerland podcast project "berta&gamma", we want to show Switzerland and ourselves: This is where life really begins," explains Kathrin Loppacher, project initiator of "berta&gamma". "Together, we are highlighting Eastern Switzerland as a place to live and work and providing exciting insights into innovative, valuable organizations and companies. In this way, we are creating new role models and ideas for entire generations," she says with conviction.

The region is given a central role in the podcast: the creative artists shed new light on Eastern Switzerland as a cultural location; the spotlight shines on Eastern Switzerland as a business location. "We talk to our guests about their personal educational and professional paths, formative experiences, challenges, lessons and tips. By making their work public, they create new ideas and inspiration," says Sabrina Lehmann from Thurgau, radio presenter and host of the new podcast.

Visibility creates role models

Young women (and men) in particular need female role models they can look up to. Visibility encourages them to (re)define and implement models for their own life and career planning - even if there are no corresponding role models in their immediate environment. "This strengthens Eastern Switzerland, promotes the attractiveness of the location and is a measure against the shortage of skilled workers," Michaela Silvestri, President of "Helvetia speaks", is convinced. The non-profit association initiates specific projects to increase the visibility of women in business, society and education in the public eye. Two years ago, it launched the alphaberta.ch speaker platform, which has been in great demand ever since. "Our projects help to ensure that the potential of women is consistently utilized - whether as speakers on stage, as managers in companies or as role models in the general public," says Silvestri.

Strong support for professional implementation

Thanks to the financial support of the lottery funds of the cantons of Thurgau, St.Gallen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden and private foundations, namely the Ernst Göhner Foundation (ZG), the Gemeinnütziger Frauenverein St.Gallen (SG), the cantonal St.Gallen Winkelried Foundation (SG), the Dr. Fred Styger Foundation for Culture, Education and Science (AR), the charitable foundation of Raiffeisenbank Gossau-Andwil-Niederwil (SG), the Steinegg Foundation (AR), Metrohm Foundation (AR), the Ortsbürgergemeinde St.Gallen (SG) and the TW Foundation for the benefit of cultural and social institutions (SG), the podcast can be professionally implemented. The production partner is the Thurgau agency Mediaworks.

Live conversations that invite dialog

The premiere conversation with documentary filmmaker Eveline Falk will be recorded on March 8, 2024. A few days later, it will be available on all common podcast platforms. From April 2024, two live talks will take place in front of an audience on the first Thursday of every month. The focus will be on a well-known or less well-known personality from Eastern Switzerland from the worlds of business, culture or politics. Interested parties can watch the recordings at 7 pm and 8 pm and are invited to continue the discussion afterwards. Admission is free, the number of seats is limited. The discussion partners and the respective venues can be found on the website: www.berta-gamma.ch

In the meantime, the Gisler Protocol Association is managed by an eight-member board of directors and Consists of already 126 member agencieswho commit to the charter to act sensitively in the implementation of campaigns, to advocate diversity in advertising, and to implement inclusion as well as diversity among customers. Co-founders Nina Bieli and Annette Häcki are proud of how the initiative has developed.

m&k: Nina Bieli, 126 agencies from all over Switzerland have now joined the Gisler Protocol. Would you have thought that when you started exactly two years ago?

No, not at all! (laughs) Our focus at the time was primarily that we do it better as Jung von Matt, work less with clichés and communicate more inclusively. And that, in the best case, a few agencies would join us. I looked at my agenda today: On July 13, 2021, the first members met for the first time for a "Gisler Summit" - back then, it was still a small get-together of about ten agencies. The fact that we have now, two years later, been able to trigger so much and that so many people and agencies are enthusiastic about the topic really makes me very happy.

As an association, where do you see the biggest challenges in terms of diversity in advertising?

We notice time and again that the first reaction to the topic is characterized by the fear that it must constantly be about right and wrong. That one can only make mistakes. As Gislerprotokoll, we try to show that the path to a more diverse, inclusive advertising is just that: a path. A path on which we are moving together and accordingly do not have to turn everything upside down today or tomorrow. This means that as a company, I don't have to introduce the gender star overnight - but I should look at how I can communicate more inclusively in the future. The same is true in the image: In part, it just helps to put a woman behind the wheel of a car - surprisingly, something you still see relatively rarely.

What exactly do the agencies that join the Gisler Protocol profess to do?

These agencies commit to five pointsThe focus is on inclusive language, multifaceted role models, and sensitizing customers to the topic. In concrete terms, they are working to ensure that we in Switzerland communicate less stereotypically and with more facets.

What can guests of the first Gisler Summit expect?

The Gisler Summit is our first big event - and actually already the second one with this name, as I found out today. The event is meant to be an occasion for inspiration and exchange on the most diverse facets that exist in the DEI cosmos. [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, editor's note]. there. This includes, for example, the discussion of the topics "trans" and "queer" or the role and representation of fathers in our society. We have invited speakers such as Peter Schneider and Anna Rosenwasser. And we also have the pleasure of welcoming Ringier's EqualVoice initiative, which makes me very happy.

Where do you see the club in a few years, what are the long-term goals?

When I look at our "relaxed" start two years ago, I almost have to say: No big (laughs). But the last two years have also shown us what is possible and what still needs to be done. A bigger issue that we as an association board will be addressing in the coming months is corporate membership. So far, the Gisler Protocol has been geared toward agencies. However, we have consistently received feedback from advertising companies that they are interested in membership as well. This is possible in principle, but we would like to explicitly create an offer that also takes into account the needs and circumstances of companies.

Stereotypes in advertising don't just affect women. Men, too, are increasingly complaining about being the dorky father or the awkward relationship partner. 

Absolutely. That's why the Gisler Protocol explicitly addresses the stereotypical portrayal of both genders, as well as raising awareness that there is more than just this binary gender order. I think diversity is ideal when it is not a paint job. When both the people and the roles we show in advertising have different facets - and the whole thing is ideally implemented in a relatively unagitated way. Just as it suits the brand in question. And just as we know it from our everyday lives.

The Gisler Summit will take place on March 23, 2023. Interested parties can register at Gisler protocol.ch log in.

Of course, the Corona virus is not entirely innocent in this. It has played a key role in driving the development of our digital working methods. It is alarming that it took a pandemic to break up the old methods and patterns of our working world. Dramatically, however, gender-stereotypical thought patterns have remained largely unaffected. What would it take to give women equal opportunities in our working world without exception?

Gen GE is in the starting blocks 

There are developments that give cause for optimism. Workers up to the age of 30 apparently make fewer differences between the sexes than their older colleagues, as a IZA study shows. Of course, this result is first of all a generalization, because young people are not a homogeneous group. But it is a trend that gives us hope.

It's a nice thought that the next generation - a "Generation Gender Equality" - could rid the world of work of antiquated gender stereotypes at a rapid pace. At least, as soon as their share of the workforce increases significantly in the next few years.

The reality of life for people under 30 is naturally different from that of older population groups. They grew up in a time when equality was increasingly taken for granted. Equality is not a foreign word for them. And therein lies an unprecedented opportunity. With the current generational mix and upcoming generational change in the workplace, a new native understanding of diversity and equality will take hold in companies.

Change is near, young talent is scarce

This means that the company needs a sufficient number of younger employees to make the switch. In view of the impending shortage of skilled workers, however, this is becoming increasingly difficult. Demographic change will lead to a massive loss of workers in the coming years as many baby boomers enter retirement. According to estimates by the German Federal Statistical Office, by 2036 the German labor market will have around 12.9 million fewer skilled workers than in 2021 - a drop of around 30 percent. As a result, companies have little choice but to introduce hybrid working models in order to be attractive to potential, young employees.

Digital = Equal Natives 

This leads us to the next beacon of hope: digitization! It has not only revolutionized our working world. It also offers new opportunities for equality, especially by enabling more flexible work models like Virtual First. Instead of the outdated 9-to-5 office job, Virtual First allows concentrated desk work and thinking to be done undisturbed in the home office, while the trip to the office is only necessary for meetings. This makes it much easier to combine work and family life, an advantage - even today - for women, as they often have even heavier family commitments than men.

As more and more men take time off to raise children and run the family household as the generations change, new forms of work bring great benefits to both genders in not losing their participation in the labor market. Hybrid or remote work models offer greater opportunities to diversify a company's workforce. As an example, people living far away from the company site today can be digitally integrated into work processes and teamwork in such a way that everyone feels as if they are in the same place. So why not think digitization even further ahead in terms of diversity and equality?

Digitization has evolved rapidly in recent years, and companies have created digital tools and features that allow us to communicate more sensitively and diversely. Increasing diversity and openness to innovative ideas or visions are spurring technology companies to consciously think about equality and diversity as early as the product development stage.

Courage to DigitALL Equality 

When digitization, gender equality and diversity are thought of together, our companies and our entire society win. Right now, this change is within our grasp to fully exploit the opportunities of digitization. We just need to have the courage to let the spirit of Generation Gender Equality work in our companies. We will all benefit from this - not just us women!

* Andrea Trapp is, Vice President Business International at Dropbox and leads her international teams out of Munich. The economics graduate and change management expert has spent 22 years - at times abroad - in pan-European management or board positions at international tech and PropTech companies. Her focus has always been on digital leadership and the optimization of transformation processes.

Making women visible in mountain and outdoor sports, creating role models and encouraging new things: What was successfully launched in 2021 with the "100 % Women" initiative, including the Peak Challenge, is to be continued on International Women's Day 2022 with an ambitious idea. Switzerland Tourism, the Swiss Alpine Club SAC, the Swiss Mountain Guides Association, Saas-Fee/Saas Valley Tourism and the outdoor brand Mammut are planning to set a record with the longest women's rope team, which is likely to be unique worldwide. To achieve this, around 60 women from all over the world will climb the 4027-meter Allalinhorn in Valais together in June.

Travel brings people together. The 100 % Women initiative launched on last year's International Women's Day is proof of this. Despite the pandemic, women from over 20 countries came to Switzerland for the Peak Challenge. Around 700 female climbers scaled all 48 Swiss four-thousand-meter peaks in women-only rope teams and also ensured that female climbers and mountain guides were visible for the first time worldwide in a concerted effort.

With the continuation of "100 % Women" for International Women's Day this year, the diversity and concentrated power of women on the mountain is to become even greater. Switzerland Tourism (ST), together with the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC), the Swiss Mountain Guides Association, Saas-Fee/Saastal Tourism and the outdoor brand Mammut, is planning a record-breaking event in the Alps in June: around 60 women will climb the Valais Allalinhorn together, symbolically forming what is probably the longest women's rope team in the world. According to the two partner organizations, the Swiss Mountain Guides Association and the Swiss Alpine Club SAC, as well as renowned experts in the field of women's mountaineering, the mobilization of such a large, all-women's rope team is a first. This is also the case for Swiss historian Marie-France Hendrikx: "To my knowledge, never before in the history of mountaineering have so many women joined forces to climb a peak together. All the more gratifying that this record is being set in Switzerland."

For more diversity on the mountain

The Swiss mountains are accessible to all women. "100 % Women" wants to make this visible with the longest and most diverse women's rope team. Women from all cultures and of all ages, who have the necessary basic fitness for the approximately three-hour climb, can join online apply for the ten places that are available. The remaining 40 or so places will be awarded to female journalists and selected women from Germany and abroad. Care will be taken to ensure that the composition is as diverse as possible.

Around 15 experienced female mountain guides ensure the safety of the four participants per rope during the ascent. And with the Allalinhorn, a four-thousand-meter peak was chosen that is also suitable for women with little mountaineering experience. So for many a woman it could be the first four-thousand-meter peak of her life.

The implementation of the record is planned between June 15 and 17, 2022. Depending on the weather situation, the climb will take place on Thursday or Friday. Saas-Fee will serve as the base camp and thus become a hotspot for women's mountain sports, where it is not only about the mountain experience itself, but also about the exchange of experiences. The supporting program also includes various workshops, training opportunities, offers for relaxation for mind and body, and a celebratory dinner after a successful summit ascent.

"Women-only Travel": Great Potential for Destination Switzerland

ST sees great potential for women's travel in the Swiss tourism industry. Switzerland can score points with the female target group thanks to its diverse and intact nature. Switzerland also regularly occupies the top places in international rankings in the areas of cleanliness and sustainability. These are all aspects to which women attach particular importance. In addition, the conditions for more women in mountain sports and outdoor sports in general are improving: in developed countries, the number of well-educated, financially independent women with a need for sporting adventures in nature is growing. In tourism, this development is reflected in the ever-increasing demand for "women-only travel".

On the platform MySwitzerland.com/women ST has therefore put together plenty of inspiration for experiences that cater specifically to the needs of women as part of the 100 % Women initiative. These include eleven multi-day offers in the areas of mountain sports, hiking and e-biking, led exclusively by female guides. The tours are organized by Mammut Alpine School (MAS) and out & ABOUT - Switzerland Trekking and can be booked directly via their websites.

All women who would like to be part of this event can register online via MySwitzerland.com/worldrecord apply by April 15, 2022.