Policy Sprint by Expedition Future

A collaborative approach to policy design brings together politicians and key stakeholders from across the political spectrum, and equips them with the skills and mindset needed for effective collaboration.

PRESSING ISSUES IN A DIVERGENT WORLD

As in many nations around the world, political polarisation is rising in Switzerland. For a country that relies heavily on constructive collaboration between diverse political forces (four of six political parties are represented in the national government), confronting polarisation is a major challenge. Pressing and complex issues of national importance – such as EU-Swiss relations or climate change – require ambitious political measures that are supported across party lines.

CROSS-PARTY POLICY DEVELOPMENT

Expedition Future works to design more constructive and effective ways of doing politics. With this aim, they created the Policy Sprint, a policy making format that enables the collaboration between politicians and political stakeholders from various sectors, including academia, civil administration, interest groups, NGOs, and the private sector. Through moderated workshops, parliamentarians from different parties work closely with subject-matter experts to develop, prioritise, and implement effective solutions together. These solutions are then directly introduced into the legislative process. By drawing on multiple disciplines and adapting innovative methods for collaboration – such as Governmental Learning Spiral or Design Thinking – to politics, the Policy Sprints help generate a collective sense of ownership among policymakers and discourages partisan divisions.

CHANGING POLICIES AND MINDS

In the long term, this collaborative model facilitates the development and implementation of policies that enjoy cross-border support before they enter Parliament. Fostering this political-cultural transformation is key to designing and implementing better policies, especially when facing urgent societal challenges. Since the first Policy Sprint on climate-neutral mobility, three parliamentary proposals have been successfully submitted to Parliament. The Federal Government has recommended all three initiatives for approval, one of which has already been accepted. Two other sprints, on sustainable finance and commercial transportation, are currently in process.