Country Profile: Switzerland
Dedicated design policy status
No
Design in other policy agendas
- CCI Strategy – Cultural Policy “Cultural Message 2025–2028” includes an entire chapter dedicated to design. It recognizes a broad range of design disciplines – textile, fashion, industrial, product, service, graphic and game design and tasks the Pro Helvetia Foundation with supporting them. The policy emphasizes sustainability and social impact, with a strong focus on the game design sector through project financing, networking, mentoring, and access to international co-production models. [Championed]
- Innovation Strategy – Federal Education, Research and Innovation Policy 2025–2028 prioritizes digitalization, sustainability, and cooperation, mentioning targeted funding for the Swiss Center for Design and Health. [Mentioned]
- Industrial / Development Strategy – 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy promotes eco-design and sustainable settlement design, stating:“Businesses are better able to harness their innovative potential when the proper incentives and other framework conditions are present, in particular for resource conservation and the sustainable design of production chains, business models as well as products and services.” [Integrated]
- Circular Economy Strategy – Umweltgesetz (2024) refers to “resource-saving design of products and packaging.” [Mentioned]
- Digital Strategy – Digital Switzerland Strategy 2025 focuses on user-friendly digital services but does not explicitly reference design.
- Architecture Strategy – The federal Baukultur policy clusters activities across government and ETH Domain to promote high-quality design of the built environment. Goals include normative standards for quality, Baukultur research, and the Confederation acting as a role model.
Observations
Switzerland demonstrates a strong cultural commitment to design, particularly through the Cultural Message 2025–2028, which provides targeted measures for multiple design disciplines and emphasizes sustainability and social impact. The inclusion of design in innovation and sustainable development strategies, as well as the Baukultur policy for architecture, reinforces its systemic relevance. While digital strategies remain less explicit, Switzerland’s approach signals a clear recognition of design as a cultural asset and a driver of innovation, health and sustainability, with growing institutional support through Pro Helvetia and sector-specific programs.
Sources
- 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy, o. J.
- Biel & Siegentaler, o. J.
- Swiss Cultural Message on the Promotion of Culture in the Years 2025–2028 (2024), o. J.
- Swiss Strategy on promoting education, research and innovation in the years 2025-28 (2024), o. J.