SWICE
SWICE is a research project sponsored by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy’s SWEET programme (Call 1-2021 “Living and Working) and coordinated by the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). SWEET – “SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition” – is a funding programme of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) whose purpose is to accelerate innovations that are key to implementing Switzerland’s Energy Strategy 2050 and achieving the country’s climate goals.
The SWICE project aims to identify and quantify the energy saving potential and opportunities for increased quality of life that can emerge from future urban scenarios involving new modalities of living and working, changes in mobility behaviours, and different business models
Key features of the SWICE project:
A unique Inter- and trans-disciplinary approach
The SWICE consortium brings together a range of different disciplines spanning across Geography, Sociology, Social-Psychology, Transportation, Engineering, Economics and Architecture, allowing to create research synergies on multiple levels and tackle the project’s objectives with a holistic approach.
Living Labs and participatory research
The SWICE project incorporates 6 Living Labs across Switzerland accounting for a participative involvement of stakeholders at different levels (residents and employees, property managers, businesses and communes/cities). Living Labs serve as the core observation spaces for research activities as well as for pilot and demonstration projects where the energy challenges addressed by SWICE are translated into action.
Representativeness of Swiss diversity
With a Consortium involving 10 Swiss Higher Education Institutions and 4 Research and Consultancy Companies spread across the Country supported by an extensive collaboration network with more than 25 Cooperation Partners from the public and private sectors, the SWICE project reflects Switzerland’s cultural and geographical diversity.