•User Rating•: / 0
•Poor••Best• 

The just released report, Time for Action, by the GenevaNetwork is an important document. However, for this not to end up as just another well-intentioned initiative, it requires urgent attention. Not just by Geneva itself, but by the Swiss and French governments as well as the international community. What is at stake is the future of the Lake Geneva region, including neighbouring France, as a cutting edge hub for business, information and global challenges.

Too much of Geneva is caught up in a parochial mindset. There is a general failure among too many policymakers and other actors, including business people, aid representatives, scientists and media to grasp the enormous possibilities that exist for a truly global Geneva. People need to think – and act - out of the box about what is really unique about the region. How can they bring its highly diverse local and international communities together? And what can they offer to the rest of the world in the form of creative communications, humanitarian, mediation and financial ideas?

If the Lake Geneva Region is to survive, and not simply lumber along into the 21st century in a mist of congenial mediocrity, it needs to assert itself. Complacently relying on beautiful scenery, tourism, the presence of the United Nations and other international aid agencies, or tax incentives for companies, is not enough. Geneva needs to recognize the new realities – and advantages – that stand at its doorstep, particularly in today’s financial climate.

The risks involved are manageable. One is not talking revolution here. It is more a matter of positively grasping how much the region itself (Geneva, Vaud, Valais…) as well as the crossborder areas of Pays de Gex, Annemasse, Evian and Annecy, has developed in recent years. Almost half (49%) the population of Geneva is now foreign, a veritable melting pot of nationalities, which was certainly not the case in the 1970s. Then, you would have been hard pushed to find a Chinese, Indian or Ethiopian restaurant – the few that did exist were horrendously expensive – while to see someone with a black or brown face would make heads turn.

The French side is now one of the fastest growing regions of France. The frontiers are promising to become even more open – commercially, culturally, and, above all, psychologically - if Switzerland is accepted into the Schengen area in November this year. Boosted by housing shortages in Geneva and Vaud, real estate prices have surged (albeit now dropping), particularly in the Pays de Gex, as more and more foreigners, including Swiss, buy or rent property on the French side while still working in Switzerland itself. This boom is pushing to southern lakeshore areas as new commuter rail and road routes, such as the much-touted Evian to Geneva “voie rapide,” are being planned to cope with growing congestion.

Companies, too, are setting up on the French side. Nevertheless, all rely heavily on Geneva airport and other facilities, such as international telecommunications support and schools, to enhance their operations’ effectiveness and the quality of life of their employees. Major winter sports centres, whether Chamonix or Verbier, depend on Geneva air, rail and bus links for bringing in tourists from Europe, North America and elsewhere. In less than a decade, EasyJet and the resulting competition for other airlines has significantly accentuated Geneva as a major hub with almost 12 million passengers in 2008, a projected rise of at least 9% over the previous year.

The principal new reality, however, is that Geneva is no longer a city-state. Rather, it has become a potentially dynamic city-region incorporating a transnational swathe of over 7.5 million people. This includes the Rhone-Alpes region with Lyons, France’s second largest metropolis and just over one hour’s train ride from Geneva. As one Lausanne-based international banker noted, “if you look at it this way, and if we develop the region accordingly, then we’re sitting on an asset which can provide us with an international advantage that few other places on earth can offer.”

This innovative regional approach is, to some extent, simply a dusting off of history. In 1860, following the 1859 Treaty of Turin, the territory of the Duchy of Haute Savoie (including the Mont Blanc area) had the option of joining Geneva, encouraged no less by a grateful Napoleon III, who had enjoyed Swiss hospitality as an exile in their country. The snooty protestant Genevans, however, decided they could not possibly absorb more catholics, while the German-speaking Bernese dreaded the thought of having more Francophones join the confederation. As the Swiss dithered, an impatient Napoleon III finally held a plebiscite in favour of unification with France.

While many traditional Genevois, Swiss and French may not welcome such vision for the future, it is precisely such positioning as a transnational region that will enable ‘global’ Geneva to sustain and regenerate itself. But for this to happen, Geneva must embrace the issues at hand before it is too late. Other locations ranging from Brussels to Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and even Andorra have realized the potential of positioning themselves as specialized focal points for international trade and communications.

Geneva already commands significant advantages. A quality lifestyle, scores of major companies, the United Nations and various agencies, such as the World Meteorological Organization and World Health Organization, several hundred international non-governmental organizations focusing on humanitarian relief, environment, human rights and sustainable development, the World Economic Forum, CERN, plus a hinterland incorporating the Rhone et Alpes region, all supported by a logistical gateway of two airports, Geneva and Lyons’ St Exupery.

What is at risk is that the Lake Geneva region can easily lose – and is already losing – these aces, if it does not begin to act more decisively, broadly and, above all, imaginatively.

The GenevaNetwork Time for Action report proposes a slew of suggested reforms and improvements that would make the region far more efficient – and attractive – to the world-at-large, be they tourists, business people, the aid community, academia, security specialists, or media. These include improved public transport, more hotels, free internet access for visitors, a more coordinated urbanization vision, better conference facilities, and improved use of the region’s highly diverse information resources.

One initiative, which could radically alter Geneva’s information landscape and ability to open up to the world, is the creation of an international centre for media and global challenges.  Suggested locations include the La Pastorale or Villa Rigot areas near the Palais des Nations. Such a centre would place Geneva far more in the global issues forefront. It would also place Geneva more pragmatically in tune with realities on the outside.

Much of the 200-strong UN press corps, for example, cannot be readily reached by non-UN groups representing global Geneva, whether NGOs, financial institutions or even the Swiss and Geneva governments. This is largely because of reduced media emphasis on Geneva, but also because of the Palais des Nation’s increased isolation and security constraints. It takes too long to get in on an impromptu basis, so few bother.

There are dozens of journalists living in the Lake Geneva region who never even go to the Palais. Missing, too, is an informal location for journalists, but also international aid workers, diplomats, and business people, passing through Geneva to meet or simply drop by.

Such a center would incorporate and significantly expand the activities of the existing Geneva Press Club, but would also combine the advantages of Hong Kong’s and Bangkok’s Foreign Correspondents Clubs, or London’s Frontline Club. All such venues have become a ‘must’ in those cities for anyone interested in world events. Banks, aid agencies, and even government offices hold seminars, briefings or press conferences in these locations, or go for lunch or coffee for meetings. Dubai is also heavily investing in an international media centre, which has already drastically changed the region’s media access.

Geneva has slipped far behind in this domain not only because mainstream international coverage has plummeted, but also because many of the UN agencies and NGOs have failed to keep up with the world’s rapidly changing media environment. Most are still operating as before with press releases, press conferences and prefab stories with little impact. As a result, numerous opportunities are being missed for lack of imagination, awareness or new expertise. This is where such a centre could play a strategic role.

One key difference with the proposed Geneva centre is that it would seek to develop itself as a global issues focal point for humanitarian relief, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, climate change, access to health, and other related themes. It would also be open to all concerned, not just journalists. At the same time, some maintain, it should serve as a location for specialized media organizations, such as Media21 and Hirondelle Foundation, plus represent the activities of groups based elsewhere in the world ranging from Internews to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and the Global Media Development Forum that would benefit from what Geneva has to offer.

Clearly,an international centre for media and global issues  would require substantial private and government sector investment. It would also require frank and open debate to ensure that it responds to the needs of the Geneva region.

Overall, however, its activities would provide an open, and revolving door to the outside world. Finally, it would serve as a practical convergence for bringing together Geneva’s different communities, whether the UN, financial, academic research, NGO, and media.

Edward Girardet, a former foreign correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor,  is a writer on media, humanitarian and conflict issues. He is also journalist advisor to the Media21 Global Journalism Network. (www.media21geneva.org )