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The Geneva Network, a diverse group of Swiss and international diplomats, aid representatives, business leaders, journalists, academics and other professionals concerned by the need to develop and harness the wealth of Lake Geneva exceptional resources more effectively, will be publishing a “Call for Action” later this month. This is the second report by the Network in two years. The first was to provide a document for public debate. This second is to prompt action before it is too late.

According to the report, which will be released in mid-September, Geneva is at a critical crossroads. It now has two options. First, it can choose either to reinforce and actively promote its long tradition of hosting international organizations and civil society actors. Or, second, it can sit back and let other cities, such as Brussels, Dubai, and Singapore, pull ahead in the race to establish themselves as global centres for international networks and cooperation.

What is abundantly clear is that the economic growth and political influence of this region will depend largely on the ability not only of Geneva - but also Switzerland, neighbouring France, and the international community - to attract and retain key global actors. Up till now, there has been a critical lack of local commitment, particularly by the Geneva government which often acts more like a parochial Valaisan village, to focus on what the numerous assets of the region’s hundreds of international institutions ranging from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to private corporations, schools and universities have to offer.

The critical function provided by “international Geneva” as a neutral, open location to discuss global challenges among nations, but also increasingly civil society and the private sector, is crucial to the world of today. The Lake Geneva Region offers some of the most diverse and richest information resources and expertise available, whether in humanitarian sphere, climate change, nuclear physics, finance, new technologies, telecommunications, pharmaceutical research and development . Many of these issues are crosscutting and relevant to anyone dealing in international aid or global business.

For the Geneva Network, there is little question that Geneva serves as the international humanitarian capital – well removed from the political distractions of the United Nations in New York – but also a world business centre with key banking and where more than half the globe’s oil deals are finalized. The Russians, for example, regard Geneva not only as a comfortably ‘neutral’ centre to do business without the political implications of Brussels, London or Washington, but also as a place to trade, play, and increasingly live, or at least to send your kids to school for security reasons. Ditto the Arabs, who are buying up properties in neighbouring France, such as Divonne and Evian, even if only to spend three weeks a year in the area.

Yet much of this exceptional wealth remains largely untapped, a gold mine of contacts and expertise waiting to be exploited. This is why the Geneva Network is pushing hard for the need to effectively reinforce the resources, initiatives and organizations the region already hosts, and to bring in new ones. However, for this to happen, all sectors, whether UN agencies, NGOs, Swiss banks and international corporations, Berne, local government and academia, need to get serious about investing in a more imaginative and sustainable, long-term strategy that will genuinely establish Geneva as a key hub for global issues and challenges.

Time is running out. There has been a lot of jaw-jaw by the Swiss and other internationals about what the region has to offer, but such ponderings are now a luxury. Too much spent is spent on politically-inspired, top-down ‘show-piece’ projects with little substance, no follow-up or which fail to demonstrate what Geneva is all about.

The Geneva Network Report is an out-of-the-box initiative that seeks to stimulate new ideas and debate, but also urgent action. It outlines a broad array of suggestions for improving and further developing the region, such as more hotel accommodation, including affordable rooms for developing country representatives, better public transport, more efficient conferences, and other facilities that will attract key players.

There is also a proposal to create an International Centre for Media and Global Challenges open to journalists as well as international agencies, corporations and other players seeking to communicate with the rest of the world.

The Emirates are already moving ahead with scintillating speed to establish itself a regional if not global media, telecom and trade centre, while Brussels, for all its bureaucratic turgidity, is garnering decision-making players representing both government and business. These are all areas where Geneva still has the possibility of excelling, but which will lose the advantage if something is not done today rather than tomorrow.

While the Geneva Network Report embraces a somewhat limited view of what the Lake Geneva region should incorporate geographically – there is somewhat of a reluctance to lean too heavily on neighbouring France except the immediate border areas of the Pays de Gex and Annemasse - the initiative is still furlongs ahead of what many, including the Geneva government, regard as “Geneva.”

For The Essential Edge, which supports the Geneva Network initiative, we believe the Lake Geneva region should stretch well beyond traditional borders (anything within two hours of Geneva airport) by involving the whole lake region as far east as Gstaad and even Sion as well as the entire French Rhônes et Alpes region, including the Pays de Gex, Annecy and Lyons.

Nowadays, particularly with Schengen and an expanding European Union, no one can afford to rely on conventional national boundaries, but must embrace a more regional vision that practically integrates economic and logistical needs and realities. For example, most European travellers seeking to ski the Swiss or French Alps use Geneva airport as their launching off point. Similarly, when the Geneva Trade Fairs have outbooked the hotels in the immediate lakeshore vicinity, desperate visitors stay in hotels as far away as Lyons or Fribourg.

Even more crucial is that neighbouring France is serving increasingly as the hinterland for Geneva as more and more Swiss and expatriates with Geneva-based international companies and institutions move to the Pays de Gex or the Haute Savoie. Increasing numbers of French are also moving here to become ‘frontaliers.’ Hence the urgent need for local and regional governments on both sides of the border to develop a shared, broader vision of urban development for housing, public transport, education and security.

The Essential Edge will highlight the Geneva Network Report in full but also, over the next few weeks, will publish various support articles to illustrate the various options proposed.