A journey through Switzerland

Since 2020, the NEXPLORER survey has been taking the pulse of Switzerland and showing what moves us as a society and which themes should shape the next national exhibition. Based on this survey, the association "NEXPO - the new Expo" now presents the NEXPLORER Value Maps 2022, showing Switzerland from eight new perspectives.

NEXPLORER is not only about individual values, but about society and Switzerland. Thus, on 1 August 2021, NEXPLORER presented the characteristic Swiss crosses and thus the value profiles of the 10 NEXPO founding cities for the first time. Now NEXPLORER is making a change of perspective from the cross to the Switzerland-wide map. The value maps start from the outline of Switzerland, which they playfully distort. The eight value cards stand for the eight NEXPLORER themes (curiosity, technology, equality, loyalty, origin, nature, freedom, power).

Each card has its own geometry. Their outlines and distortions give an insight into the respective theme. With a multitude of references to parts of the country, regions, cantons and municipalities, the maps invite you on a journey through Switzerland. The results of the NEXPLORER survey are included as well as a variety of statistical key figures. The various extreme values and special features thus become visible on the value maps.

The eight value cards - first impressions

Each of the eight value cards has its own outline and shape. Nevertheless, the unmistakable shape of the map of Switzerland can be recognised in each map. Using the cartogram method, the 143 districts of Switzerland were enlarged or reduced in size, depending on their characteristics according to eight thematic guiding variables. Each map is thus at the same time a kind of hidden object picture, which presents exciting results from the NEXPLORER survey in a playful way, supplemented with statistical features and following the eight NEXPLORER dimensions in its presentation.

Curiosity: Nowhere do so many people move from Switzerland to abroad as from the Lake Geneva basin, nowhere as few as from the Entlebuch and Uri. The survey participants from the canton of Solothurn would most like to enter new territory as explorers. However, it is noticeable that people in the west of Switzerland are particularly "curious": in the canton of Vaud, asking questions is particularly popular, in Neuchâtel, most people draw strength from conversations, and in Geneva, "googling for oneself" is most widespread.

Technology: The Swiss map of technology is rather top-heavy. In the north of Switzerland, a particularly large number of people work in technical professions: from the Rhine Valley to the Winterthur-Zurich-Baden region or even in Neuchâtel. The latter canton also has the highest number of respondents who say they have special computer skills.

Equality: The map of equality is also one of inequality. The greater Zurich area and the Arc Lémanique are highlighted as if under a burning glass. Here are the districts with the highest incomes, which are thus furthest from the Swiss average income. In principle, respondents from the canton of Ticino consider themselves the most average.

Loyalty: In the heart of Switzerland, fidelity is writ large. Nowhere are there fewer divorced people in relation to married people than in the Entlebuch and in the canton of Uri. However, most respondents come from the canton of Thurgau when it comes to recognising a promise of fidelity in a wedding ring. However, the people from the canton of Jura are the most faithful to their professional life. They work the longest in the same company.

Origin: The most settled population in Switzerland lives in the municipality of Ferden. On average, people here have lived in the same place for 39.5 years. However, respondents from the city of St. Gallen pay the most attention to the origin of food.

Nature: The map on the topic of nature shows a shrunken Central Plateau, while the Grisons is overflowing. Regions where the population is least affected by noise are enlarged. Where there is no natural idyll, the desire for nature is all the greater. In Winterthur, many people pay particular attention to the organic label when shopping. In Bern, most people equate diversity with biodiversity, and in Geneva, environmental protection has the highest priority.

Freedom: One form of freedom is professional independence. Not having a boss is particularly common in the southwest of Switzerland. Most self-employed people are in the Lower Engadine. Most people in Winterthur dream of the freedom of a life without a fixed abode, and those in Thurgau are most likely to allow themselves the freedom to sleep until 9 o'clock in the morning.

Power: Economic power in Switzerland is concentrated in the greater Zurich area and along the Arc Lémanique (see map "Equality"). Political influence, on the other hand, is concentrated in the Espace Mittelland. The districts that win the most referendums in Switzerland are located around the federal city of Bern. In first place is the majority German-speaking lakeside district in the canton of Fribourg. The desire to become a federal councillor is most widespread in the canton of Thurgau, while in the canton of Geneva the largest proportion of respondents would prefer to take on the role of conductor in an orchestra.

What makes friends, family and neighbours tick? What makes us tick - and above all where?

The online survey NEXPLORER was launched in 2020 as a prototype. Since 1 August 2021, participants can choose between a short and long version and create their own profile. The results can be saved, shared and compared with friends. Who stands more for freedom and independence and to whom is nature or living together more important than individual development?

The NEXPLORER values survey uses surprising questions to draw an individual Swiss cross - based on the well-known smart spiders - and aims to explore from the diversity of the resulting profiles what makes Switzerland special and what values hold the country together.

NEXPLORER has further developed the promising approach of the personalised icon of the Swiss cross, shifting the focus from the individual to the collective.

The aim of communicating the collected data through value maps is to interpret and illustrate the principle of public spirit, to illustrate the collective process of the survey and to share results such as opinions with the general population. From the cut-off date on 1 August 2020 to October 2021, 5982 people from all over Switzerland participated. For the value maps, the responses were evaluated regionally for the cantons and the ten Nexpo founding cities.

NEXPLORER aims to encourage young generations in particular to think about shared values and socially relevant issues in an entertaining way.

With their initiative, the NEXPO cities invite the whole of Switzerland to join NEXPLORER!

To the website with the survey: www.nexplorer.ch

Press kit

NEXPLORER is supported by the Mercator Foundation Switzerland, is a networking project of the Gebert Rüf Foundation's "Cluster Promotion" programme and was accompanied in the initial phase by the Citizen Science Center of the UZH/ETHZ.