Innovations for spatial development: Federal pilot schemes

The Sustainable spatial development pilot schemes were introduced by the federal government to promote new approaches and methods, which are aimed to develop innovative solutions in the prioritized by the federal government fields and to test them on site in so-called “real laboratories”. For the fourth generation of pilot projects that is now starting, the federal government has defined five key areas, including "Using digitalization for basic services" and "Promoting integral development strategies". sa_partners has submitted projects for both areas and has been awarded the funding period 2020-2024.

While the project "Progressive Supply Provinces (Progressive Versorgungsprovinzen)" examines the opportunities of digitization for a new centrality and location quality in peripheral areas and the chance to use the high identification potential in rural regions, the focus of the project "Integral Evolutionary Development Strategy (Integrale evolutionäre Entwicklungsstrategie)" is on the development of new, network-based organizational models with the aim of strengthening cooperation in decentralized regions and activating the endogenous development potential for prospering regional development. The regions of Weinland in the canton of Zurich and the region of Bad Zurzach and the surrounding area in the canton of Aargau serve as space laboratories for the two pilot schemes.