The ecological crisis is affecting us all. Environmental issues must be addressed now – which is why the Museum of Communication launched the Planetopia Project in the spring of 2020 – to create space for world change.  

The project’s aim is to bring together initiatives, ideas and people. The museum serves as a platform for numerous activities taking place before and during the temporary exhibition. At the same time, the museum initiates important internal processes. Its focus is on dialogue. 

The main message: every step counts. What is important is turning words into actions. The time to act is now.

Finding solutions together, daring to experiment, and staying focused on the topic: sustainable action is an ongoing process of learning and negotiating.

In order to take action, we must acknowledge that certain problems do not have clear and easy solutions. The search for ecological perfection in our actions will sometimes cause us to stumble. To get things moving, you need to find a place to start.

If we want dialogue, we have to create the space for it to happen: with scope, time, and people who will listen.

Authenticity is the key to serious and effective discussion. That includes recognising your own shortcomings and inconsistencies.

Do not be afraid of starting small. Change always starts with a first step.

The exhibition “Planetopia – Space for World Change” was open to the public from 12 November 2022 until 23 July 2023. It attracted about 47,000 visitors who spent an average of one hour there. 

Alongside informative content in subject areas, it also offered numerous activities and interactive experiences. Our Communicators introduced various challenges: How much data could you delete from your cell phone right now? Are you comfortable with eating insects? What rules have you made for yourself regarding the environment?

How do you make an exhibition ecologically sustainable? Our goal is to use as little newly made material as possible, which is why we have teamed up with Offcut, a Swiss organisation that collects and sells used and surplus materials.

Cardboard packaging for Vespas, partition walls from trade shows and second-hand furniture: 90% of our materials and equipment are reused! We use green labels to make their origins transparent. And when we are finished with them, they are returned to the cycle for further reuse.

A surprising find: acquiring used materials does not cost any less. Instead of going towards the material, the money is spent on finding it, storage, and delivery.

The Planetopia Project is in many ways a new direction for the museum. We are confronting and taking a stand on one of the most urgent topics of today. We are calling for action and are not limiting ourselves to pure knowledge transfer. We are thinking about: how a museum can get involved in socio-political topics.

We create workshops on fashion and circular economy, take part in meetings and discussions, and encourage an exchange of experiences with one another. Not just for our visitors, but for us as well. And that benefits us!

The exhibition has four main areas dedicated to ordinary topics which have a major impact on the environment: clothing, housing, mobility and food. These are accompanied by the overarching themes of biodiversity and climate change.

Visitors move beneath clouds of white T-shirts, pass through the 46 square metres of average living space per person in Switzerland, pedal on an exercise bike to power a television with a game console, and stroll down aisles stocked with foods such as fish fingers, apples and vegan mince.

Along the way, they are given in-depth information and specific tips. They can also offer suggestions and share their own knowledge with other visitors or with the Communicators, who then pass this knowledge on to others.

Another important question: As a museum, how can we be more ecology-minded? The discussion group “Planet MfK” was created to bring all employees on board: the team convenes for a 45-minute session four times a year. Many ideas have emerged from these meetings, including signs with a reminder to switch off lights, hedgerows for small animals, moving the graphic collection to the more suitable basement level, and the vision of rooftop solar panels. They have led one employee to switch to cold-water showers. 

“Planet MfK” sessions will continue to be held in the future to discuss internal matters: follow-up is also important, after all. Our museum has a long way to go before becoming fully ecological. And we must accept that we may never be completely CO₂-neutral. 

We launched a dialogue programme to implement the vision of the museum as a platform. This includes the use of pop-ups at the Langnau market, at Adrianos Coffee & Playground at Bern railway station, and at the Badi Reiden. We have staff on site to speak with people there – and above all to listen. On two weekends during the summer of 2021, we also set up stations on the Furka Pass to engage in dialogue with people there about glacial melt.

The exhibition includes two large workshop zones with boards and walls to write on, cushions, tables, and chairs. The museum provides these spaces for its own and external events. This also enables us to offer physical space for world change.

Planetopia was made possible through team spirit, close cooperation and the energetic support of many people. Thank you to all those who have participated! 

From the start, our aim has been to encourage people to act. During preparation in the summer of 2020, an idea emerged from a play on words: “Weltwandelsabkommen” (“world change agreement”), that could be incorporated into the exhibition.

A counter was soon built from waste materials, and stamped certificates were created from cardboard packaging. We set up the agency first in front of the museum, then at other sites. A digital track was later created for the exhibition: on four screens, we ask visitors about everyday behaviours, and at the end we propose that they sign a world change agreement. By the end of the exhibition, we had collected 500 handwritten signatures and 10,000 digital signatures.

Do you want to sign a World Change Agreement?

Do you want to open an Agency for World Change Agreements?

To the Instructions (PDF)

Concept
Alexandra Heini, Mia Hofmann, Christian Rohner, Hannes Saxer, Ulrich Schenk

Design and programming
Grafikatelier Hannes Saxer, Jean First

Texts
textatelier.ch, Museum of Communication

Translations
Translingua

Videos
Diaz Guler, Guido Henseler, Stefan Käsermann, Luis Schneuwly

Planetopia – Space for World Change
© Museum of Communication
13.11.2022–23.7.2023

Contact
Email

The Museum of Communication is a Swisscom and Schweizerische Post foundation.