| Abstract |
By providing a platform to promote practical, successful and inspirational models such as this, as well as more esoteric or philosophical debates on the wider notion of sustainability, public diplomacy can fulfil its aims of promoting mutually beneficial dialogue between nations and help work towards health, prosperity and well-being for all. In an age of global challenges such as climate change, food and energy security, poverty, migration, international terrorism and organised crime, the focus of diplomacy has, over the course of the past years, increasingly shifted towards multilateralism as the space where solutions are being developed, negotiated and, ultimately and ideally, found. At the same time, bilateral diplomacy has undergone a readjustment, both geographically, towards emerging regional and global powers, as well as in approach, reaching beyond the classical intergovernmental relations to building networks with opinion leaders of civil society, academia, think tanks, business organisations and the private sector. 'Public diplomacy' has become an integral part of activities undertaken by embassies and diplomatic missions, and it has elaborated from a 'euphemism of propaganda' to inclusive, two-way engagement with the public, aimed at fostering mutual benefit and understanding through exchange. As such, public diplomacy not only contributes to healthy and dynamic bilateral relations, but can indeed feed into wider debates on issues of global relevance. In this sense, the Embassy of Switzerland in the UK has for a number of years run a series of bilateral roundtables, conferences and workshops on issues of sustainable development, bringing together opinion leaders and experts from different backgrounds. Topics included waste management, energy policy, public transport, sustainable architecture and building, and most recently, the point of convergence of all these issues: sustainable urban development. A striking, though in essence unsurprising feature, that emerged throughout the series is that even though the UK and Switzerland are faced with similar challenges and opportunities of globalisation, the way these challenges are approached is shaped and influenced by the specific characteristics of the political, geographical and social fabric, as well as the historical context, within which they manifest themselves. This does not mean approaches towards sustainable development can, by default, only come to fruition in the place for which they are developed and in which they are taking place. It does mean, however, that local solutions may need to be managed, adapted and modulated to be successfully 'exported' or 'transplanted'. For this reason, dialogue is crucial to discuss best practices and look at lessons learned in order to gain inspiration in the quest for new innovative solutions. To illustrate this, one only needs to take into consideration the different political systems of the UK and Switzerland, the latter being based on federalism with large spheres of autonomy on the cantonal and municipal level, including on issues of infrastructure, spatial planning, and the raising and spending of public finances. Furthermore, decisions taken by local and national governments can be challenged by way of popular referenda, or be set in motion through popular initiatives. Swiss decision-making processes are therefore strongly locally and bottom-up driven, with obvious consequences on policy formulation and implementation. While policy formulation in Switzerland traditionally takes a long time due to the inclusiveness of the process, its implementation, once taken (and, if contested, confirmed at the polls), is generally swift and acceptance high. |