Innovative, positive, short, action-oriented and for everyone: these are the events and projects that GreenUp has organized in Sion since its creation in September 2021. Our objective? In collaboration with local and national partners, we want to encourage the inhabitants of Sion and the Valais in general to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle: all in line with our slogan “less is more”!
The Valais is a canton of undeniable beauty, and people have a strong bond with nature. However, sustainability is not yet a topic that is very much integrated into everyday life. The awareness of climate problems is there, but many people do not always know where to start to implement changes.
By giving people positive impulses and opportunities to act, learn and exchange knowledge with others, we are convinced that they will take sustainability more to heart and relate it to their own environment.
We already managed to lay a very good foundation with cool events like a DiscoSoup (Focus: Food Waste), a PlantSwap (Focus: Biodiversity, Sharing Economy) and a full day event which included a radio appearance, a TV-interview, a visit at a local school and a big conference with Jérémie Pichon in the evening (Focus: Zero Waste). We managed to prove the concept! For the rest of 2022, we want to build on the momentum we have created by setting up a local group of volunteers, creating partnerships, testing workshops with companies and of course … organising more events for the people of Sion!
Since 2016, we have been active in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, with an office in La Chaux-de-Fonds since 2018. Now we have also started in Sion as a new hub of activity!
Let’s look in detail at the 3 events we have run until today in Sion:
DiscoSoupe November 2021 (Place de la Planta)
Our first event was a DiscoSoupe! An event where more than 50 people not only cooked together with food waste and enjoyed the soup they made together. But they also had the opportunity to participate in a quiz and exchange tips and opinions around food waste. All this was done in collaboration with our partner ReCircle so that people could learn about reusable soup bowls and Intchiè No, a local company offering a direct link between producers and consumers.
Plant Swap – 07 May 2022 (Matrioshka Café Sion)
On the eve of Mother’s Day, many citizens of Sion and the surrounding villages exchanged plants or bought one in exchange for a donation. More than 35 plants were exchanged by the owners and we continuously gave tips and tricks on urban gardening close to nature… good for us and for the biodiversity of the planet! For the event, we created partnerships with Zollinger Bio and Pousse Nature.
Zero Waste Conferences – 9 June 2022 (Energypolis, HES)
With sponsors such as Novelis, Oiken, and Hydro Explotation but also local winemakers Iike Colline de Daval, local fruit store BioFruits, local food waste warriors Intchiè No and the zero waste shop Chez Mamie, GreenUp – supported by the student association Utopia and Zero Waste Switzerland – welcomed the zero waste family man “Jeremy Pichon” who inspired more than a hundred people, from 4 year olds in a school to adults in the evening to allow people to learn and interact, but also to take action. We also had a Climate Fresk quiz, people from Chez Mamie brought products for a minimal waste lifestyle and afterwards people were able to exchange views and opinions while enjoying a small drink.
Upcoming Events in Sion
For the second half of 2022, we are planning 2 really cool projects / events in Sion, which are open and promoted also in the surroundings.
DiscoFruits – Autumn 2022:
Similar to the DiscoSoupe event in 2021, we are planning a DiscoFruits – making smoothies together from otherwise wasted summer fruits and vegetables.
This time we plan to have a VeloSmoothie, which is sure to be well attended, and we plan to work with several wine producers who still have grapes in the summer and nearby peach producers.
Partners: Intchiè No, Winegrowers of the Valais, Various others (to be defined).
To be determined – Winter 2022/23:
After about over a year of activities in Sion, during which we will have interacted a lot with the local population, we will know which topics are attracting interest and would be suitable for our last event of the year. It could be something around mobility, as was sometimes mentioned in some of the exchanges, but we want to keep the question open and see what needs emerge during the next two events.
We would like to build capacity and test GreenUp sustainability workshops with Valais companies and organisations for their employees. Furthermore we are looking into collaborating with local sustainable initiatives to strengthen their impact on a regional scale.
The core Team of the Sion chapter consists of two Local Team-Leads, Anaïs and Sofia are originally from the Valais and both have a heart for this. They understand how people work and how best to organise events to make them successful. Additionally they are supported by a small group of committed and passionate volunteers, who want to share their experience of a simpler way of life at our events, as well as help us with the organisation, promotion and follow-up! In case you live in Valais, and would like to get involved, please get in touch with us sion@green-up.ch, we would love to connect with you!
Last but not least, in order to successfully carry out the events and projects we plan, we also need the support of reliable partners acting for a better tomorrow.
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