Department of Design

What might a climate-neutral canton Lucerne look like? Six future scenarios explore this question, providing an overview of the entire canton: landscapes, cities, villages, industrial areas and mountain regions. The images demonstrate various approaches to climate protection and adaptation. These include the use of renewable energies, increased pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and green spaces to reduce urban heat in summer. These visualisations were created as part of a collaborative project involving the canton of Lucerne, the Forum for Climate and Global Change (ProClim) of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), and the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). The project aims to encourage discussion and raise awareness of solutions by using new methods of science communication.

The canton of Lucerne is now making the future scenarios available to interested municipalities, organisations, and associations for climate communication purposes. In dialogue with the population, these groups can use the scenarios to discuss possible solutions, present their own projects or share information on the topic. The municipality of Emmen has received an advance copy of the scenarios. Andreas Roos, the municipal councillor responsible for construction and the environment, says: “The municipality of Emmen is actively committed to climate and environmental protection. The future scenarios show numerous solutions. They make tangible a future worth living.”

The Lucerne future scenarios were developed in four stages:

1. Scientific basis: Scientific findings on climate neutrality in Switzerland were recorded and applied to the canton of Lucerne. The main potential for reducing emissions lies in the areas of housing, mobility and nutrition. The results were reviewed in interviews with experts.
2. Visualisation: Based on the analysis and interview results, visual elements were proposed to signal the future in the visions of the future. These future scenarios were then created in collaboration with the Knowledge Visualisation research group at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) (Illustrations: Elena Kaeser and Simone Stolz; BA Knowledge Visualisation graduates, 2023).
3. Participation for acceptance: To ensure the scenarios were accessible and realistic, they were discussed with stakeholders and members of the Lucerne population. The focus was on which signals were well received and which were not.
4. Implementation and communication: The finalised images of the future are now available to the public. Municipalities and interested institutions can order or download these images from the Canton of Lucerne for use in their communications.

There are six in total: one overview image for the whole canton and five themed images. The themed images can be ordered from the canton as A5 postcards, and the overview image can be ordered as a poster by municipalities or interested parties. All the images can be downloaded in high resolution directly from the website: klima.lu.ch/zukunftsbilder. Content is also available for social media platforms. The website also provides additional information on the solutions presented for achieving climate neutrality in the canton of Lucerne.

This project has received financial support from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the Albert Koechlin Foundation, and the Lottery Fund of the Canton of Lucerne, in collaboration with the Canton of Lucerne.