Swiss President visits Eawag

1 December 2006

Today, following the opening of the Glattal light rail system in Zurich, Swiss President Moritz Leuenberger and his staff visited Eawag. Attention was focused on Forum Chriesbach, which is considered at present to be Switzerland’s most sustainable office building. This point was taken up by the Institute’s Director Ueli Bundi in his opening address: as Eawag is working on sustainable solutions for increasingly acute water problems worldwide, it was obliged, he said, to lead the way with its own building. The visit was an informal occasion, with a relaxed atmosphere. The President and his aides were impressed by the building and by the passionate commitment they sensed at Eawag. As was pointed out at the gathering which concluded the event, this is a place where water is not only preached but also drunk (although wine was, of course, also served). Adding colour to the occasion was the gift presented to Moritz Leuenberger by Ueli Bundi – a jar of honey from the Black Forest (close to the Swiss border) to make up for the indignity recently suffered by the President at Frankfurt airport. In an incident widely reported by the media, honey received as a present on the Federal Councillor’s trip to Africa was confiscated from his briefcase by zealous security officials.

More information (in German) on Forum Chriesbach: http://www.forumchriesbach.eawag.ch/

		Briefing on the “building without heating”; Moritz Leuenberger seated next to Eawag Director Ueli Bundi.
		The President in conversation with the architect Bob Gysin...
		... and with Roland Schertenleib, a member of the Eawag Directorate.