A man shaping the future

Raffael Wüthrich wants to improve our world. However, it would be wrong to dismiss him as utopian. He devotes all his time and money to making his dream of a desirable world come true. One example of this lies in the large farmhouse in the Bernese suburb where he lives. Sitting at a long table with 31 chairs, he explains how he bought the house together with friends and 60 members of a housing co-operative. He now lives there with his wife, their two daughters (aged 8 years and 6 months respectively) and a total of 21 adults and ten children. The youngest is only a few weeks old, the oldest almost 70.

Together, they converted the former stable into small residential units into which residents can retreat. The centrepiece of the house is the communal room with an industrial size kitchen and a long table. "We deliberately kept the kitchens in the units simple to make it more attractive to eat in the communal area," Wüthrich explains. Cooking and washing-up is done according to a rota and organised via an app.

Encouraging others to dream

In his working life, the 39-year-old from Bern dedicates everything he does to his vision that the future must be more liveable than the present. He worked in consumer protection for almost ten years and was involved in various popular initiatives. He also co-founded a repair café in Bern, where defective appliances are reconditioned free of charge. There are now more than 200 such cafés in Switzerland. The Leihbar in Bern, where you can borrow everything from drills to tents, was also one of his ideas.

When he started a job at a large Swiss media company two years ago, he told an entrepreneur about his latest idea: Monda Futura. "How much do you need?" the man asked, paving the way for the project to begin. Some time later, the Migros Pioneer Fund became aware of the project, which it has been supporting financially ever since. "We want to discover the common thread for a future worth living in Switzerland," Wüthrich says. To this end, Monda Futura conducts extensive surveys of 1000 people from all parts of the country. As few people could spontaneously say how they imagine a future worth living, the surveys take place within the framework of workshops. "We give ourselves plenty of time during the events until the participants start dreaming," he explains.

Questioning the status quo

Wüthrich's motivation for this commitment stems from a personal crisis. After studying communication and journalism, he netted himself a well-paid job, complete with a company car and a second home in Zurich. "I worked a lot. But to feel truly alive, I partied all the more at the weekend," he admits. The longer this went on, the more unhappy he became. Until he quit. For eight months, he considered the big questions: why do we all work so much in spite of all our technological advances? And why are burnout and suicide rates highest in wealthy industrialised countries of all places? "I became a very critical person," he says. This led to the conviction that a future worth living is possible for everyone – but only if you seek it together with others.

The Monda Futura surveys will run until November. The next stage will follow in spring 2026, when scenarios developed from the analyses will be put to the vote to determine the visions that generate the greatest enthusiasm and least resistance. Wüthrich and his team of four will then seek to implement this "Consensus for the future of Switzerland" together with companies, municipalities and organisations. Monda Futura is already working with organisations such as Länggasse-Enge Peninsula district committee in Bern and the zukunft.bahnhof project in Lichtensteig.

Breaking new ground

Wüthrich gets up and goes out into the large garden, which features a playground, a cosy barbecue area, fruit trees, flower and vegetable beds and a greenhouse in which they grow 30 different varieties of tomatoes. Picking a few blackberries, he says: "You have to walk off the beaten path to discover new things." Coming from him, this doesn't sound like a platitude. After all, this is a man who enthrals others with his convictions.

Wüthrich grabs a pot of home-grown white currants and gives them to the photographer for his garden. "We humans are capable of doing abominable and wonderful things," he says. "The question is what we want as a society and which underlying conditions we create for this." Wüthrich has found his own little slice of paradise, which he likes to nurture and share with others. For him, one thing is clear: "If we know our shared vision of society and derive concrete projects from this, we can create a future worth living for everyone."