Net-zero neighbourhood Binz – Alt Wiedikon

PROJECT IDEA: A net-zero neighbourhood is being created in Binz – Alt Wiedikon: 200 – 500 people, who live and work in existing houses, form a two-year real-world laboratory. No new construction project. Not a theoretical concept - but a real neighbourhood as a test environment. The focus is not on the perfect building, but on our behavior: - Mobility - Nutrition - Consumption - Leisure time - Work - Care work. This is exactly where most emissions are generated and where the collective framework has been missing so far. The net-zero neighbourhood invites residents and workers in the neighbourhood to become part of a real-world laboratory: - What does it feel like to live within a fair CO₂ budget? - What will be easier? What is more difficult? What is surprisingly beautiful? - The project combines play and seriousness: pleasurable experimentation – within clearly defined framework conditions. Objective: The net-zero neighbourhood sees itself as an urban real-world laboratory. Not primarily as a measurement project, but as a space of experience. Not as a moral appeal, but as a collective attempt. Core questions: - How do we organize our everyday lives within a CO₂ budget? - How does our behavior change when restrictions are shared with each other? - What solutions are being created? The real-world lab creates social commitment, joint learning and real everyday experience. The knowledge gained is intended to serve as inspiration and template for other neighbourhoods. CORE ELEMENTS OF THE PROJECT: 1. Working with CO₂ budgets in groups: - Start with groups of 10-20 people - Each group receives a defined net-zero budget - Eight so-called "turns" (1 month, 2 months, 3 months, etc.) Weekly meetings, monthly exchanges between groups. New groups can join at any time. If the budget is exceeded, the turn ends for the group. It's not about punishment – it's about learning. 2. Community infrastructure: - Sharing instead of owning (tools, mobility, appliances, kitchens, gardens, living space, etc.) - Communal kitchens and gardens. - Exchange formats, repair and support networks. - Neighbourhood help and care work. 3. Pleasure principle + commitment: - The project uses game mechanics, exchange, visibility and recognition - At the same time, it is based on a clear commitment 4. Focus on indirect emissions: As the existing buildings are used, the focus is on: - Consumption - Nutrition - Mobility - Air traffic - Everyday decisions. EFFECT AND TRANSFERABILITY: The net-zero neighbourhood is deliberately decentralised and scalable. It can start small - it is adaptable - it can grow. When several hundred people take part in the event, a real experience is created for the first time: "What is net zero really like in everyday urban life" The project makes visible what is often politically excluded – the behavioral dimension. It replaces individual overload with collective experience. BASIC IDEA: The biggest challenge on the way to net zero is not primarily technology, but everyday life. While building heating systems and vehicles are increasingly electrified, consumption, air travel and lifestyle remain the main "invisible" source of emissions. The net-zero neighbourhood creates a framework where: - Responsibility is shared - Social norms are newly emerging - behavioural change is not tested in isolation, but collectively. The project responds to three known hurdles: - People are more likely to act when others follow suit - Behavioural change needs social embedding - Pure information changes little – experience changes a lot. The real-world laboratory replaces abstract climate goals with concrete everyday practice!

https://www.neustartschweiz.ch/nach-hause-kommen/ https://www.one-planet-lab.ch/post/projekt-kardendorf

We are an informal group (e.g. neighborhood group)

I/we implement the idea independently

In the whole neighborhood