‘We work on topics that people care about’

The Federal Council has appointed biologist Rolf Holderegger as Director of WSL, and he has been in office since October 2024. In the interview, he talks about tight finances and WSL's new strategy, and emphasises the importance of implementing research results.

Rolf Holderegger, you are a former member of the Directorate and are now returning to the management level of WSL. What made you decide to apply for this position?

I firmly believe that WSL plays an important social role in Switzerland and beyond. We work on topics that people care about. This is a great privilege and my main motivation for applying.

You have been in office for 100 days. What was the first thing you dealt with?

In times of tight finances, a balanced budget is a central issue. In addition, I consider the balance between research and the implementation of research results for practical applications to be very important. Both are needed at WSL.

How can this balancing act be successful?

I think we are already doing very well, because our researchers are also strong in implementing their research results. We combine research in our core topics of forest, biodiversity, landscape, natural hazards, snow and ice with work for practitioners, with solutions for politics and finally for the general public. This combination is the key to WSL's success. And it is important to maintain and strengthen this.

How do you plan to promote this in practice?

Participatory approaches, where research questions are formulated in collaboration with various experts in the field, are becoming increasingly important. This is how we ensure that our research is relevant to practitioners, policymakers and society. I will certainly initiate one or two projects to increase WSL's involvement in this type of work. We have also included this approach in the WSL Strategy 2035, which we developed in 2023.

How is this strategy being implemented in the face of tight finances?

That's no easy task. The strategy helps us to set priorities. This includes, for example, tackling the problems that are most pressing at the moment. For me, the new strategy is a major achievement because it was developed within the WSL in a participatory way; everyone who wanted to could get involved. We can continue to develop the WSL based on this strategy.

The strategy is somewhat longer term. How do you ensure that WSL can react quickly to issues that arise?

With our research initiative on the 2018 drought, we showed that as WSL we are very agile. We initiated research in practically real time, while the first consequences of the lack of rain were becoming visible out in nature. But reacting quickly does not mean that new research is always needed. Sometimes it makes more sense to pool and process existing knowledge and to communicate it to practitioners, politicians and the public with clear conclusions and solutions.

Are you saying that WSL will be making itself more visible in the political arena?

Let me rephrase that: the solutions and scope for action that WSL offers should be taken better note of in politics and hopefully be implemented.

How can that succeed?

By responding quickly to the needs of society and providing our solutions in a time frame that is useful. If we spend eight years researching an issue and only come up with a possible solution afterwards, the ship has sailed. Sometimes new research is needed, but not always.

Can you give us an example of a topic that is currently on the agenda?

One example is landscape-scale water management, which we need to address. We have extremes that we have to deal with, such as droughts on the one hand and flooding on the other. These are major challenges for agriculture and forestry, for example, but also for the built environment. Bogs, on the other hand, could buffer the extremes. Targeted measures to restore wetlands not only help biodiversity, but an intact bog retains water and releases it slowly into the landscape. Currently, wetlands are among the most endangered habitats in Switzerland.

Do we therefore need to address problems on a cross-sectoral basis more often?

I think it depends very much on the topic. In the future, there will still be very narrowly defined questions that one sector alone can answer. But we will have to deal with the really big challenges on a cross-sectoral basis, because they also have economic and social impacts. One example is the future of our cities: on the one hand, buildings are being constructed at higher densities, while on the other hand, the aim is to maintain a liveable residential environment that offers recreation, promotes biodiversity, mitigates the impact of summer heat and retains water or allows it to seep away. The new WSL strategy identifies urban areas as an important WSL topic.

What other challenges do you see in the near future?

We will intensify the exchange with various partners who are important for the implementation of our research results. To do this, we need to increase our contact with professional associations, cantonal administrations, national offices, but also with politicians. This will help us to better identify pressing issues and to respond in a timely manner through early detection with our research.