Thanks to the mobilisation of relevant political, communicational, and organisational experts, we were able to carry out our projects successfully. The success of an initiative is difficult to quantify and goes beyond the simple result of the vote.
Below is a summary of what we have identified for our past projects.
Initiative to Abolish Factory Farming
- The counter-proposal put forward by the Federal Council can be described as historic. The Federal Council thus recognized the need to act in the food system.
- Our alliance was incredibly diverse. Various interest groups united for the abolition of intensive farming. This shows how united progressive forces are.
- Never before have farming conditions been so widely and publicly discussed. The media were particularly favourable to our initiative and provided valuable awareness-raising work.
- Hundreds of thousands of people went beyond the framework of the initiative by asking themselves: “What is the impact of my consumption on animals, humans, and the environment?”
- Various parties continue to fight for the abolition of intensive farming. The Green Party, for example, has incorporated important demands from our initiative into their legislative programme.
- 1,062,647 people said YES to the abolition of intensive farming – that’s 1,062,647 voices for farmed animals.
The Fundamental Rights for Primates Initiative
- The initiative for primates in Basel is a historic milestone in the evolution of animal rights. For the first time in the world, a country voted on granting fundamental rights to non-human animals.
- Rarely has a cantonal vote attracted so much attention. This unique demand debated within the Basel population resonated far beyond national borders.
- The decision of the Federal Court that non-human animals can – in principle – enjoy fundamental rights sets an incredibly important precedent and paves the way for future initiatives.
- The demands of the primate initiative have been incorporated into the legislative program of the Green Party and thus remain highly relevant for the future.
Sustainable and Fair Food
- In Zurich, our initiative led to the creation of an office for sustainable food, followed by the establishment of a public awareness platform.
- In Lucerne, the necessary signatures for the initiative were gathered in only 48 hours. Following the acceptance of the counter-proposal, a new article supporting sustainable food was included in the energy regulations.
- The motion for sustainable and fair food that we co-developed and submitted to the Bern city parliament was adopted in October 2016.
