Davos 2025 no more side events?

General
#1

The potential Davos Construction Freeze may close most side events in 2025 and silence thousands of speakers.

Davos, Switzerland, is in a debate over construction regulations tied to the World Economic Forum (WEF). Proposed changes to Article 154 of the Davos Building Act have sparked concerns.

Under these changes, construction activities around WEF events would generally face a winter construction freeze, with exceptions allowed under stringent conditions. The power to grant exceptions lies with a select council group, and there is no avenue for appeal or a clear legal framework. However, critics argue that prioritizing WEF could stifle alternative viewpoints and sideline independent side events and opinions. This could further disconnect the global elite from the broader population, innovative startups, and non-governmental organizations not falling under the developing “planned economic system.”

While the goal is to promote economic sustainability in Davos, the absence of clear regulations has drawn criticism for potentially harming industries and enabling monopolistic practices. The decision-making process, based on personal views of a select group, raises concerns about fairness and transparency.

Economic sustainability is crucial, especially regarding the preservation of Davos’ vital tourism industry. Criticism also extends to Davos attendees and many event hosts, who are accused of not supporting the local economy, despite discussing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles during their meetings.

As these proposed changes undergo review and referendum, the financial future of Davos and its approach to winter construction remain subjects of global interest, potentially affecting the entire world by changing the information flow and attributing speaking time to only some selected world, thought, and political leaders, while ignoring others who spoke during the side events and have not even been invited to other conferences because their country or company was too small, essentially making them irrelevant in the discussions in Davos if side events stop. This influence extends to the world in a much broader context than just freezing winter construction

#2

Translated from German : Since 2019, the municipality has defined and continually tightened the approval process and the set-up and dismantling times for temporary projects during the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in regulations based on applicable law. Nevertheless, the extent of construction activities could not be reduced to the desired level within the existing legal framework. Since the WEF annual meeting always takes place very early in the year on a regular basis, the construction time for temporary projects, which is usually limited to two weeks, can also fall during the New Year’s week, which is very busy with tourists. In January 2023, this led to numerous negative feedback from the population and guests as well as from the tourism industry and the builders themselves.
For this reason, the small district administrator considered adjusting the building law bases in the spring and sent a regulation to the cantonal preliminary review. With the planned adjustments to Article 154 of the Davos Building Act on construction work and construction times, the construction activities taking place around the WEF should now generally fall under the winter construction freeze. However, exceptions to the construction freeze are possible under restrictive requirements. The emissions generated by construction and dismantling must remain at an acceptable level and public safety must be guaranteed at all times. The Small District Administrator should therefore be able to take appropriate measures, including limiting the number of projects permitted per event. However, temporary construction projects for all other events that are less disruptive to the public, such as the Spengler Cup, Ski Nordic, etc., are still not covered by the winter construction freeze. The necessary threshold for this is excessive “disruption to third parties due to noise, dust or smells” in accordance with Art. 154 Para . 1 of the Building Act has not yet been achieved by such construction projects.

As before, the costs incurred by the municipality in connection with the approval process for temporary projects at the WEF annual meeting should be covered by fees and charges from those applying for the construction projects in accordance with the polluter pays principle. The level of fees and charges is set in such a way that they also have a guiding effect. Any surplus that arises will now flow into a fund for projects to reduce CO2 emissions (see Article 158 of the Building Act).

In the preliminary review process that has already been completed, the cantonal office for spatial development did not express any reservations about the proposal. The 30-day participation process for the mentioned adjustments to the Building Act will be opened on October 10, 2023. During this time, anyone can submit suggestions and objections to the planned partial revision to the Small District Administrator in writing (on paper) or electronically via this platform. The Small District Administrator examines the submissions and comments on them to the participants. The matter and the outcome of the participation process will then be discussed by the Grand District Administrator. Changes to the Building Act are ultimately subject to a mandatory referendum, so they will always be the subject of a referendum.

https://mitwirken-davos.ch/de/teilrevision-art-154-und-art-158-des-davoser-baugesetzes/participant/survey-document-groups/4912

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#3

Respecting the original culture of Davos was neglected. It is up to the organizers of events to find a synergistic way to work with the city to foster a sustainable economical more inclusive system in and outside the wef week.

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#4

I used ChatGPT to go through the German text & explain it to me using a family holiday as an example: “Let’s picture a large family deciding to have an annual holiday gathering in a quaint little village. This event is much awaited by the family (akin to the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meetings in the text). However, each year, they build temporary structures for their festivities (like the temporary projects mentioned). Over time, the village authorities set some rules on when and how these structures could be set up and taken down, aiming to minimize disruption to the villagers and other visitors.

Despite these rules, the level of construction activity during these family gatherings hasn’t reduced to a desired level. Sometimes, the setup begins during the busy New Year’s week, a peak tourist season for the village, causing inconvenience to both the locals and other visitors. The village residents and other stakeholders have expressed their dissatisfaction, particularly during the recent gathering in January 2023.

To address this, the village council (the “Kleine Landrat”) considered revising the construction laws in early 2023 and sent a proposal for preliminary examination at the cantonal level. They aim to include the construction activities during the family gathering under a winter construction ban, with some exceptions under strict conditions, ensuring public safety and tolerable levels of noise, dust, and odors. However, other smaller events like a skiing competition aren’t covered under this ban as they cause less disruption.

Moreover, the costs incurred by the village for permitting these temporary constructions should be covered by the family through fees, which are structured to also act as a deterrent. Any surplus from these fees will now be channeled into a fund for CO2 emission reduction projects. After a favorable preliminary review, a 30-day public consultation process will begin on October 10, 2023, where anyone can submit their suggestions or objections. The village council will review the inputs, respond to the submissions, and then discuss the matter along with the results of the consultation process. Any amendments to the construction laws will be subjected to a public vote, ensuring the villagers have a say in the matter.

This metaphorical narrative mirrors the process of policy amendment, public consultation, and decision-making in a democratic setting as described in the text concerning the regulation of temporary construction projects during the WEF annual meetings in Davos.”

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#5

Digital.Davos SP- ChainBLX SPC and its strategic partners recognized the harmful side-effects of the multiple events during January on the local community and economy. Therefore we started to develop and now implement some strategies to foster a ungoing sustainable economy.

We are actively seeking synergistic projects, which allows the usage of space during January for the necessary global exchange of knowledge and ideas, but also allows for continuous businesses activies around the year.

This includes:

Partnerships with universities to hold year arround training courses and seminars for students and faculty, using this space with out build out requirements during january.

Attracting accelerators in AI and ESG related research which would be present the whole year fostering the economic as well providing space with out build out requirements during January to hold discussion panels.

Attracting a permanent gallery for digital art showcasing a new kind of art through out the year serving as a travel destination and again providing space during the January events with out interrupting the community with unnecessary build out.

Digital.Davos and its partners hope to gain support from the community for such endeavors.

In general it is our belief that when the enormous amounts spend just for build outs would be used in a way that the community can profit from it throughout the year would be guiding to a synthetic economy for Davos.