Margaret Collaud from ARI-SO: Orchestrating Innovation in Western Switzerland
To celebrate its 15th anniversary, CleantechAlps is launching the “15 Years – 15 Faces” initiative, highlighting individuals who actively contribute to the development of the cleantech ecosystem in Western Switzerland. This project features entrepreneurs, researchers, innovators, and facilitators whose vision and dedication are shaping the future of clean technologies in the country. As Co-Director of the Association Réseau Innovation Suisse Occidentale (ARI-SO), Margaret Collaud plays a key role in steering innovation strategies across Western Switzerland—where CleantechAlps is one of the central pillars.
Margaret Collaud sees CleantechAlps as far more than a sector-specific promotional platform. “CleantechAlps is part of a complementary network of regional, cantonal, and federal services available to businesses,” she explains.
This integrated approach allows CleantechAlps to fulfill a multidimensional mission: “profiling the active cleantech economy of Western Switzerland, positioning the region as a center of excellence through a vertical sectoral approach, and raising awareness of sustainability issues across industries. The platform also connects companies and facilitates knowledge and innovation transfer.”
The strength of intercantonal collaboration
For Margaret Collaud, intercantonal collaboration is a major strength when it comes to cleantech and sustainability. It enables critical mass and achieves a far greater impact than isolated initiatives. Economies of scale and added value are also significant. “Together, cantonal economic promotion offices and agencies are developing tools they wouldn’t necessarily create—or find worthwhile to implement—individually.”
This approach ensures a more comprehensive understanding of regional issues and capabilities while encouraging valuable synergies. “It also allows for a privileged collaboration with the Confederation, particularly through SECO, which co-finances ARI-SO’s innovation support program. This cooperation builds on the shared knowledge and insights of each partner,” says Margaret Collaud. The result: improved efficiency, time savings, and stronger territorial coverage—including in more remote areas.
A cross-cutting mission linked to sustainability
Margaret Collaud reminds us that CleantechAlps was born out of a structured approach to regional economic development. “During the implementation of the first New Regional Policy (NPR) program for Western Switzerland in collaboration with the Confederation (2008–2011), the participating cantons identified four strategic sectors with strong innovation potential and added value that needed greater visibility.” That’s how CleantechAlps came to life in 2010—following the launch of BioAlps (life sciences), Alp ICT (digital and IT), and Micronarc (micro- and nanotechnologies).
The platform continues to evolve: “As of 2024, CleantechAlps has been entrusted with a cross-cutting mission to support and raise awareness around sustainability, in addition to its original mandate supporting businesses and the wider ecosystem,” adds Margaret Collaud.
According to her, CleantechAlps’ greatest strengths lie in “its deep understanding of the local ecosystem, its awareness of current challenges and future opportunities, and the experience it has accumulated over the past 15 years.”
Additional information: ARI-SO | Western Switzerland Innovation Network Association
A quote appreciated by Margaret Collaud
« We do not inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children. »
– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
This quote perfectly captures the mission of CleantechAlps and the commitment of ARI-SO to clean technologies. It reflects the intergenerational responsibility that underpins all efforts to promote and develop cleantech in Western Switzerland.
ARI-SO: Putting innovation first
The Association Réseau Innovation Suisse Occidentale (ARI-SO) plays a pivotal role in the innovation ecosystem of Western Switzerland. This intercantonal structure brings together six cantons (Jura, Neuchâtel, Fribourg, Geneva, Valais, and Vaud) to implement a coherent and effective regional innovation policy through the creation of a Regional Innovation System (RIS-SO).
By financing and strategically guiding CleantechAlps’ activities, ARI-SO strengthens the promotion and development of clean technologies in the region. This collaboration exemplifies the cooperative and cross-cantonal approach at the heart of Switzerland’s innovation landscape—an approach that allows resources to be pooled and impact to be maximized in supporting sustainable economic development. It contributes directly to increasing the resilience and competitiveness of the regional economy.
The 15-year anniversary concept
For the past 15 years, CleantechAlps has been committed to advancing its vision and connecting talents, stakeholders and solutions that drive the transition toward a more sustainable future in Western Switzerland. To mark this anniversary, we wish to highlight the individuals who bring our ecosystem to life every day — through their projects, their dedication and their vision.
“15 Years – 15 Faces” features fifteen personalities, fifteen journeys, fifteen voices that embody cleantech. From technology to policy, from research to industry, from local to international — these women and men are building, each in their own way, the cleantech solutions of today and tomorrow. Through their stories, we share with you the successes to which CleantechAlps has contributed — notably by serving as a facilitator of connections, dialogue, and collaboration. Discover their passion. Their inspiration. And their vision for a more sustainable future.
