A national study by Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW) studied how willing the people would be to engage in ‘joint research’. The study, entitled ‘Participatory research in Switzerland (ParticipationCH)’, came about in collaboration with the University of Zurich and thanks to financial support from the Mercator Schweiz foundation. The study showed that about half of respondents could imagine taking part in participatory research, with 83% of the Swiss population even being willing to invest a couple of hours a month. When asked with which topics they would like to become involved, ‘society/social issues’ at 55%, ‘environment/animals’ at 49% and ‘technology/science’ at 48% were particularly popular. The biggest hurdle standing in the way of participation in research was a lack of knowledge. A total of 1,394 online interviews were undertaken for the survey, with households without internet access completing written surveys by post.
