Switzerland’s fourth Global Field is open

On Saturday, May 17, 2025, the “season zero” of Weltacker Zurich kicked off with guided tours of the installations, music and an aperitif.

The board members of Global Field Zurich (from left: Rahel Fuchs, Simone Gabi, Barbara Holzer, Olivia Senn) at the opening ceremony of the Weltacker Zurich, May 17, 2025, at the Huebhof in Zurich Schwamendingen. — The world as an apple: The board members (from left: Rahel Fuchs, Simone Gabi, Barbara Holzer, Olivia Senn) demonstrate how much arable land our planet has. (Image: Niklaus Salzmann / Global Field Switzerland)

Just one thirty-second of the earth’s surface is arable land. The Weltacker Zurich’s board team used an apple to demonstrate just how little that is to the audience at the opening ceremony on May 17, 2025. This took the visitors right into the heart of the central theme of the Global Fields.

Developing a feeling for the area that our food takes up is one of the most important goals of Weltäcker. This was also the case in Zurich, where the so-called “Season Zero” kicked off on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at the Huebhof in Schwamendingen. At the buffet beds, visitors were able to see how much space a portion of Bircher muesli, bean stew or spaghetti Bolognese takes up on the field.

Several small beds are laid out with signs showing the dishes grown. A man looks at the plots. — How much space does which menu need? The buffet bed at Weltacker Zurich. (Image: Niklaus Salzmann / Global Field Switzerland)

Singer-songwriter Irene Mazza provided the musical backdrop to the opening ceremony. She created humorous references to serious topics, talked about the Swiss tap water that she misses when she travels, sang a traditional protest song from Italy in which the people complain about the unfair distribution of the land, and made a tulip grow out of a little bucket as if by magic.

Die Liedermacherin Irene Mazza mit Mikrofon und Gitarre.

Publikum beim Auftritt der Liedermacherin Irene Mazza.

Visitors also had the opportunity to listen to soil life with a highly sensitive microphone, discover what the soil is like in the soil window and look for earthworms in the root window. And of course there was also time for the human factor – the exchange between inspiring people over food and drink.

Barbara Holzer, Co-Präsidentin Weltacker Zürich, im Bodenfenster.

Ein Mann mit Kopfhörer in der Hocke auf einem Feld

Ein Kasten mit Glasscheibe eröffnet den Blick auf die Wurzeln der Pflanzen.

The Global Field Zurich is the fourth in Switzerland. The aim is to gain experience this year with the newly opened installations and then create a field covering 2000 square meters in 2026. A huge thank you to the tireless directors, the Huebhof team and all the other helping hands and minds behind Global Field Zurich!