UPDATED PROGRAM!! SWIMMABLE CITIES EUROPEAN FORUM – BASEL, AUG 11-12 2026

Making Future Cities Swimmable: Urban Strategy, Water Safety, Waterfront Partnerships & Sponge Cities

Welcome to the ultimate ‘workcation’ - Be part of the official Rhine Swim, join the Swimmable Cities European Forum and then choose your own Swiss adventure!

You’re invited to join urban leaders and changemakers for an immersive knowledge exchange in one of the most iconic swimmable cities in the world - Basel, Switzerland. Before the Forum begins, you’ll have the unique opportunity to join the annual Rhine Swim!

Focusing on four Innovation streams – Urban Strategy (Policy), Water Safety (Practice), Waterfront Investment (Partnerships) and Sponge Cities (Permeability) – the Forum will showcase best practice solutions and promote peer knowledge exchange to accelerate the Next Wave of urban swimming infrastructure. This is part of a vision of creating more liveable, resilient, equitable and prosperous cities through the catalytic power of ‘swimmability’. This is your chance to learn from pioneers and become part of the Next Generation of the urban swimming movement!

After the Forum, we invite you to extend your stay and Experience Basel - a city where the Rhine is not just scenery, but everyday life - clean, swimmable, and deeply embedded in how the city moves, meets, and lives.

The inaugural Swimmable Cities European Forum, in partnership with the City of Basel, will build momentum towards the next Swimmable Cities Summit, scheduled for August 2027 in Ottawa-Gatineau, Canada.

"We are delighted to host the Swimmable Cities European Forum 2026 in Basel — a city where urban swimming is part of everyday life. Participants will experience Basel’s unique river culture firsthand by jumping into the Rhine and drifting through the city alongside locals!"

Christoph Bosshardt, Head of External Affairs and Marketing, Canton of Basel-Stadt

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PROGRAM (Version - June 26 - More updates still to come):

PRE-EVENT, AUG 11:
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OPTIONAL:

4pm // Early Registrations & Rhine Swim Briefing

Edgar Germann (Swiss Lifesaving Society Basel)

6pm // Join the Official Rhine Swim

Organised by Swiss Lifesaving Society Basel.

Important: recommended for strong swimmers only, participation is each person’s own responsibility.

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OFFICIAL OPENING:

7pm // Welcome Reception @ Du Pont (Hosted by the City of Basel)

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OPTIONAL:

9-10pm // Floss Festival

(An open-air music festival for all, with an iconic river stage. Organised by “s isch im Fluss” / “it’s flowing”, a local association, )

FORUM, AUG 12:

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MORNING:

8:00am // Registrations Open

8:30-9:40am // Roundtables

Stream 1: Mayors' Roundtable for Swimmable Cities (Cities Only)

Co-Chairs:

Dr. Conradin Cramer (President of Basel)
Antoine Guillou (Deputy Mayor of Paris)
Abdrahman Labsir (Alderman of Mechelen)

Stream 2: Grassroots Roundtable for Water Nerds (Open)

Co-Chairs:

Ana Mumladze-Detering (Co-Founder, SC & Danube Swimming Association, Vienna)
Paul Steinbruck (Co-Founder, Pool Is Cool, Brussels)

10am // Official Welcome

Dr. Conradin Cramer (President of Basel)
Letizia Elia (CEO, Basel Tourism)
Matthew Sykes (Co-Founder & Programme Director, Swimmable Cities)

10:20am // Opening Plenary

Swimmable Cities: Accelerating the Movement with Lessons from Pioneers

Dr. Christoph Bosshardt (Head of External Affairs and Marketing, City of Basel)
Letizia Elia (CEO, Basel Tourism)
Marc Daniel Heintz (Managing Director, International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine)
Ursula Pajer (Member, Swiss Lifesaving Society Basel)
Christian Senn (Organiser, Rhine Swim)
Monica Malonni (Managing Director, Wickelfisch)
Ana Mumladze-Detering (Co-Founder, SC & Danube Canal Swimming Association)

10:50am // Masterclasses (Part 1)

Pioneer City #1: Basel
Dr. Christoph Bosshardt, Head of External Affairs and Marketing
Pioneer City #2: Zurich
Dr. Philipp Staufer, Head of the Wastewater and Drainage Division

11:30am // Morning Tea

11:55pm // Masterclasses (Part 2)

Next Gen City #1: Ville de Paris
Annabelle Nantier, Project Manager, ‘Swimming in the Seine’ Initiative, Dept. Youth & Sport
Next Gen City #2: Mechelen

12:35pm // Panel Discussion:

Walkability > Cyclability > Swimmability - the Next Frontier of Urban Liveability & Climate Resilience

Speakers coming soon!

1:05pm // Lunch

AFTERNOON:

2:00pm // Innovation Workshops

1. Urban Strategy (Policy)

Provocations:

Dr. Martin Sandtner (Head of Spatial Planning, City of Basel)
“Water Plazas” by Miquel del Rio, Mideri Architects
Bertrand Labalette, Urban Agency, Copenhagen
Sarah Farwell, Partnerships Lead, The Place Bureau

2. Water Safety, Swimming & Shipping Ports (Practice)

Provocations:

Jesper Berner, Sr Manager Sales & Marketing, Advanced Water Treatment at Kemira
Isabel Neduchal & Reinhold Keller Sagamo, ColiMinder
Monica Malonni, Managing Director at Wickelfisch
Ursula Pajer, Vice President, Rhine Swim

3. Waterfront Investment (Public-Private-Community Partnerships)

Provocations:

Gleispool Project (Matthias Sigrist, Project Manager - Development, Christoph Merian Stiftung & Lukas Stadelmann, Architect MSc ETH/SIA, Malheur&Fortuna)
Re-Value– A Horizon Europe project, Alice Jelmini, Global Infrastructure Basel; Andreas Amundsen, City of Ålesund
Anita Melone, Deputy Head of Marketing Krafft Gruppe (Hotel Krafft)

4. Sponge Cities (Permeability)

Provocations:

Joshua Ockenfeld, Project Manager, City of Basel
Fina Girard, ‘Hygroskin’, Denkstatt
Frodo van Oostveen, World Waternet
More speakers coming soon!

3:45pm // Afternoon Tea

4:10pm // Closing Plenary

Road to the Swimmable Cities Summit 2027

Tbc (City of Ottawa, Ville de Gatineau and the National Capital Commission)
Ryan Sorenson (Mayor of Sheboygan (USA) & Member of the Great Lakes St Lawrence Cities Initiative)
Catherine McKenna (SC Ambassador, former Canadian Minister for Environment & Climate Change, and Infrastructure & Communities) *video msg
Idan Sasson, Prospect Swims, NYC
Matthew Sykes, SC Co-Founder & Programme Director, Ottawa
More speakers coming soon!

4:45pm // Official Close

5:00pm // End of Forum

EVENING:

5:30pm // Networking Event

@ kHaus

FIELD TRIP - DAY 3 - Bonus: Gleispool and Hygroskin Projects

For those who wish to extend their experience, we're pleased to support this bonus field trip.

Time: 10-11am, Aug 13

Meeting point: Haus der Elektronischen Künste (HEK)

Outline: This one-hour walk on Dreispitz, a major development area owned by the Christoph Merian Stiftung (CMS), offers a close-up look at two projects rethinking water, cooling and public space in the city. Starting from HEK (House of Electronic Arts), participants will visit the future Gleispool, a 170-metre natural swimming pool that has just entered construction and is scheduled to open in summer 2027. Matthias Sigrist (Project Manager Development at CMS) and Lukas Stadelmann (Architect MSc ETH/SIA, Malheur&Fortuna), will introduce the project on site. The tour then continues to Hygroskin at the Gleisbogen, where Jan Nemeth (Project Development, B/IAS) will present an existing sponge-city installation for cooling and greening sealed urban surfaces.

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Benefits for Participants

Attracting city leaders, water authorities, waterfront developers (housing, mixed-use & tourism), built environment professionals and other influential actors; the Forum will be an opportunity to network, share knowledge, discover best-practices, broker partnerships and access the latest tech innovations.

Tickets

Premium Pass €550

Includes access to the Mayors' Roundtable for Swimmable Cities with Sponsors, Municipalities & Water Authorities.

Forum Pass €295

General Admission - For example, Architects & Built Environment Professionals, Developers, Tourism Professionals, NGOs & Academia.

Cities Pass €175

For Municipalities & Water Authorities, includes access to the Mayors for Swimmable Cities Breakfast.

Hand Up Pass €75

Limited Availability - For Students, Community Organisations & others with limited resources.

* All participants are invited to join the Rhine Swim and Floss Festival.

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Planning Your Workcation:

Accommodation

Information on some of the options and availability in Basel can be found at: https://hotelmap.com/M2M9Y

Basel & Switzerland

More information on experiences and activities:

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Cancellations:

We understand that plans can change, so we aim to be as flexible as possible. Refunds will be available for cancellations made up to 1 month before the event. Unfortunately, cancellations made less than 1 month before the event will not be eligible for a refund.

Tickets are transferable up to one month before the event. If you need to transfer your ticket to someone else, please email us at hello@swimmablecities.org, and we’ll guide you through the process.

In the unlikely event that unforeseen circumstances—such as natural disasters, epidemics, or other events beyond our control—require the event to be adjusted, we will do our best to accommodate attendees. However, refunds may not be possible in these situations. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

ORGANISED BY:

Swimmable Cities (Hosted by Regeneration Projects, B Corp & Actor in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, & Incubated by Swim Drink Fish Canada)

City of Basel / Canton of Basel-Stadt (Municipal Signatory of the SC Charter)

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SUPPORTED BY:

We're excited to announce some of the partners who we'll be working with to bring the Forum come to life! If you're interested in join this Forum coalition of partners, contact our team: hello@swimmablecities.org

HOST CITY:

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HOST TOURISM DESTINATION:

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CORPORATE PARTNERS:

'BIG SPLASH'

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'SPLASH' CATEGORY

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MEDIA PARTNERS

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LOCAL & COMMUNITY PARTNERS

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MORE INFO: www.swimmablecities.org

CONTACT: hello@swimmablecities.org

Photo Credit: Rhine Swim, Wickelfisch, Tanja Ecker

Contact the host of Swimmable Cities European Forum 2026