Once a year, our PP network goes on an outing together. A time-out that creates space for exchange and shared learning. In autumn 2025, we headed to Biel. No coincidence: the conclusion of the Espace Biel/Bienne Nidau (EBBN) organisation provided the ideal occasion to look back together and share experiences.

At the Farell House in Biel, Sarah Märki, project manager at TBF, provided insight into the history of the EBBN organisation. After the implementation project for the A5 western bypass of Biel – and with it all accompanying transport measures and district planning – was halted in 2020, the region at the southern foot of the Jura faced a fundamental question: What should future transport and settlement development look like? To answer this question, the authorities from the canton, the cities of Biel and Nidau, the municipalities of Brügg, Ipsach and Port, as well as the seeland.biel/bienne planning region, established the EBBN project organisation in early 2021. TBF supported its establishment and later led the management office. The appropriate project team came from our PP network.

For Mirjam Bieri, TBF's EBBN project manager, this moment marked a decisive turning point: "Long-standing planning foundations had failed. "Years of planning lay in ruins – but this was also a chance to rethink mobility from the ground up. A genuine inner-city 'Window of Opportunity'."

Another such window of opportunity is the annual network outing. With around 60 members, it's the largest within TBF. But how does one remain dynamic at this size? The network is supported by a seven-strong core team that assumes responsibility for strategic direction. The foundation for collaboration within the network is a democratic and participative culture. The team actively works on projects such as EBBN itself, so that needs and challenges are perceived first-hand.

The outing to Biel brought fresh impulses and created space to get to know one another even better. This facilitates collaboration, particularly in agile networks where new constellations emerge with each project. This flexibility requires openness and the courage to approach one another time and again.

At the end of the project presentation, Sarah Märki pragmatically summarised that the EBBN project was "typically atypical" for the network. Typical, because the network often works where complexity is high and interests are diverse. And atypical, because each initial situation brings new dynamics, new people and new approaches: " We thrive where diversity meets." said Sarah. "Together with our clients, we pursue solutions that unite different perspectives and are prove sustainable over time."

The dynamics in Biel reflect our own network: 60 heads with different areas of expertise make for a complex structure. This is another reason why the annual outing is so valuable. It provides the space to meet away from daily project work and supports collegiality. In the end, it's these connections and the joy of shared exchange that form the basis for successful collaboration.