“There comes a point where you no longer know what to believe anymore.”
The sentence lingered long after Wednesday evening’s public dialogue event in Altdorf.
The week was originally about safety. But the conversations reached far beyond emergency preparedness or protective measures. They touched on uncertainty, communication, social tensions, and the question of what happens when people begin to lose their sense of orientation and trust in one another.
Whether in hospitals, public institutions or public dialogue events with citizens, a common thread emerged through the entire week:
Safety does not begin in the moment of crisis.
It develops – or is lost – long before.
In the way we speak to one another.
In how we deal with uncertainty.
In how we make decisions under pressure.
And in whether we are still able to listen to one another in moments of stress.
For one week, the Canton of Uri became a place where these questions were openly discussed — in direct exchange between leading experts and the public.
Monday, April 27 — Safety Begins Before Something Goes Wrong
The week opened at the Cantonal Hospital of Uri with insights into the everyday practice of patient safety — from surgery and anaesthesia to teamwork and communication in highly complex clinical environments.
One point became particularly clear throughout the discussions: safety does not emerge from procedures, checklists or technical standards alone, but from the quality of human interactions behind them.
How well do teams communicate under pressure?
How do professionals address uncertainty with one another?
And how is trust built in situations where decisions carry safety-critical consequences?
The discussions particularly stressed the importance of a “safety culture”: the human side of safety that exists behind rules and structures. Central to this was whether people feel able to speak with one another openly when things turn critical.
Tuesday, April 28 — International Perspectives on Safety and Resilience
At the centre of the week stood the Safety 360° Summit, bringing together international experts from healthcare, aviation, cybersecurity, journalism, risk research, crisis management and geopolitics.
The Summit highlighted how many of today’s risks can no longer be addressed within silos — because contemporary safety challenges no longer remain confined to individual systems, professions or national borders.
The discussions explored how digitalisation, misinformation, geopolitical tensions and growing system complexity are changing how safety must be understood today — and why prevention alone is no longer sufficient.
From aviation and healthcare to cyber resilience and public trust, one theme repeatedly resurfaced throughout the conversations:
Safety today no longer depends only on reliable technology and structures, but on communication that enables shared understanding, and on the human capacity to remain capable of dialogue under pressure and stress.
The Summit showed how important interdisciplinary collaboration has become.
A separate blog post on the Summit will follow shortly, including key themes, perspectives and voices.
Wednesday, April 29 — When Uncertainty Becomes Personal
For many participants, the public dialogue event on Wednesday evening in Altdorf became one of the most memorable moments of the week.
Representatives from politics, healthcare, journalism, cybersecurity, risk research and the public gathered around one deceptively simple question:
What is it that makes people feel unsafe today?
The answers reached far beyond traditional safety conceptions.
Participants spoke about artificial intelligence, misinformation, cybercrime, social polarisation and the growing difficulty of knowing which information can still be trusted. Others described the emotional exhaustion that comes from living in a constant stream of crises, headlines and conflicting narratives.
One participant captured this feeling quite powerfully:
“At some point, you simply no longer know what to believe anymore.” Audience member
What made the evening particularly striking was not only the range of topics discussed, but the atmosphere in which the conversations unfolded. The discussions addressed critical concerns, but always in an authentic and respectful way. Uncertainty could be expressed openly, without the pressure to immediately produce “simple answers” to complex issues.
Again and again, the conversation returned to communication, not merely as the exchange of information, but as the basis on which shared understanding becomes possible — something many participants described as one of the central safety challenges of our time.
“Safety does not emerge from shared information, but from shared understanding.” Prof. Dr. Annegret Hannawa, President of EISCOM
At a time when public debates are increasingly characterised by polarisation and emotional escalation, the dialogue evening created a safe space for citizens to reconnect through communication in times of uncertainty and declining trust.
Thursday, April 30 — The Invisible Work Behind “Getting Around Safely”
On Thursday, SISAG opened its doors and offered insights into the systems and processes that help keep us safe in everyday life — often without us even noticing it.
From cable cars and tunnel systems to transportation and cyber infrastructures, visitors gained an understanding of how much coordination, monitoring and responsibility continuously operate in the background.
The discussions showed how profoundly the meaning of “safety” itself has changed in recent years. Digital systems now directly influence physical infrastructures. Cybersecurity has become inseparable from operational safety. And technological developments often move faster than our ability to emotionally and socially process their consequences.
One observation stayed with many visitors throughout the day:
The more seamlessly systems function, the less visible the work behind them becomes.
Yet these systems ultimately still depend on sound human judgement, effective communication across hierarchies, and a shared sense of responsibility.
Friday, May 1 — Why Crisis Preparedness Is Emotionally Difficult for Us
Friday’s dialogue evening focused on a question that reached far beyond traditional emergency planning:
What happens to us as human beings when we are confronted with crisis, fear and uncertainty?
In discussion with the public this evening were emergency psychologist Dr. Urs Braun, Prof. Annegret Hannawa, and Urs Mock, Head of the Office for Civil Protection and Military Affairs of the Canton of Uri.
At the centre of this safety dialogue was how stress affects human perception, judgement and communication. One recurring theme was the phenomenon of “tunnel vision”: under stress, risks appear greater than they actually are, perspective-taking becomes more difficult, and the likelihood of human error increases — a dangerous combination in safety-critical situations.
The discussion also addressed why societies often struggle to deal constructively with uncertainty, contradictory information and fear. At the same time, it became clear that communication itself has become a safety factor — particularly where trust between people begins to erode.
One insight stood out in particular:
Human reactions to stress are not “fixed.” We can learn to remain capable of acting under pressure, through experience-based preparation and targeted training.
The evening ultimately led to one central question:
How do we prepare not only systems and infrastructures for crises, but human beings themselves?
The Conversations Continue …
Safety 360° Week was never intended as a one-time event, but rather as the beginning of a shared safety culture, with the Canton of Uri serving as a place for public dialogue and exchange.
The week created space for conversations about:
• how people experience safety and risk
• how communication strengthens or weakens societal resilience
• how dialogue spaces can be created where uncertainty may be discussed
The week did not offer “simple answers” to complex questions. But it demonstrated how much safety depends on people — and particularly, how much it relies on our ability to remain in dialogue with one another, especially in uncertain times.
