Ursula Wyss (born 8 February 1973 in Davos) is a Swiss politician, economist and urban planner. She represented the Canton of Bern in the Swiss National Council as member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP) from 6 December 1999 to 3 March 2013. From January 2013 to December 2020 she was an executive member (Gemeinderätin) of the city of Bern.
Ursula Wyss | |
|---|---|
 Ursula Wyss in 2018 | |
| In office 1999–2020 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 February 1973 Davos, Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party of Switzerland |
| Spouse | Thomas Christen |
| Children | 2[1] |
| Residence | Bern[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Bern |
| Occupation | political economist, urban planner and politician |
| Website | ursulawyss |
Early life and education
editBorn and raised in the municipality of Davos in the Canton of Graubünden, Ursula Wyss is citizen of the Bernese municipalities of Buchholterberg and Köniz.[1] In 1992 she attended higher education entrance qualification (Maturität), and started to study political economy and ecology at the University of Bern, at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, and at Technische Universität Berlin. Back in Bern, she graduated in 1997, worked as science assistant and lecturer at the Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre of the Bern University from 2001 to 2005 where she earned her doctorate degree as Dr. rer. oec. in 2006. Later, she also obtained a Master in Urban and Regional Planning (MSc URP) at the University of Amsterdam. Wyss worked at the privately financed BASS research institute and at the national WWF Switzerland bureau.
Political career
editUrsula Wyss became a member of the Social Democratic Party (SP) which she represented from 1997 to 1999 as member of the parliament (Grosser Rat des Kantons Bern) of the Canton of Bern. Between December 1999 and March 2013, she was member (Nationalrätin) of the Swiss National Council. She was Vice-President of the SP Switzerland from 2004 to 2006 and President of the SP parliamentary group in the Federal Parliament from 2006 to 2012. Wyss was a member of the Committee for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy (UREK), the State Policy Committee (SPK), the Finance Committee (FK) and the Office of the National Council. In 2013 Wyss was elected as successor of Regula Rytz as executive member (Gemeinderätin) of the city of Bern. She presides the department Tiefbau, Verkehr und Stadtgrün that provides the municipal civil engineering, transport and the urban green areas.[2] At the municipal level, Ursula Wyss focused on the promotion of walking and cycling. With the "Velo-Offensive" launched in 2014, Bern is to become the cycling capital of Switzerland.
Today, she runs her own consultancy firm for strategic urban development and urban mobility.[3]
Personal life
editUrsula Wyss lives in Bern and is mother of two kids.
References
edit- ^ a b c "Wyss Ursula". Federal Assembly. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ^ "Wyss Ursula Direktorin für Tiefbau, Verkehr und Stadtgrün (TVS)". bern.ch. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ^ http://www.seum.ch
External links
edit- Official website (in German)
- Ursula Wyss on the website of the city of Bern (in German)
- Biography of Ursula Wyss on the website of the Swiss Parliament. (German)
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