New lease of life for an old pathway

It has long been a fixture in Implenia's calendar: the Social Project Week brings together Implenia apprentices from a wide range of professions before the start of their final year of training and lets them carry out projects worthy of support in collaboration with Swiss Mountain Aid. This time, the young people have made an old neighborhood path in Saas Balen accessible again.

Implenia has been enthusiastically training apprentices for years. In August 2024 alone, over 60 young people started their apprenticeships at Implenia Switzerland and Wincasa. Over the next two, three or four years, they will not only gain valuable work experience alongside their school education, but also network with their peers in a wide range of professions.

One of the events designed to promote this networking is the annual social project week for Implenia apprentices. This year, from July 15 to 19 in Saas Balen, a group of 16 Implenia apprentices, two foremen, a vocational trainer and the Head of Vocational Training at Implenia Switzerland devoted themselves to renovating an old local path. The aim was to make the path, which was in a poor condition, passable again.

16 young people from a wide range of apprenticeships renovated a neighborhood path in the municipality of Saas Balen sustainably and with great enthusiasm

The participants come from a wide variety of teaching backgrounds and from different regions of Switzerland such as Ticino, Fribourg, Zurich, Uri, etc. This diversity brought an interesting mix of languages and cultural backgrounds to the group.

The work took place in perfect weather conditions, with bright sunshine and no rain. The location of the construction site right next to a small waterfall also made the work a special experience.

Sustainability is one of Implenia's corporate values and was also taken into account when planning this project, as vocational trainer Adrian Geissmann emphasizes: "It was important to us to be as environmentally friendly as possible when renewing the path. For example, we cleaned existing material such as stones and carefully laid new ones - mostly by hand. It was a huge task that the young people tackled with great enthusiasm."

Places great importance on the sustainable implementation of projects: Adrian Geissmann. Apprentice supervisor at Implenia

The new neighborhood path in Saas Balen has been sustainably restored, largely by hand

The group was accommodated in the Burgener family's Vispu vacation home and were also cooked for every day by their hosts. Special thanks go to the municipality of Saas Baalen and the bergversetzer platform, which has been placing individual volunteers with people in the mountains for 30 years. Thanks to their support, another group of Implenia apprentices were able to start their final year of training with a valuable experience.