Ursula Wyss
# Ursula Wyss

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.

## Early life and education

Born and raised in the municipality of Davos in the Canton of Graubünden, Ursula Wyss is citizen of the Bernese municipalities of Buchholterberg and Köniz. 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 the Technical University of 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

Ursula 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. 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 and double the proportion of cyclists by 2030. In the meantime, Bern figures among the top ten global cycling cities (as of 2022) [The World's Most Bicycle-Friendly Cities. https://www.statista.com/chart/18206/most-bicycle-friendly-cities-worldwide/].

## Personal life

Ursula Wyss lives in Bern and is mother of two kids.

