Reflections on Brocher: Philanthropy,fog and restoration

The Brocher Foundation is beautifully positioned on the edge of Lake Geneva, nestling between the Jura mountains in front and the Alps behind. This special space, graced by breath-taking sunrises and sunsets, enables enriching interdisciplinary, international and intergenerational reflection. ¹ Reflection on some of the most important and challenging issues of our time. Reflection on matters that impact individual scholars in local and global communities. Reflection that enables restoration, instils hope and facilitates moral progress ‘beyond the fog of daily worries’. ²

I was privileged to have a recent residency at the Brocher Foundation and to benefit from engagement with international scholars at early, middle and later stages of career. In addition to working on our individual research activities, we shared insights in planned workshops on themes such as writing for publication and grant writing.

However, it was sharing diverse perspectives during informal conversations over meals and during cultural outings where, it seemed to me, most benefit was gained. Sharing, for example, challenges and opportunities of diverse career trajectories; learning from experiences of negotiating roles, responsibilities and conditions in diverse organisational contexts; and debating wide-ranging perspectives. Topics debated included: the meaning and possibility of moral progress; cross-cultural manifestations of patriarchy; historical and contemporary violations of human rights in biomedical research; ethical aspects of gaming in publishing; and relationships amongst the personal, professional and political in our varied academic activities.

No topic was off the table with mutual respect assumed and enacted. Curiosity, a sense of solidarity, commitment to making a positive difference and good humour were threaded throughout our conversations.

The Brocher Foundation is but a short, and impossibly punctual, bus ride to Geneva. The city hosts the World Health Organisation, the International Red Cross, the United Nations and other humanitarian, health and peace focussed organisations. Nineteenth century Geneva provided the philanthropic backdrop to the creation of the Foundation, with city leaders and visionaries taking a stand against the suffering and abandonment of those wounded in war.

Three leaders in particular – Henri Dunant, Guillaume and Jacobs Dubs – led the movement to improve conditions and respect the rights of those involved in war in setting up the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss Red Cross. ² Jacobs Dubs, President of the Swiss Confederation and first President of the Swiss Red Cross, presided over the 1864 conference which created the first Geneva Convention. ³ Jacobs Dubbs was grandfather of Madame Lucette Brocher. Inspired by her grandfather’s commitment – and in collaboration with her husband Jacques, a physician – Madame Brocher left a substantial legacy for the formation of the Brocher Foundation to enable interdisciplinary reflection on ‘the ethical, legal and social implications of medical development and health policies. The results of their research shed indispensable light on fundamental questions that we all ask ourselves’. ¹

Author and management consultant, Jonathan Lockwood Huie, writes of reaching ‘toward the shining mountains, beyond the fog of daily worries’. Scholars may come to Brocher with their daily worries and preoccupations regarding personal and professional life. However, it seems inevitable that the company of inspiring international colleagues at different career stages, the support of the Brocher team and the beauty of the environs will restore, instil hope and facilitate individual and collective moral progress which elevates above ‘the fog of daily worries’. ²

Those of us privileged to have had a residency at the Brocher Foundation, can vouch for the significant value of being in a reflective space with like-minded scholars. We will be forever grateful for connections made, friendships formed and for conversations initiated which will continue into the future.