Trained as a geographer, Roland Hochstrasser heads the Office for the Analysis and Digital Cultural Heritage within the Department of Education, Culture and Sport of the Republic and Canton of Ticino. He is a member of the foundation boards of the Alpine Biology Center and Switch, and serves on the steering committees of the Memoriav Association and Swiss Cultural Capital.

The publication “Cultural Observatories Worldwide: A Map for Reading Culture” (Thematic Focus no. 2 - 2026) presents an international survey of cultural observatories, with the aim of providing an overview of these institutions and their main characteristics.

In 1872, Jules Verne published a novel that, more than 140 years after its initial release, remains widely known and appreciated for its evocative power: Around the World in Eighty Days. The story follows the adventures of Phileas Fogg, a wealthy London gentleman of habitual, sedentary, and reserved character. On October 2, 1872, Fogg leaves his residence on Saville Row and heads to the Reform Club. As usual, at half past eleven he reaches the club premises after taking exactly 575 steps.