Positioning Genius Loci among local heritage showcasing solutions
In many municipalities, a large part of the heritage remains invisible. Not because it lacks value, but because there is no simple tool to make it accessible. This is the gap that Genius Loci fills.What sets us apartGenius Loci is a cultural and tourism infrastructure designed for local authorities…
Classic questions from municipalities and tourism offices
This document is intended for tourism offices and for the municipalities responsible for infrastructure, tourism and heritage. It sets out to answer, clearly and pragmatically, the first questions that arise when a local authority is assessing Genius Loci as a tool for showcasing its area.We…
Genius Loci wins the MITdesignX Audience Prize
After four months in the MITdesignX accelerator, Genius Loci wins the Audience Prize at the prestigious Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland. On 12 December 2025, at the heart of the prestigious Institut Le Rosey in Rolle, the Pitch Day of the first MITdesignX cohort in Switzerland brought together…
Smapshot and Genius Loci
Episode 12 of Genius Loci the Story!Stéph and Professor Stéphane Lecorney of HEIG-vd present the new Smapshot x Genius Loci featureA few months ago, at the Memoriav fair in Solothurn, Stéphane Lecorney, Associate Professor at HEIG-vd, approached Genius Loci as part of an Innosuisse partnership.The…
Genius Loci in schools and universities
Learning with a real, living, shared territoryHeritage is not frozen in books or archives. It lives in places, in stories, in local memories. With Genius Loci, schools, grammar schools and universities work directly in the field, alongside municipalities and local stakeholders. Pupils become…
Genius Loci medal production at Afiro
Episode 11 of Genius Loci the Story!Vlog at Afiro to discover how our medals are madeEglé and Stéph visit Afiro's locksmithing and metal construction workshops in Aubonne, Switzerland, which manufacture Genius Loci medals.Afiro is a social enterprise and training provider — meaning it employs…
Genius Loci the Deep POI
Architecture and Technology VisionFor an in-depth narrative cartography of territories If you are reading this, you probably know the term used in tourism offices: POI (= Point of Interest). These are places listed for their cultural interest, heritage value or tourism potential. The current…
Design secrets of Genius Loci stainless steel medals
This morning, with the perfect light streaming into the workshop, I thought it was the right moment to show you our Genius Loci stainless steel medal up close. It’s a simple object, but one that took months to conceptualise down to the smallest detail. Nothing was left to chance! I wanted to…
Why and how we designed the Genius Loci QR medals
Keeping things simple is a complex matter. And we wanted to share with you some of the key design principles that shaped Genius Loci into the product it is today. For several years now, our team has been working towards a simple yet ambitious goal: to let everyone rediscover the places around us…
Genius Loci looks back at 2024
Episode 09 of Genius Loci the Story!Looking back at 2024 and the launch of Genius Loci PRO Eglé Julien and Stéph look back in detail on this exceptional year 2024! We felt it was a real accelerator and wanted to share images and candid moments captured from the inside.Genius Loci the…
Looking back at the creation of Genius Loci
Excerpt: Episode 08 Episode 08 of Genius Loci the Story!Looking back at the creation of Genius Loci and the project's first two years An afternoon with journalist N. Dépraz — in this long-form episode: the behind-the-scenes of Genius Loci, a presentation of the first prototypes and much…
Gold Medal at the Geneva Inventions Show
Episode 07 of Genius Loci the Story!Filing a patent and the Inventions Show In April 2023, Genius Loci won a Gold Medal and the Public Prize at the International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva. A look behind the scenes of this adventure!Genius Loci the Story…
The Genilem Prize
Episode 06 of Genius Loci the Story!The Genilem Prize In December 2022, Genius Loci was officially launched thanks to the Genilem Prize.Genius Loci’s adventure with Genilem in Geneva: a spotlight moment Our team then had the immense pleasure of working with Cyril Déléaval, a…
First designs
Episode 05 of Genius Loci the Story!The first real interface designs. Moving on to graphic design and the first clickable prototype mock-ups with FigmaIn our fifth episode, we lift the veil on a crucial stage in the creation of “Genius Loci”: interface design. And what better…
First tests
Episode 04 of Genius Loci the Story!First tests. How did we validate the concept? Validating the Genius Loci concept through our Design Sprint experience When you set out on a new entrepreneurial adventure, uncertainty is often your closest companion. There is no way to know for sure…
Pitching the Idea to Julien
Third episode of Genius Loci the Story!We tell Julien about the idea You should never set off alone. The time had come to present the concept to our sidekick JulienWelcome to episode 3 of “Genius Loci: The Story”. Today we have a very special guest, Julien Suard, our sidekick…
The name
Second episode of Genius Loci the Story!But where does this funny name come from? Genius Loci: The origin of the name The quest for the perfect name A warm welcome to you all! We are Steph and Eglé Cruchon, the minds behind Genius Loci. Today we will tell you how our startup’s…
The Idea
First episode of Genius Loci the Story!Today we share the Idea with you. Genius Loci: redefining heritage tourism The beginning: a quest for authentic cultural tourism We warmly welcome you! We are Steph and Eglé Cruchon, passionate advocates of heritage tourism and founders of the Swiss…
Heritage digitisation serving tourism innovation
Technology, artificial intelligence, new economy: driven by technological progress and changing traveller expectations, the tourism industry is constantly evolving. How is this sector reinventing itself through digitisation?
Slow tourism as a driver of regional economic growth and diversification
Genius Loci — an innovation in heritage enhancement and slow tourism: can it help contribute to the economic development of our regions? How did the COVID crisis accelerate this process?
Why trust citizens to tell the story of their city?
In Europe alone, there are more than 200,000 towns and small villages. Only 517 are listed to date on the famous UNESCO World Heritage List. Yet these places are far more than dots on a map — they are home to millions of people with their own lives, stories, memories and personal anecdotes to…
Why local communities are the best way to preserve the memory of places
If you are on this site, you have probably heard of the concept of "genius loci". It refers to the unique character or spirit of a place. In ancient Roman religion, it was seen as the protective spirit of a location, usually represented as a serpent or a kind of "minor deity" guarding the…