by Rudy Novena,
Director of AGNA - November 5, 2025
From the Cochem model to Swiss parental consent
AGNA, a forerunner of his times
The Cochem model , born in 1992 in Germany on the initiative of Judge Jürgen Rudolph , proposes close collaboration between courts, lawyers, psychologists and social services to help separated parents find consensual and rapid solutions, placing the well-being of their children .
In 2011 , when similar approaches were just beginning to be discussed in Switzerland, AGNA clearly grasped the innovative scope of this method and understood its potential application in the Ticino context.
On May 30, 2011 Judge Rudolph himself to Ticino for a conference open to magistrates, lawyers, social workers, and political representatives.
The goal was not only to publicize a foreign model, but to open a concrete dialogue with Ticino authorities —courts, regional administrative courts, and institutions—on how to adapt these principles to the local context , to prevent conflict and support co-parenting.
Today, fourteen years later, the Federal Commission for Family Matters (COFF) promotes the same approach nationwide under the name of parental consent , with projects already active in several cantons.
AGNA can therefore proudly claim to be a pioneer , faithful to its mission: to build, step by step, a culture of separation based on respect, collaboration, and the right of children to maintain a living bond with both parents.
