Based in a trilingual federal state, it operates mostly in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, where it works in close association with local leftwing and center-left political parties, as well as with the main Swiss leftwing trade unions and local NGOs operating in Central and Latin America. It also has deep ties with the main leftwing parties of German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland, among which the Swiss Party of Labour (member of PEL), solidaritéS (based mostly in Geneva) and Alternative Liste (based mostly in Zurich).

ForumAlternativo aims to build a new left for the 21st Century, fighting local issues in a global perspective (neoliberalism and privatizations, worker’s rights, wealth redistribution, gender inequality, right of asylum…) and global issues at a local level (climate change, solidarity with countries from the Global South, fight against imperialism, transnational labor issues,…). To achieve this, it works to stimulate synergies between the different parties, movements and organizations of the local left, building bridges towards common goals. Since 2014, it publishes the bimonthly review Quaderni, based on contributions from local activists and international journalists and scholars from all over the world.