Articles
New handbook on sustainable agriculture in the Alps
The new "Guidelines for promoting sustainable agriculture in Alpine mountain regions" in four languages (de/fr/it/en) contains numerous recommendations for the planning and implementation of projects and measures aimed at promoting sustainable agriculture in Alpine mountain regions.
Conference publication with findings of the AlpWeek 2004
"The Alps of the Next Generation" was the theme of the AlpWeek 2004 held in Kranjska Gora/SI, a conference which looked at ways of finding solution approaches to current problems and staged a number of scientific discussions.
Delimitation of the Carpathian Convention area - Pilot study
Die Europäische Akademie in Bozen/I publizierte kürzlich eine englischsprachige Pilotstudie zur Implementierung internationaler Berggebietskonventionen.
alpKnowhow knowledge base
The alpKnowhow knowledge base is now available here. For each of the six topics a work report, examples of best practice and a range of publications are provided in English. A cross-topic synthesis report complete with two appendices has also been compiled.
Cross-border network of Caucasian mountain villages
Mountain communities in the Caucasus have adopted a memorandum aimed at establishing a cross-border community network modelled on the "Alliance in the Alps".
New publication on the Eurovignette directive
The EU's revised Eurovignette directive, which is to harmonise the rules governing road tolls for lorries, has been in force since June 2006, and a new publication takes a detailed look at it.
New publication: Alps : points of view
A new illustrated book documents the different views of local populations on life in the Alps.
Sondrio is the 2007 Alpine Town of the Year
In August Sondrio/I was officially awarded the title of 2007 Alpine Town of the Year. The award pays tribute to Sondrio's commitment to enhancing the municipality's ecological, cultural and tourist status.
Alpine protected areas: a new international agency in Chambéry
The administration of the Network of Alpine Protected Areas (ALPARC) was transferred to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention (AK) by the French government on 10 July 2006
Ice-free Alps just a matter of decades?
A new study by the Glaciology and Geomorphodynamics Research Group led by glaciologist Michael Zemp of the Department of Geography at the University of Zurich/CH provides real figures on the past, present and potential future glacier cover in the Alps.
Switzerland: NEAT costs have doubled
More than 600 participants from all over Europe recently convened in Lucerne/CH for this year's Swiss Tunnel Congress to find out more about the state of progress with the New Alps Transversal Route, or Neat.
Future research and transnational cooperation in the Alps
The June issue of the Journal of alpine research bears the title "Future research and transnational cooperation in the Alps". Four contributions in two languages (French and English) are devoted to this theme.
Know-how for the Alps online
Within the project "Future in the Alps" of the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps CIPRA, experts have collected, prepared and put on the web exhaustive knowledge about sustainable development in the Alps. With this, the part of the project called "alpKnowHow" has been completed, and the extensive knowledge base is online at www.cipra.org/zukunft .
Austria: Federation money for the implementation of the Alpine Convention
In Austria the Federation recognises the potential of the Alpine Convention (AC) and, in the future, it will directly fund its implementation. So far, the AC was often considered as pure "prohibition law". Recently it has found access in the Austrian Federation programme for country development.
Biodiversity in Europe's mountains
At what point is Europe on the way to halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010? With respect to this issue, the European Environment Agency has drafted a report in English, in which a chapter is devoted to biodiversity in mountain ecosystems.
Brain Drain and Brain Gain in peripheral regions
The focus of the 2003 - 2007 "Brain Drain - Brain Gain" Project is the development, introduction and evaluation of action plans that reduce the migration of skilled labour from peripheral regions and instead favour migration into these areas.
Negotiable land use certificates
Through the tool of the land use certificate (FNZ) the growing land consumption in Switzerland shall be limited. With the brochure "Recovering land - land use certificates in land planning" the environmental organisation Pro Natura wants to bring the discussion about this tool in the public arena.
The way of the Wolves - The Alps- Carpathian Corridor
The Austrian Ministry for Transportation Innovation and Technology is committed to the establishment of the wildlife Alps-Carpathian Corridor.
Wengen Workshop 2006 on global climate change
An international workshop on global climate change research will take place also this year on 4 - 6 October in Wengen/CH.
Mountain Convention: Cohesion towards growth
The fifth European Mountain Convention will take place on 14 and 15 September in Chaves in Portugal. It is organised by Euromontana, the European Association of Mountain Territories and its slogan is "Cohesion for growth - mountains as natural ingredients for Europe's competitiveness ".
Is mountain milk more valuable?
For the first time in Switzerland, the price that consumers are ready to pay for milk from mountain areas was determined based on customer surveys.
Management and Winter sport resorts
A new volume from the series "Journal of alpine research" was published in March. It deals with the management and governance of winter sport resorts.
New CIPRA resolution for climate protection
CIPRA, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, adopted a resolution on "Climate Protection and Climate Change Adaptation Strategies" at its Assembly of Delegates in Bad Hindelang/D on 18th May.
Co-operation in the mountains of Europe
The Pro Monte final conference to be held in Chambéry/F on 8 and 9 June is entitled "Mountain Massifs and Territorial Co-operation in Europe". The Pro Monte Project launched as part of the EU Interact Initiative assists and networks players from European mountain regions looking for answers to urgent issues relating to environmental policy, regional planning and social matters.
ALPRO - an analysis tool for projects in the Alpine region
ALPRO is a planning tool to be used by local authorities, organisations, promoters and investors to evaluate comprehensively the impact of landscape-altering projects in the Alpine region.
Slovenia: plans for a series of hydraulic power plants
Slovenia has granted concessions for the planning of a series of power plants along the Mura, Drava and Sava rivers. The International Committee for the Protection of the Mura River Unsere Mur - Nasa Mura, founded in spring 2006, is opposing this threat to precious river landscapes of the Alps and pre-Alps.
US ski resort to tackle climate change
The well-known winter sports resort of Aspen in the Rocky Mountains plans intends to cover its entire energy requirements from renewable sources by 2015, a move prompted first and foremost by the realisation that climate change poses a genuine threat to winter tourism in Aspen.
Alpine Convention shows solidarity with other mountain regions
The keynote event of the 32nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Alpine Conference focused on international mountain partnerships. In future the Alpine Convention is aiming to co-operate first and foremost with players from the mountain regions of Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Carpathians and the Balkans.
CIPRA to attend Green Week 2006 in Brussels
CIPRA, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, has just received confirmation from the EU Commission that it has been allocated a stand at Green Week 2006, one of the world's largest annual discussion forums on environmental policy.
International events on "Water in the Mountains"
The 2nd "Water in Mountains" International Congress on "Integrated Management of High Watersheds - Implementing the European Water-Framework Directive" is to be held in Megève/F from 20 to 22 September 2006.