Articles
Developing Alpine culinary arts
The first competence centre for regional culinary arts in the Alps opened in autumn 2020 with the “Culinarium Alpinum” in Stans/CH, showing how the cooperation of various players is revitalising and developing Alpine food culture.
Eusalp without Swiss cantons?
The Swiss mountain cantons want to leave the Eusalp – but not entirely: this surprise contradiction was dropped into talks about a future Eusalp presidency at the beginning of October 2020.
Fit for work
Change to bus, train, bike or e-bike: pilot companies in the Alpenrhein-Bodensee-Hochrhein region are testing healthy ways to work in the three-year Interreg project Amigo.
Sabbatical in the Alps
Take a longer break and give something back: The "Alpine Sabbatical" in Switzerland offers a meaningful alternative way of spending your free time.
Two regions, one Nature Park
Nature protection across borders. The Veglia-Devero Nature Park in Italy and the Binntal Landscape Park in Switzerland have together been certified as a “Transboundary Park”.
The Alps as cultural laboratory
Inspiration, shared experiences and participation: the annual CIPRA conference saw over 100 attendees from every Alpine country meet in Altdorf/CH at the end of October 2019 to discuss the “Alpine Cultural Workshop”. The event was organised by CIPRA International and CIPRA Switzerland.
Researching the Alps
They are probably among the most thoroughly researched mountain areas on Earth, yet the spirit of research in the Alps remains undiminished: November 2018 saw the opening of a new Centre for Mountain Research in the Swiss city of Sion.
Innovative ideas for tourism
Forest cabins that are self-sufficient in energy, mobile ski instructors, taking a break in an empty second home or glamping down on the farm: CIPRA Switzerland’s «Innovation Generator» is supporting the start-up of four tourism projects.
Building – a bottomless pit?
Whether it is a question of major projects or infrastructure developments in protected areas – Alpine countries such as Austria and Switzerland cannot build quickly or easily enough.
Then there were two...
After the rejection by the Swiss city of Sion, there remain just two candidates in the Alps for the 2026 Winter Olympics. But here too the final word has yet to be spoken. (Update: Two days after the publication of our newsletter, the city of Graz/A has also dropped out as a candidate for the 2026 Olympics. The Austrian Olympic Committee withdrew. This leaves only one Olympic candidature from the Alps.)
Caught between the season and home
The winter season in the Alps is at an end. The mostly foreign seasonal workers have worked hard for others’ holidays. Initiatives in France and Switzerland are providing ideas on how to improve their situation.
Departure time for helicopters
At a time of declining winter tourism, heli-skiing brings in extra income. While sports enthusiasts might pay a few hundred euros, nature pays a high price.
Awards for attractive, well-built constructions
At the end of October 2017 in Bern, Switzerland, Constructive Alps crowned the winning projects, demonstrating that Alpine architecture can not only be pleasing on the eye, but sustainable too.
Turning risks into opportunities
On this October afternoon in the Swiss region of Surselva, the hotel in Vals is a hive of activity as a group of people discuss and gesticulate in German and Romansh. They’re engaged in an exchange of views on the opportunities, risks, and future of the valley in the wake of climate change.
The Alpine Rhine fête
CIPRA Liechtenstein. Taming Europe’s biggest torrent began some two hundred years ago. Today, the Alpine Rhine is a canal, its course lined for the most part by intensively used farmland and residual pockets of wetland forest.
Identity needs culture
CIPRA Switzerland. Growth-orientated regional politics in Switzerland today are aimed first and foremost at economic development and at prioritising hubs and development axes. The potential afforded by mountain regions with their diverse culture is barely recognised.
Transit traffic: a partial success on the Gotthard Pass
The Gotthard Pass has seen a historic low in transalpine goods traffic since the adoption of the law governing the modal shift. In contrast, the number of trucks crossing the Brenner Pass continues to increase.
Economic activity in mountain areas
What can – and cannot – mountain areas do? Two new studies from Germany and Switzerland show the opportunities and weaknesses of regional economies and demonstrate that mountain areas can help in determining their own economic future.
Open Alps 2017
The end of 2016 saw the announcement of the winners of the 2017 “Open Alps” human rights award. This honour is given to individuals or groups who actively work for the rights of refugees, immigrants, socially disadvantaged persons and threatened minorities in Europe.
Point of view: Switzerland needs help with its climate policy
Switzerland was formerly a leading light in environmental policy. Today, sadly, it does not even have a plan for implementing the goals of the Paris climate agreement, says Hans Weber, executive director of CIPRA Switzerland.
One river, numerous desires: disagreements about the Alpine Rhine
A current bone of contention between different interest groups is the priority to be given to the various uses made of the Alpine Rhine: as a farming area, as a habitat for the little ringed plover and the German tamarisk, or as a drinking water reservoir. SPARE, a new European Union project for the Alpine region, will offer assistance for the holistic management of watercourses.
Award-winning tourism
Tourism too has its success stories. Innovative projects in the Alps are drawing attention. A national park in Germany now shows that sustainable tourism can also bring economic benefits.
Point of view: He who sows infrastructure, reaps more traffic
At the end of February 2016 Swiss voters will decide on the building of a second road tunnel at the Gotthard Pass. The CHF 4 billion project will torpedo Switzerland’s modal shift policy, believes Barbara Wülser, CIPRA International’s communications manager.
Swiss reheat Olympic candidacy
Two Swiss cantons, Graubünden (Grisons) and Wallis (Valais), are now competing to host the Winter Olympics – even though voters in Graubünden rejected a proposed candidacy in 2013, and it has already failed several times in Wallis.
Our green lungs are running out of air
Animals and plants have to migrate in order to reproduce. That involves crossing land used by human beings. Ecological networking therefore needs the support of a variety of stakeholders. CIPRA brings them together.
Nominations for Alps-wide architecture prize
Switzerland and Liechtenstein, with technical and organisational support from CIPRA, will for the third time be awarding prizes to buildings in the Alps that demonstrate particular aesthetic and sustainable qualities. The jury has now nominated 32 projects for the “Constructive Alps” Architecture Prize.
Signal fires against transit traffic
Transit traffic over the main Alpine crossings is steadily increasing. Projects such as a second tube for the Gotthard road tunnel are increasing the attractiveness of road transport for goods. This year’s CIPRA action, “Fire across the Alps”, takes aim at this trend.