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... the rapid pace of climate change in the Alps has seen two huge new residents moving to Monaco. The smallest state in the Alps, which is also a party to the Alpine Convention, is now home to its first elephants!

NGOs demand participation in the Alpine macro-region

Observer organisations of the Alpine Convention are bewildered at their exclusion from the Alpine macro-region. They are demanding their inclusion in the ongoing process for a macro-regional Alpine strategy.

CIPRA viewpoint: for an environmentally friendly and participative energy transition

The energy transition is one answer to the threat of global warming and the explosive risks of nuclear energy. Erwin Rothgang, President of CIPRA Germany, speaks about the minimum requirements for the Bavarian Alps.

Adapting to climate change: see how it's done!

How do you make people sit up and take note of climate change? Using photos and video clips, the C3-Alps collection of examples says more than a thousand words.

Green winter sports

Ski areas are constructing climate-friendly lift facilities and France has now introduced a new law that obliges lift operators to provide information on CO2 consumption. A report on how ski areas are attempting to be environmentally friendly.

Italy threatens to grind to a halt

The Gotthard rail tunnel is due to open in 2016, with the aim of transporting the majority of goods between Italy and Switzerland by train. But the necessary infrastructure is lacking in Italy. Will the result be traffic chaos?

LIFE and human coexistence with large carnivores

Oh...!

… The Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) is this year celebrating its 150th anniversary and has got Mother Nature to build it a table of snow and ice at an altitude of 2,700 metres.

Winter Olympics in Munich 2022? No comment

In just two months the citizens of several Bavarian municipalities will be deciding on their candidacy for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, four days before the official deadline for applications. People seem reluctant to discuss the candidacy openly - does anyone actually want the Winter Olympics?

CIPRA's point of view: Co-operation, not killing

The authorities in Graubünden are demanding that bears be shot in Italy before they cross into Switzerland and potentially cause problems there. Is a preventive shooting really suitable to prevent conflicts with humans?

Project GreenAlps for more species diversity

Laws in future are to aim more directly at promoting ecological networking in the Alps. Regions, protected areas and NGOs, including CIPRA, are therefore jointly initiating the GreenAlps project in the autumn.

...And action! Building for the Future

Municipalities in European mountain regions can act as pioneers for sustainable building, as shown by the short film "Building for the Future".

Alpine Convention: new Secretary-General takes office

Markus Reiterer began his new job on 1 July 2013 as Secretary-General of the Alpine Convention at the "Goldenes Dachl" in Innsbruck. The new head of the Permanent Secretariat talks about his aims.

Upgrading the high mountains

Austria's highest suspension bridge, including the "Steps into the Void", is intended to lure tourists to the Dachstein Glacier in a similar way to the recently opened "Du Gouter" luxury hut for walkers on Mont Blanc. The ways in which the Alpine mountain world courts visitors.

Sustainable Buildings: contribute to the EU consultation!

Sustainable construction means not only energy efficiency but takes environmental, social and economic aspects into account on a long-term vision.

Landscape composition, connectivity and fragment size drive effects of grassland fragmentation on insect communities

Thermal Imaging Guidebook for Buildging and Renewable Energy Applications

Toward Carbon Neutral Alps - Make Best Practice Minimum Standard

Towards Carbon Neutral Alps - a guideline

The strategies for carbon neutrality are numerous. Municipalities and regions all over the Alps are confronted with various challenges and opportunities on the way to carbon neutrality. The Alpstar-Guideline provides an overview.

4th Report on the State of the Alps: Sustainable Tourism in the Alps

Boost for the macro-region Alps

The European Union is publishing its first analysis of existing macro-regions - encouraging news for current developments in the Alpine space.

National parks remove exotic fish species

Collecting what was released into the wild fifty years ago is the order of the day in the Gran Paradiso and Triglav National Parks, where the fish species introduced have had serious effects on the natural environment.

Initiating effective transboundary conservation

New solidarity between the Alps and surrounding areas. CIPRA position paper on a European Macro-Region Strategy for the Alps

Various political actors in the Alpine space are pushing for a European strategy for a macro-region for the Alps (MRS Alps). The International Alpine Protection Commission CIPRA, with over one hundred member organisations, possesses a wide-ranging network in all Alpine countries that extends beyond the Alps and into the surrounding metropolitan areas. CIPRA is therefore actively joining the process for a Macro-Regional Strategy for the Alps, representing the interests of sustainable, eco-friendly Alpine policies. Strengthened co-operation in such a MRS Alps must take place with the Alpine regions and surrounding areas as equal partners without undermining the achievements of the Alpine Convention.

Macro-region: Europe goes a step further

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on a macro-regional strategy, while the Alpine Space Programme submitted an expert report to the European Union.

CIPRA's point of view: Shaping the macro-region Alps according to the Alpine Convention - but better

Many people in the Alps are afraid of being marginalised by the surrounding metropolitan areas. But the expansion of the sphere of action and influence also offers numerous opportunities - if we rise to the challenge, CIPRA believes.

CIPRA's Annual Conference: "The Alps as a Water Trough"

The "blue gold" of the Alps is limited in quantity and thus in high demand for use as drinking water, snow or electricity. At its Annual Conference in Bozen/Bolzano in October 2013, CIPRA will be asking who has the right to this elixir of life and who has responsibility for it.

A simple way to communicate climate change adaptation

There exist solutions for dealing with the consequences of global warming. But how can they be successfully communicated? A guide now gives answers for the Alpine Space in 7 steps.

New strategy for the Alpine Space Programme

What does the future hold for the Alps? Which projects should the European Union co-finance? A study now provides answers and establishes a framework for the new funding period for the European Alpine Space Programme.

Energy discussed between mountain and lake…

The Alpstar mid-term conference took place from April 25th to 26th 2013, in the city of Grassau in the beautiful region of the Achental.