Laura Haberfellner, CIPRA International Lab
Innovation to counter emigration
Emigration and the brain drain in the Alpine region: a new EU project involving CIPRA aims to counteract this trend. It is testing innovative governance models to strengthen mountain regions and create a win-win situation for regions of origin, destinations and young emigrants.
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Sergio Savoia | WWF European Alpine Programme | Bellinzona, CH
Dear colleagues and friends of the Ecological Continuum Initiative,
The international year of biodiversity is coming to an end. 2010 represented a unique opportunity to highlight the importance of biodiversity conservation. The topic had a large echo in the media, thanks to numerous events, new publications, TV reports etc. The year was also fruitful for ecological connectivity - a not so simple topic that received unprecedented media attention. In 2010 the Ecological Continuum Initiative's main focus was on communication. Many articles were published in specialized media. However our main achievement was "The Wall" event. Its aim was to bring home our message on the need for ecological connectivity, carrying it across the whole Alpine space, across administrative, language and cultural boundaries. We succeeded. Pedestrians in six Alpine cities were confronted with a big barrier blocking their paths: an obstacle much like those encountered by animals and plants every day. The public had therefore a chance to experience first hand the problem of habitat fragmentation. The event attracted the attention of local and national media in the Alpine countries. Thanks to "The Wall" the topic of ecological connectivity has reached many more people than is normally the case for such "technical" subjects. It is an important achievement in which we intend to build further awareness-raising initiatives.
alpMedia | Schaan, LI
A media house for the Alps
The Alps are to have their own multilingual media platform. This ambitious idea was launched by the Rhaeto-Romanic department of Switzerland's public radio broadcaster. Las-Alps-Infoteca is to become "a competence centre for media in the Alps, providing news and information from the Alps and about the Alps".
alpMedia | Schaan, LI
Natural hazards: an incalculable risk for road and rail?
Time and time again avalanches, debris-flows and rock falls result in roads being blocked and railway tracks being swept away, causing fatalities. The Alpine Space Project PARAmount is looking to bridge the gap between society's demands on transportation routes and the outline conditions defined by nature.
alpMedia
Olympic Games: no benefit to the national economy
Switzerland is once again discussing its candidacy for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Environmental organisations are warning against the ecological and economic repercussions. Even Marco Blatter, former CEO of Swiss Olympic, has been quoted on Swiss radio, saying that he was glad the 2006 Games were not held in the Valais. He added that in Turin/I the Games had grown out of all proportion. "With all the infrastructure investments Turin cost around CHF 4.5 bn; Vancouver is costing around CHF 6 bn; and Sochi 2014 is officially budgeting for CHF 13 bn," reports Switzerland's SonntagsZeitung.
Events
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Webinar - Successfully organising sustainable procurement with proCURE | online | |
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FutureForum Alps 2025 | SAL - Saal am Lindaplatz, Landstrasse 19, 9494 Schaan, Liechtenstein |
Projects
CIPRA International
SPARE – Alpine rivers as society’s lifelines
[Project completed] What is the state of the Alpine rivers? How can we bring those responsible and other interested parties to committing themselves to holistic river management? The SPARE project strives to answer these and other questions.
CIPRA International
I-LivAlps
[Project completed] Youth participation as tool to fight the demographical change threatening the Alps - this was the topic of the project “I-LivAlps: LivingLabs with young people in the Alps”. The motor of the process were active, skilled, engaged young people, coordinatet by competent youth leaders and a stable and efficient international network able to foster local activities at the national level in order to anchor youth participation. 36 participants from 6 alpine countries, aged between 15 and 30 years, with different cultural and educational backgrounds were working together with national NGOs to get new skills to become proactive in their community.
alpMonitor
[Project completed] Sustainable development is not simply limited to nature protection. As a guiding idea that touches virtually all areas of life, sustainability should be discussed at every lunch, every workshop, schoolroom or parliament. Through the project alpMonitor, CIPRA International, together with the national CIPRA branches, strongly focuses on the responsibilities modern societies have in the shift towards sustainable development. The actual objective is «the good life» in the Alps. CIPRA’s approach is based upon the values of participation, solidarity and frugality.