Articles
CIPRA's point of view: Torino 2006: a hard lesson - but nothing learned
The Olympic Winter Games 2006 have left a burdensome legacy. The idea is thus to close the loss-making bobsleigh and replace it with an indoor ski slope. Is Turin simply throwing good money after bad? Read More…
Bavaria: Alpine Convention makes court appearance
The constitutional court of Bavaria has received a complaint against the classification of land for development demanding, for the first time, compliance with the Alpine Convention. The court ruling could significantly change how the Alps are protected in Bavaria. Read More…
Winter tourism: lateral thinking in Savoy
The skiing area of Biot/F sees ever less snow, and the resort is deep in debt. The local mayor now wants to get rid of the lifts and develop other forms of tourism. A visionary decision in the western Alps. Read More…
Knowing how to shape the climate
Climate protection is possible. It's just that lots of people don't know how to go about it. CIPRA is demonstrating how we can protect the climate and save money at the same time. The whole idea is being trialled in two pilot regions in the Alps Read More…
Young, climate-conscious, and thirsting for action
Young people from five Alpine nations campaigned as part of the My Clime-mate Project to make the Alps a carbon-neutral region. At the end of October they took stock - and forged new plans. Read More…
"We'll keep at it."
Virtually everyone was there. Idrija's festival hall was packed to the rafters, and the youth symphony orchestra summoned specially for the occasion was in full flow. There was plenty of drama, and the TV people were there, too. A murmur went through the 1,000-strong audience as they got to their feet and began clapping. Then a large burly man in a dark suit walked onto to the stage. Deep creases bracketed his laughing mouth like waterfalls, stretching up to his white temples. Bojan Sever, the major of the small Slovenian town in the alpine foothills, held aloft the certificate confirming their status as Alpine Town of the Year 2011. Cameras flashed and the applause redoubled. That was just over a year ago. Read More…
"CIPRA is a both a mainstay and a cornerstone"
Chris Walzer, lead partner of Econnect, on ecological networking, psychological barriers and a continuous landscape. Read More…
Joint action on climate change
The forests of the Alps will only be able to cope with climate change if the findings from all the various specialist fields are pooled together. And that requires new forms of co-operation and communication. Read More…
Alpine regions demand joint strategy
The Conference of the Alpine Regions has decided on an initiative paper for the development of a macro-regional strategy for the Alpine arc. It declares that the need is for greater innovation and economic strength within an intact environment, as well as more co-operation and the bundling of development funds. There is just one thing that is not mentioned: the Alpine Convention. Read More…
Fewer Alpine pastures
It is not the number of Alms (mountain pastures) that is in decline: rather it is the area of pastureland being worked, according to the preliminary results of the work on the "Alm Atlas". Read More…
New vehicle tunnels for goods traffic: a dead end
Traffic chaos in the Alps: this summer the most important transit axes are being closed to rail traffic. Haulage associations are thus again demanding new road tunnels. But the Alpine regions have decided that the solution to the traffic problem lies elsewhere. Read More…
Alp Week: a place for youth
Politics, science, NGOs. All the usual suspects are there at the 2012 AlpWeek in Poschiavo. This time, however, there is a special place for young people. Here is an overview of the programme. Read More…
The future of farming in the mountains
The European Union is negotiating the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). If the "Alliance for Agriculture and Nature Protection in the Alpine Regions" has its way, farming in the mountains will be given particular consideration. The alliance has now submitted its catalogue of demands. Read More…