News
Climate risks: better to prepare than to wait
Early warning systems for heavy rainfall, prediction models for droughts: the MultiBios project, completed in April 2025, saw biosphere parks from German-speaking countries sharing their experiences in dealing with climate risks. A research team investigated their role in natural hazard management.
YOALIN wins climate competition
CIPRA’s project received the Clima Now Foundation’s Spotlight Prize, worth CHF 50,000. YOALIN is committed to climate-friendly travel.
Too much water, too little water: excursion to the Vienna Woods
How do drones detect illegal campfires? How do settlements protect themselves from the next flood? What do forest fires have in common with avalanches? At the end of November 2024, an excursion to the Vienna Woods Biosphere Reserve by participants in the MultiBios project looked for answers.
Point of view: Let’s plan the energy transition and restoration together!
Alpine spatial planning can help to resolve the contradictions between restoration and the expansion of renewable energy. This requires joint efforts involving the interests of the population and environmental organisations, says Paul Kuncio, Executive Director of CIPRA Austria.
Alarming findings of the Glacier Caravan 2024
Italy's Alpine glaciers are disappearing at a disturbing rate: this is the alarming finding of the Glacier Caravan 2024, organised by the environmental organisation Legambiente in collaboration with CIPRA Italy and the Italian Glaciological Committee.
The battle for Alpine water
A revival of the hydropower boom: 70 years ago, many Alpine rivers were dammed for the benefit of power stations, while valuable high valleys were built over. Today, new requirements are threatening their ecological functions. In view of the dwindling glaciers and increasing utilisation demands, a distribution battle is looming.
Protecting Alpine biodiversity
In September 2024, CIPRA launched two innovative Interreg projects: LiveAlpsNature and AlpsLife. These projects are helping to protect biodiversity in the Alps and meet the growing challenges posed by the climate crisis and intensive tourism.
Getting stones rolling
Workshops, excursions, art cards, podcasts: the results of the CIPRA “SteinReich” project, which focused on drystone walls and cairns, are diverse and tangible.
Alpine huts: the first victims of the climate crisis?
Water shortages, disintegrating mountains and renovation needs: managing Alpine huts has always been difficult, but the climate crisis is making the situation even worse. The Austrian Alpine Association has already issued an “Emergency call from the Alps”.
AlpWeek 2024 in Nova Gorica
Two decades ago, “AlpWeek” was held for the first time in Slovenia as an international event organised by Alpine organisations. It will return there from 23 to 25 September 2024.
20,000 climate-friendly kilometres
At the end of June 2024, 35 young people – previously unknown to each other – met in Slovenia. They were part of the Yoalin project, in which 105 (out of over 2,200 applicants) are travelling the Alps this summer in a climate-friendly way using an Interrail ticket.
Young people’s demands for a good life in the Alps
Environmental protection, car-free mobility and better work-life balance: these were the political demands of young people from Germany, France, Slovenia and Liechtenstein at the end of the CIPRA “Alpine Compass” project.
Healthy Alps, healthy people
What risks and side effects does the climate crisis have for our health? How can we best treat the symptoms? These are the questions explored in AlpsInsight no. 111, published in June 2024.
Green light for Nature Restoration in the EU
The majority of EU environment ministers voted in favour of the Nature Restoration Law on 17 June 2024. The decisive factor was the courageous and foresighted last-minute approval by Austria's Environment Minister.
The final glacier melt
Glaciers have been suffering from the consequences of climate change for years, but the latest figures from the Alpine countries are nevertheless alarming: measurements from 2022-23 show that the glaciers in the Alps shrank by more than ever before. A researcher from the Austrian Alpine Association describes the situation as “miserable as hell”.
After the flood
What role could biosphere reserves play in dealing with climate risks? This was the subject of an international workshop organised by the MultiBios project in Bad Kleinkirchheim/A at the beginning of April 2024, which included a site visit to the Gegendtal valley that was affected by heavy rainfall and flooding two years ago.
New network promotes climate protection in Southeast Europe
Exchanging knowledge on climate protection in Southeast Europe, networking and learning to understand each other better: these were the aims of the Climate Bridges project of CIPRA International Lab, which has now been completed.
Point of view: European elections 2024: why a Swiss citizen would also like to vote
Switzerland’s referendum-based democracy has pitfalls of its own when it comes to environmental and climate policy. There needs to be an overarching corrective, such as neighbouring countries have in their constitutional courts and through the legal institutions of the EU, says Kaspar Schuler – as a Swiss citizen and Executive Director of CIPRA International.
Climate protection becomes a human right
A legal milestone for climate protection: on 9 April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that Switzerland is violating the human rights of older women because the country is not doing what is necessary to combat global warming.
Guiding visitors, preserving the natural experience
From artificial intelligence and the last kilometre to carrying capacity limits and nudging: the speciAlps podcast series and a webinar delve deeper into the topic of visitor guidance for a wide audience.
Implementing simple ideas for more climate protection
Simply do it is the motto of the EmpowerLIFE project launched in 2023. It supports people in realising their do-it-yourself ideas and plans in relation to climate protection. The climate crisis and the energy crisis that emerged in 2022 are motivating many people to take action: they simultaneously want to live more sustainably, help shape the future and reduce costs.
The urban exodus and the climate
Many mountain regions in the Alps are affected by out-migration. However, climate change is also causing some people to migrate – at least temporarily – from the cities to the mountains, as an Italian research project shows.
The role of forests in climate change
What role will forests play in the future in the face of climate change? At the end of 2023, CIPRA Slovenia co-organized a meeting of various interest groups on this topic. Experts agreed on the need to designate more areas where forests are left unmanaged.
Extreme weather at a glance across the Alps
At the end of November, a new Alpine-wide research centre presented itself to the public at the Schneefernerhaus, the German environmental research station below the Zugspitze peak: the “TUM Alpha – Centre for Alpine Hazards and Risks” will coordinate, on an international basis, the prediction of extreme climate events in the mountains.
Flooded mountains
Drought, flooded villages, landslides and landslips: these have all happened in the Alps, but the climate crisis is making natural disasters more likely and preparations for emergencies all the more important. An Alpine-wide research project is therefore investigating the climate resilience of biosphere reserves.
Cycling to the glacier
Exactly how mountaineering and climate protection can be combined was shown by a group of cyclists who biked from Lindau/D to the Ochsental Glacier/A at the start of September 2023. Topics along the way ranged from sustainable tourism to hydropower and nature conservation to glacier loss.
Too much, too loud, too crowded
From the tunnel blockade in Hallstatt/A to the protest rally on the Sella Pass/I: civil society is protesting against overtourism in the Alpine regions – and demanding relief for people and the environment.
Experience the last of the glaciers
Recharge your batteries, go cycling, visit the glaciers: the Alpine Climate Camps project combines mountain sports with climate protection, further encouraging young climate activists. A bicycle tour in Austria at the beginning of September 2023 and other activities in Switzerland and Italy will draw attention to the disappearing glaciers.
Managing climate risks in biosphere reserves
As an effect of climate change, droughts, floods and other natural hazards are becoming more frequent, sometimes even simultaneously. How can we as a society learn to cope with this and become more resilient in the process? What role can biosphere reserves play in the Alpine region and beyond? With CIPRA participation, a new research project is now looking into these questions.
"Climate protection is health protection"
The health consequences of the climate crisis range from cardiovascular problems through to allergies, infectious diseases and depression. At the first Liechtenstein «Future Forum Alps», held at the end of June 2023, some 140 participants from various Alpine countries discussed measures for climate and health protection.