Austria
News, publications, press releases, positions... on this page you find current and alpine-relevant information from Austria.
Articles, publications, press releases, CIPRA positions - here you find relevant information on alpine topics from Germany. Please check the other language versions in german, french, italian and slovene for more content.
Benefit for wood picker, capercaillie and co.
In ECONNECT's Pilot Regions a number of actions were implemented improving connectivity for selected species and habitats. Read More…
Sharing experience to strengthen green infrastructure
How can green infrastructure and its contribution to the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services be strengthened at different spatial scales? An expert workshop on 'Green infrastructure policies and projects' aimed to answer this question. The workshop took place in Brussels on 7 September 2011 and was organised by Ecologic Institute with support from GHK and Institute for European Environmental Policy. Read More…
One step further towards ecological connectivity in France
The French law on ecological networks ("trame verte et bleue") has recently been updated with two decrees, which asses and divide the implementation roles of the state and the regions. Further information: www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news Read More…
Life+ Projects increasing ecological connections along the Alps-Apennines corridor and in Lapland
In the frame of the LIFE+ Nature & Biodiversity programme 2010 two projects regarding ecological connectivity have been implemented. The objective of the project in Lombardy, Italy, is to increase the functionality of the ecological corridor between the Alps and the Apennines. Read More…
NGOs send joint message on the EU biodiversity strategy
A group of 22 nature conservation NGOs, joined in The European Habitat Forum EHF, have expressed their beliefs that increased political effort is required at EU and Member State level to meet the new EU biodiversity target of halting the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU by 2020. Read More…
From ecological islands to connected landscapes
Many animals live in particular outside of protected areas; most persons are not aware of the importance of ecological networks; a functioning economy needs biodiversity. These are the most important findings of ECONNECT. The Alpine-wide project came to its end in November 2011 after a bit more than three years of work. Read More…
The Alps are renewed in Poschiavo
On what sort of resources are the Alps building their future? Can climate change be an opportunity? What ought to be done to ensure that young people have prospects? The Alpine Week being held in the Swiss valley of Val Poschiavo from 5 to 8 September 2012 aims to discuss just how renewable the Alps actually are. Read More…
Soča valley soon under water?
The proposal was made by Slovenia's Ministry of Economic Affairs just before the summer break. Five hydroelectric power plants are to be built on the Soča river and its tributaries, the Ucja and Idrijca. Read More…
Annecy is the Alpine Town of the Year 2012
For years now the French town of Annecy has been pursuing a policy of sustainability. As a reward for its efforts the principal town of the Haute-Savoie département and its 53,000 inhabitants have been nominated as the Alpine Town of the Year 2012. Read More…
Green electricity for Liechtenstein
As of next year the electricity flowing out of Liechtenstein's power sockets will be sourced exclusively from renewable energies, but only in private households that do not insist on the previous mix of nuclear energy and fossil fuels. Read More…
Eight new nature parks in Switzerland
The first national park in the Alps was established in the Engadine in 1914. Since then there have been very few efforts in Switzerland to create other protected areas. Read More…
Make the Alps energy self-sufficient! CIPRA-demands - Energy self-sufficient regions
Not having to depend on energy imports: this vision holds great fascination for many regions. Self-sufficiency is "in." There are already many very positive approaches and examples of attempts to go down this road. At the heart of all the concepts is the idea of meeting demand through regional renewable sources of energy, saving energy and using energy more efficiently. Anyone who systematically takes this approach in an attempt to create an energy self-sufficient region changes the face of their region and its structures - to the benefit of their own economy, society and the environment. Read More…
cc.alps: CIPRA's demands for agriculture
The agricultural sector is directly affected by climate change impacts but it also contributes to the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) and rising concentrations of GHG in the atmosphere. A sustainable climate response strategy in the field of agriculture involves anticipating, planning and long-term thinking from farm level to transnational level. Prominent fields of activity are sustainable land and soil management, sustainable water management, managing manure and soil carbon as well as organic agriculture as an overall strategy. As agriculture is a highly subsidized economic sector, subvention policy can be used as a lever to guide the sector to sustainability and climate neutrality. Read More…
The Alpine Region as a macro-region?
The EU already has a macro-region strategy for the Danube Region and the Baltic Sea. So why not also for the Alpine Region? At the beginning of July, the Arge Alp Working Group advocated a resolution calling for a "macro-region for the Alps". Read More…
Climate plan for South Tyrol
The Province of Bolzano wants to become more energy efficient by 2050. Every inhabitant of the Province currently produces around five tonnes of carbon dioxide. The aim is to cut that figure to a mere 1.5 tonnes over the next forty years. Read More…
From road to rail - getting it to work
Crossing Exchange, emissions trading or a differentiated toll system for the Alps: these transport policy instruments could ensure that in future there are fewer HGVs trucking through the Alps - providing the instruments apply to the Alpine region as a whole. Read More…
First solar-powered bus now on the road
Since July Europe's first ever electric bus powered exclusively by solar energy has been operating in Perchtoldsdorf/A. The public transport bus seats up to 35 passengers. Read More…
Respite for the "king of the Alpine rivers"
It looks like no gravel is to be extracted from the Tagliamento for the time being. The company that was planning to extract more than a million cubic metres of ballast between Cimano/I and the Arzino tributary has withdrawn its project. Read More…
Eurovignette III: no HGV toll for the Alps
In the future haulage companies in the EU could have to pay for environmental damage. The EP Transport Committee has agreed to the proposal. But environmental organisations feel the proposal does not go far enough - especially in the Alps. Read More…
Common Agricultural Policy for the Alps
A new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is being negotiated in Brussels/BE. And as the CAP is also to take account of the particular conditions of agriculture in the Alps, in April the ministers of the Alpine states drew up a declaration at the International Mountain Region Conference in Oberammergau/D. Read More…
The spectacle of a new Mont Blanc cable car
Ground-breaking ceremony for Courmayeur/I's new cable car up to the Pointe Helbronner: Over a four-year construction period the glass and steel colossus, which is set to cost over EUR 100 million, is to replace the installation built in the 1940s and 1950s - and showcase the Mont Blanc even more magnificently. Read More…
Belgian support for the protection of the Alps
Established in Belgium at the start of the year, the ALPY Association "Alpen en Pyreneeën, Ontdekken en Ondersteunen" is committed to sustainable development in the Pyrenees and the Alps. Read More…
New tool for custom-made connectivity solutions
Do you want to facilitate the migration of animals within and between their habitats? There are many different ways to do this. Whether you are a farmer, a mayor or leading a tourist company: the detailed search of the new online "measures catalogue" shows you possible activities to improve ecological connectivity that are adapted to your individual situation. Read More…
The sense and sensuality of contemporary buildings
CIPRA has many years of experience with energy-efficient construction and renovation. It also has many years of experience networking people and publicising information. Which is why it is ideally placed to pass on expertise on contemporary buildings – throughout the Alps and beyond. And that is what CIPRA’s 2010 Annual Report titled Building for the Future is all about. Read More…
Youth Parliament of the Alpine Convention convened in Herisau
The outcome of the event held from March 29 to April 1 is a 13-page resolution catalogue. It illustrates how important young people feel about being able to shape a viable future for the alpine region. "Transport and Transit" was the theme of this year's meeting. Read More…
Dinaric Alps Conference: laying the foundations for the protection of the Dinaric Alps
The countries of the Dinaric Alps met in Brdo near Kranj, Slovenia, on March 8 and 9 for the first ever Dinaric Alps Conference. Concurrently the ministers of the Alpine states convened at the 11th Alpine Conference. Read More…
Loss of biodiversity in the mountains particularly severe
A study carried out across Europe using new measurement methods has shown that climate change impacting particularly heavily on plants in mountain regions. The vastly different mountain ecosystems are being recorded on a very small and accurate scale using special computer models. Read More…
Five Econnect pilot regions officially rewarded at the Alpine Conference
On 8 March 2011 the Alpine Conference has officially recognised and rewarded eight Alpine regions - among which five Econnect pilot regions - for their exemplary work aiming at the creation of an alpine ecological network. Read More…
Alpine Convention: Sense and Sensuality
Climate change mitigation in construction and renovation is tantamount to providing for the future; it also makes economic sense. Better still, the Konstruktiv architecture award shows how sustainable construction can also become a sight for sore eyes. CIPRA co-initiated the award in order to publicise exemplary solutions. Imitations expressly permitted! Read More…
Climalp/“Alliance in the Alps”: Infected with good ideas
Ideas spread like viruses. They infect someone, who in turn infects someone else, and if they are good and strong, they spread like an epidemic. Energy-efficient construction is one such viral idea. On 14 September 2009 one could observe how it leapt from Vorarlberg to the French department of Savoie. Austria’s westernmost federal province is widely regarded as a centre for innovative timber construction. Concentrated here are a strikingly large number of architects, sawmills and carpenters who use wood as a traditional building material but in an ecologically advanced way – a large-scale workshop for creating a forest-sourced living environment. Read More…
