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.
What happened to all the examples of good practice?
cc.alps is interested in developing exemplary climate response measures from its cc.alps competition. Project managers are invited to update the progress and developments they have made since 2008. Read More…
Compacts for everyone!
The cc.alps compacts not only deal with issues relating to the Alps, they also reflect the diversity of languages across the Alpine arc. Indeed, the Transport compact is now available online in Italian, French and Slovenian. Read More…
cc.alps is on the move throughout the Alps!
Showcasing cc.alps results and raising the awareness of target groups at events throughout the Alps remains firmly on the agenda for 2010, too. Read More…
"Cool heads in the hothouse!" Interview with a cc.alps award winner
"30 per cent are 'converts' from cars to public transport!" Switzerland's IG bus alpin community of interests picked up one of prizes worth EUR 10,000 in the cc.alps competition. cc.alps team member Christine Székely spoke to Samuel Bernhard, the IG bus alpin project manager, about the successful project. Read More…
Nature abhors borders: Ecological Continuum and Econnect
CIPRA sees itself as something of a networker. And this applies to nature conservation as well. It brings officials, local authorities and scientists together, regardless of national borders. After all, animal and plant migrations don’t stop at border barriers either. Read More…
Fen felling
It‘s 7 am in early summer. A clack, clack sound drifts through the veil of mist hanging over the Ödmoos area of Bavaria. Work is already in full swing. You need to start early, as it gets very hot during the day. Stefan raises his axe and starts to hack away at the clumps of bushes. The 23-year-old is studying forestry science and works as a volunteer restoring the area‘s natural habitat. He has always had a keen interest in fens and bogs as diverse habitats, ever since he was a boy. And now he also knows that they make a valuable contribution to climate protection. Read More…
The chestnut forest plays host to a rare guest: Alliance in the Alps network of municipalities
The little bat somehow looked different. Filigree in form, brownish in colour, and with a ringed wing it huddled in the corner of the nesting box on the chestnut tree. Nicola Zambelli put on his gloves and pulled gently on the wing tip to examine the ring. Read More…
Discovering common ground
Liechtenstein is a small country, so you’re always bumping into people. And although everybody sort of knows everybody else, they don’t really. Energy-efficient construction is a bit like that. Or rather, it was until October 2009. It was then that CIPRA, which is better known for using its climalp project (see box) to circulate know-how on energy-efficient construction and renovation throughout the Alps, brought its own people together for a change. Read More…
“Bolzano, the energy source”
ASSOCIATION “Alpine Town of the Year” - Bolzano’s municipal councillor Helmuth Moroder explains how the “2009 Alpine Town of the Year” intends to achieve ITS aim OF BEING carbon-neutral by 2030. Read More…
And yet it moves!
Evian/F, March 2009. A huge, windowless room with cold artificial lighting. The only link to nature inside the conference centre is a spectacular bouquet of flowers picked, it would seem, from beyond the Alps. Seated at long tables are the Environment Ministers and State Secretaries of all the Alpine states. Read More…
Sustainable Rhine Valley without bounds: Network Binding Foundation Schaan/FL
The Alpine Rhine Valley is eager to become a pilot region for climate protection. And CIPRA is to assist along the way. An initial assessment of the efforts made is to be drawn up in November 2010. Read More…
Time to shelve the growth model
Yearly Symposium 2009 Gamprin/FL “Growth come hell or high water?”. Andreas Götz, Director OF CIPRA International, on declining growth and its repercussions for the Alps. Read More…
CIPRA prepares a seed bed for new ideas in the Alpine region
CIPRA addressed a broad range of issues at its Yearly Symposium entitled “Growth come hell or high water? The Alps in search of happiness” in Gamprin/FL in September. A look at the global cycles and modes of action provided the framework for the topic. CIPRA also looked at the close ties with the Alps, where those global cycles have an impact, and promoted dialogue at various levels. The Symposium was very favourably received by more than 200 participants from all the Alpine countries. Read More…
Leisure: car-free mobility
Leisure activities that do not involve the use of cars are now "in", as the increasing number of information packs clearly shows. The Alpine Club South Tyrol (AVS) for instance recently published five new brochures, each featuring 15 to 20 hiking routes whose starting and finishing points can all be reached by public transport. In the series Hiking Without Cars the Alpine Club has compiled a total of some 300 hiking tips for the whole of South Tyrol. As the AVS remarks in a press release, "It should be a priority for tourist regions to adopt measures that promote the use of public transport for travel both to and from destinations as well as for activities at the holiday destination itself". Read More…
The "brain drain": an opportunity for the Alps?
Highly qualified people are also leaving alpine regions to move to other regions or countries. But according to a study by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Alpenländer (ARGE ALPE) Working Group the Alps can put this brain drain to a positive use. Indeed these brilliant minds are also multipliers and image carriers for their homeland around the globe, a fact that should be capitalised on. Read More…
International projects on the impact of climate change in mountain regions
The results of the CIRCLE MOUNTAIN Call are now available. The financing of four translational projects has been approved. The projects are to run for a period of two years and have a volume of approximatively EUR 300'000 each. The four funded projects are ARNICA, EURAS-CLIMPACT, ChangingRISKS and CAMELEON. Read More…
Dear colleagues,
One of the main challenges in the process of implementing the Alpine ecological network is involving all the relevant stakeholders. The Ecological Continuum Initiative supports this goal in different ways. On the one hand with printed information material (fact sheets and the brochure), on the other hand by organizing meetings that offer a chance for personal interactions and exchange among stakeholders. Such a workshop on stakeholder integration took place in Dobbiaco/I this April. Read More…
News from TransEcoNet - transnational ecological networks in Central Europe
Similar as ECONNECT, the Platform Ecological Network and the Ecological Continuum Initiative in the Alps, in Central Europe the TransEcoNet project strives for a better connection of protected and less or unprotected landscapes across national borders. One major goal of the project is to reveal local people's perception and relation to their surrounding landscape in form of a survey of oral history. This is being carried out in the form of interviews in selected project regions. Read More…
5th meeting of the Ecological Network Platform
The 5th official meeting of the Ecological Network Platform of the Alpine Convention was held in Dobbiaco/Toblach (I) on 21 April 2010. The main topic at the meeting was progress made to date in nominating a number of pioneering Alpine regions as Pilot Regions of the Alpine Convention. It is hoped that the first regions will receive official recognition at the next Alpine Conference to be held in March 2011. Read More…
Think tank workshop Dobbiaco/Toblach: Elaborating recommendations for stakeholder integration
Local connectivity projects can only be implemented if stakeholders are integrated into these activities. Potential difficulties and supportive tools were in the centre of an exchange of experiences between representatives of the ECONNECT pilot areas and other stakeholders carrying out connectivity activities. The discussions were facilitated by the Ecological Continuum Initiative in the frame of a workshop. Read More…
Communicating ecological connectivity to stakeholders made easy
What significance do water management, tourism and agriculture have for ecological networks? Can measures in the transport sector have a positive effect for ecological corridors? How shall I design my garden to be a habitat for domestic plants and animals? These questions are answered by a series of eleven fact sheets provided by the Ecological Continuum Initiative. Read More…
CIPRA goes facebook
CIPRA has now joined the popular platform facebook with a profile of its own. At www.facebook.com/CIPRA.org facebook users can network with our organization and will be informed about novelties, events and actions. Videos and photos provide additional interest and visualize our motto "Life in the Alps". Read More…
Swiss research into sustainable water use
Melting glaciers create new lakes in the Alps. This creates new tourism potential and new risks, such as floods and landslides, for the inhabitants of the valleys. Where and when are such lakes created? Who owns them and who is responsible for them? Read More…
What do the Julian Alps/Sl and the mountain La Salève/F have in common?
Both are examples of protected areas in the alpine bio-geographical region and are presented in the new publication of the European Commission "Natura 2000 - Protection of Biodiversity in Europe". A double page spread shows readers which animal and plant species are particularly in need of protection, how the areas are protected and what their condition in terms of preservation is. Read More…
New on-line portal for biodiversity in mountain areas
Recently, an on-line portal has been set up where those who are interested can find information on the many animal and plant species in mountain areas on an interactive digital map. Read More…
Where unemployment is now unheard of: Idrija/Sl, the "Alpine Town of the Year"
In April the Slovenian town of Idrija has been declared "Alpine Town of the Year". In the Year of the Alpine Town Idrija intends to make a big step towards becoming a model town for climate protection. In the context of sustainable development, the "Alpine Town of the Year" brand should help the town to become known outside Slovenia as well. Read More…
National parks in the mountains and the simulation of local participatory processes
This year's first issue of the "Revue de géographie alpine" / "Journal of alpine research" presents research on protected mountain areas and the participatory processes in those areas. The five essays discuss questions such as: Do trends and political guidelines contribute to the identification of compromises and consensus, and to the rectification of previous follies in environmental policy? Read More…
Obstacles and facilitations for the movement of fishes
An inventory of all the artificial barriers that impede the flow of rivers has found out that French rivers are interrupted by 60,000 dams, weirs, locks, mills etc. The inventory has been recently published as a online map where the works are shown divided by department, municipality or watercourse. All these works obstruct the movement of migratory aquatic organisms and the transport of sediments, thereby affecting ecosystems. Read More…
New platform for tourism by electrobike
In mid-April, the ExtraEnergy association started the web site "Tourism and Electric Bikes". An interactive map provides information about various tour packages for electrobikers. The web site additionally provides useful information for holiday planning. Read More…
