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Voices along the Via Alpina

The Via Alpina has been connecting people, cultures and landscapes across the Alps for 25 years now. A podcast series tells the story of the project, highlights the challenges and opportunities of long-distance hiking and raises awareness of sustainable tourism in the Alps.

GOVQoL – Empowering Alpine communities to improve their quality of life

Alpine communities’ quality of life (QoL) is currently facing several challenges such as the depopulation of remote areas, reduced provision of services of general interest, the impacts of climate change, and mistrust of governance. These issues are not only reshaping the Alpine territories but also impacting the daily lives of its inhabitants. Despite the urgent need for responsive and inclusive governance, there is currently a significant gap in understanding and addressing QoL at the local level which our project aims to address.

OUT4INGOV: Shaping youth migration

The emigration of young people poses major challenges for many Alpine regions. The OUT4INGOV project is working with local organisations to develop innovative approaches to better manage youth migration and raise awareness of the issue in society.

Working together for the future of the Alps

On the 22nd of January the Slovenian Presidency of the Alpine Convention hosted the Alpine Conference in Brdo/SI. A central theme was the quality of life in the Alpine region, which is also the subject of the tenth Report on the State of the Alps.

JeloviZA

Webinars for cities and municipalities

AlpWeek 2024: time for action

A look back, a look forwards: twenty years after the first AlpWeek, the eighth edition of the international conference brought over 200 people to Nova Gorica/SL to discuss what is important in the development of the Alpine region.

Point of view: Let’s prioritise youth over tourism

We want young people to stay on the land, but the demands of tourism, high property prices and the landscape as an object of speculation make this difficult. We talk about the fight against the climate and biodiversity crisis, all while shopping centres and business parks are being built in the countryside. Environmental protection and solutions to the housing crisis should be prioritised, as this would also be in the interests of young people, says Dijana Čataković from CIPRA Slovenia. She asks: Who else will be able to live in the Alps and afford to live there?

AlpWeek 2024: Two decades of success and a vision for the future of the Alps

Nova Gorica, Slovenia, 26 September 2024 – Twenty years after the first AlpWeek, over 200 participants left the 2024 event reinvigorated by a shared commitment to a sustainable future for the Alps.

Women as mountain rescuers

What skills do women have as mountain rescuers and why are they underrepresented? Young people discussed this with mountain rescuer Veronika Šenk during a "Visit Utopia" in the Slovenian Alps in July 2024.

Sunny Hills of Istria, a sustainable living culture

A little ecovillage community in slovenian istria which is not only speaking about sustainability and regenerative lifestyle, but living it through four dimensions of sustainability and permaculture (ecological, economical, social and cultural).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Reading Mountains Festival 2024

Celebrating Alpine cultural heritage in the scope of International Mountain Day - 11 December. The Reading Mountains Festival is a way to connect people who love books and mountains, even if they are physically apart. Book lovers and authors, mountaineers and artists throughout the Alps (and beyond) have a chance to discuss similar issues and evaluate the meaning, impact, and purpose of Alpine literature. Some of these discussions are captured in the film “People, Books and Mountains - The Quest for Alpine literature” that was produced as a follow up to the first editions of the Reading Mountains Festival.

Dossier Quality of life and young in the Alps the case of Slovenia, Germany and France

Between January 2023 and May 2024, CIPRA Slovenia was together with CIPRA Germany, CIPRA France, and CIPRA International working on researching the topic of quality of life for young people in the Alps. With the support from ERASMUS+, a Dossier, which is part of the project Alpine Compass: Youth for the quality of life in the Alps, was created.

A management model for Jelovica

Restoring a damaged forest and other good practices: The JeloviZa project implemented a management model for a sensible natural area in Slovenia.

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.

Ground:breaking

Soils are among the most important resources we have. CIPRA's new Ground:breaking project shows why desealing land benefits everyone and what is needed at political, legal and local level in the Alpine region to achieve this.

Lawsuits and laws for climate protection

Climate protection laws define clear climate targets, but for many the measures set out are insufficient. Climate lawsuits are increasing political pressure in the Alpine countries.

Alpine Compass: Youth for quality of life in the Alps

[Project completed] How to improve the life quality of young people in the Alps? The project “Alpine Compass” empowers young people, raises awareness among decisionmakers and strengthen the transnational collaboration.

Commuting made easy

Commuting to work in healthier, more environmentally friendly ways: this is the goal set by the Slovenian municipality of Škofja Loka and local companies in the Trata 2.1 project, inspired by the experiences of corporate mobility management in the Alpine Rhine Valley.

Trata 2.1

[Project completed] Commuting made easy: The mobility of commuters in the Slovenian industrial area of Trata is to become more environmentally friendly - with the help of experiences from similar projects in the border triangle of Switzerland-Austria-Liechtenstein.

Via Alpina Youth – walking the change

The Via Alpina long-distance-trail has been connecting all of the Alpine countries for over 20 years now. The project “Via Alpina Youth – walking the change” spreads knowledge, ideas and opportunities on sustainable lifestyles, inclusion, environmental protection and climate change along the trail.

Alpine Policy 2023: the Slovenian-Swiss year

This year, Slovenia and Switzerland will play a decisive role in shaping international cooperation between states and regions in the Alps: Slovenia is taking over the presidency of the Alpine Convention, while Switzerland is the first non-EU country to chair the Eusalp, the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region.

Alpine towns – key to sustainable development

The ninth Report on the State of the Alps, entitled “Alpine Towns”, was presented as part of the Swiss presidency of the Alpine Convention. It sheds light on how the Alpine settlement system hinders – or helps – the sustainable development of the Alps.

Bad atmosphere in the Soča Valley

Slovenia’s largest cement plant is located in the Soča Valley: it is facing criticism for endangering the health of the local population through air pollution. This criticism has now also been confirmed by the UN Special Rapporteur David Boyd after his visit to Slovenia in autumn 2022.

Ideas for Jelovica from Pinzgau

Preserving the region’s natural and cultural heritage: this is the aim of the project on the Slovenian karst plateau of Jelovica. In mid-September 2022, the Slovenian partners of the “JeloviZA” project travelled to the Austrian Pinzgau region to gain inspiration from the Hohe Tauern National Park region.

Ideas for Jelovica from Pinzgau

Preserving the region’s natural and cultural heritage: this is the aim of the project on the Slovenian karst plateau of Jelovica. In mid-September 2022, the Slovenian partners of the “JeloviZA” project travelled to the Austrian Pinzgau region to gain inspiration from the Hohe Tauern National Park region.