Regional Development and Cultural Landscape Change in the Alps. The Challenge of Polarisation

Topics

• Policies and instruments

Abstract

The REGALP project has analysed the interrelation between regional development and changes of cultural (=man-made) landscapes in the Alps. On the base of a typology of local spatial development trends future scenarios for the Alps in 2020 have been built. Main result: An increasing spatial polarisation is taking place between prospering intensively-used (sub-) urban areas and peripheral areas / dormitory communities with underused capacities. One of the main aims of the REGALP project was the analysis of relevant public policies and the development of proposals for policy adjustment. The findings of the work packages 3 “Evaluation of public policy on the interrelation between regional development and cultural landscape change” and 6 “Proposing policy adjustment” are most relevant for discussing policies in the “Future in the Alps” project. In work package 3 a transnational “meta-evaluation” has been carried out. It was based on national contributions from all partner countries; the national partners based their analysis on existing evaluations and studies and on some expert interviews (several policy fields). Six different policy approaches of how development and cultural landscape issues are ad-dressed have been distinguished: 1. “Agriculture approach”: Support for agriculture with the aim of maintaining a multifunc-tional agriculture (compensation payments for less-favoured areas, agri-environmental measures, rural development mesures) 2. “Forest approach”: Regulation, planning and financial support for maintaining multifunc-tional forests (has not been analysed in detail) 3. “Conservation approach”: Nature and landscape protection policies / protected areas 4. “Projects approach”: Support for local development projects based on cultural landscape, cultural and natural resources 5. “Infrastructures approach”: Infrastructure development in the frame of transport, tourism, mountain and regional development policies 6. “Planning approach”: Spatial planning tools for conciliating development with environ-mental and landscape needs These policy approaches have been assessed in terms of relevance, coherence and impact, with the help of a defined system of reference for “sustainable development”. The impact assessment referred mostly to the level of small pilot regions within the partner countries. A general diagnosis of the synthesis: for the studied public policies it was concluded that they contain mostly “soft” instruments, and that they may be able to correct or slow down some non-sustainable development trends in the Alps, but not to counteract them. (The increasing spatial polarisation or the traffic growth may be such development trends.) External factors, such as WTO negotiations or EU enlargement, and technical progress seem to have a greater influence on future development of the Alps than the studied public policies. In work package 6 policy recommendations for the above policy approaches (without “forestry approach”) as well as more general “transversal policy recommendations” have been worked out. This has been based on the policy diagnosis (achievements / deficits of public policies and their reasons), and on the comparison with collected policy recommendations deriving from diverse studies and evaluations. Recommendations have been elaborated by the national REGALP research teams and synthesised on a transnational level. Due to the wide thematical approach they stay often rather general. Especially on the transnational level they are rather general strategic orientations than concrete recommendations for specific policy instruments. The national contributions also contain some more specific proposals.

Most relevant parts of the publication

Part III: Which Policies for the Alps? Achievements and Deficiencies in Current Policies and Recommendations for Future Policies, Part IV Conclusions

Issue / Volume / Number

Geographica Bernensia G74

Reference to the original publication

Hardcopy

Remarks

The publication results from REGALP, a research project within the 5th European Framework Research Programme, carried out 2001-2004. There are also non-published working reports which can be downloaded from www.regalp.at. In the context of public policies the most relevant reports are: WP3 “Evaluation of public policy on the interrelation between regional development and cultural landscape change”: Work package report (synthesis) and annexes (national reports Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland) WP6 “Proposing policy adjustments”: Work package report (synthesis) and annexes (national reports Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland)

Further information

REGALP summary

Contents of policy evaluation and policy recommendations, summarized by Eva Favry