cross-cutting issues

The municipalities of the amKumma Region are looking to draw up a joint regional development concept (REK) across the region's municipalities. The amKumma REK is the next step in the regional co-operation scheme first agreed in 2002 and more widely developed since; it is also a driving force for regional co-operation and therefore for strengthening the region as a whole. The region would like to develop into a model region for sustainability. Drawing inspiration from the Vis!on Rheintal model, it intends to focus on the following aspects: socio-cultural development; economic development and labour; open spaces and landscape; housing settlements and mobility; shared facilities and co-operation between municipalities. The work methods to be applied are to include open planning processes not only in the region but also beyond the Rhine as a national boundary (which is certainly a novelty), in joint collaboration with the neighbouring municipalities and regions.

The Municipality of Sur is aiming to improve its local planning; to this end a future conference was held as part of Dynalp. Projects on such issues as the promotion of housing construction, wool processing, a holiday home for the elderly and an information centre have already been defined and expanded.

A cadastral register is to be set up as part of the project to record the elements that make up the natural and cultural landscape. The cadastral register will be entered in a digital information system and cross-linked with other surveys. With the results from the preparation of the cards, the knowledge of the high value of our diverse landscape should be reinforced. This enhancement is to promote regional identity and a sense of attachment to one's native land and also contribute towards developing sustainable tourism (e.g. by creating so-called "theme trails").

With the Biosphere School2 project, the Entlebuch Biosphere Reserve is continuing the work begun in the Biosphere School for awareness-building for sustainable development among children and young people. Whereas the first project was targeted primarily at schools outside the Biosphere Reserve, the focus of Biosphere School2 is to involve the schools in Entlebuch itself in shaping the Biosphere Reserve.
Biosphere Reserves are meant to serve as models for sustainable development. This sustainability is a task for several generations. That makes it all the more important to involve children and young people in shaping the future. The aims of the Biosphere School:
o Achieve awareness-building for sustainable development among children and young people
o Demonstrate the scope for action in everyday life
o Strengthen the mountain farms and the destination Entlebuch
o It offers experience and information on the Entlebuch Biosphere Reserve including:
o excursions relating to the natural environment and sustainability
o school on the farm
o accommodation on the farm / in dormitories
o the Entlebuch Active Card for use of the tourist infrastructure

The town of Sibratsgfäll with its 420 inhabitants lies on the margin of the Bregenzerwald at the border with Allgäu and Kleinwalsertal. The town would like to force in future years a development focused on sustainability. Therefore, a town development process has been drafted, in 3 stages:
-Phase 1 (Dec. 2005 - Feb. 2006): future seminar + project seminar and public presentation of the results
-Phase 2 (March 2006 - June 2006): setting up of the project steering group (PSG) and implementation plan in the project groups
-Phase 3 (July 2006 - Dec. 2006): chaired open debate

agriculture

The town of Massello is a small mountain hamlet with fewer than 100 inhabitants located in the upper Germanasca valley (Turin), with an area of 3900 ha at an elevation going from 1200 m in the bottom of the valley to the 3027 m of the Ghinivert. Our town has only been marginally influenced by the tourism standardisation processes that have affected other Alpine towns, which has made it possible to protect and preserve the environmental context and the invaluable richness of flora and wildlife.
A high mountain area with farming and manufacturing entities that must face industrial competition; a growing demand for tourism/nature and an environmentally intact valley; the need to make best use of accommodation facilities. Starting from these data, the project envisages the promotion and enhancement of the local typical products with specific reference to agricultural and food industry, with the objective of developing local production chains.

A number of local producers are active in the Malcantone area, supplying a range of fresh and processed farm produce. In order to promote the sale of these products, the Malcantone Region has launched a plan to create a map of the food and agriculture in the Region. The idea is to enhance the local resources, make them more visible and present them in relation to the territory.

The Municipality of Sur is aiming to improve its local planning; to this end a future conference was held as part of Dynalp. Projects on such issues as the promotion of housing construction, wool processing, a holiday home for the elderly and an information centre have already been defined and expanded.

As part of DYNALP a public discussion is being sought with the citizens of the political municipality to come up with future-oriented solutions in the municipality to problems in such areas as administration, forestry, alpine land, valley produce and roads. The local municipality of Grabs is comprised mainly of forests and alpine land, but has no building land. The Municipality of Grabs would like to use the project to initiate a participatory process for forest and alpine use and find a funding means.

The Genuss- und Käse-Akademie is planned as an independent part of KäseStrasse Bregenzerwald (Bregenzerwald Cheese Road). The objectives include training and continuous education, a service offering for members and partners, and innovation development. The Academy is affiliated to the Genuss-Regionen Österreich campaign (Austrian Taste Regions) and offers its services at the national and international levels.

The KäseStrasse is an association of Bregenzerwald farmers, dairies, inns, trades and retail. All the members and partners of the KäseStrasse are committed to preserving the special character of the Bregenzerwald landscape and further developing and improving the produce of the region. Innovation support in the fields of agriculture, milk processing and marketing is just as important as co-operation and the creation of synergies with other regional institutions. An especially large number of KäseStrasse partners are to be found in the communities of the Vorderer Bregenzerwald. The most prominent member, the Käsekeller, is located in Lingenau and is to become the seat of the planned Academy.

forest

The culture, force and wood experience centre of Heiligkreuz aims at a combination of nature experience and demystification of nature forces and earth energies. Three to five energy force sites near Heiligkreuz must be made accessible to visitors in various forms with their mysterious earth forces. This can be achieved through different paths around the planned information centre of Heiligkreuz. The paths lead visitors through different worlds. The following world themes are envisaged: the world of experience, the world of family and children, the worlds of the senses and nature energies, the worlds of the mountains, the worlds of agriculture, the worlds of the water, the worlds of trees and the worlds of art.

As part of DYNALP a public discussion is being sought with the citizens of the political municipality to come up with future-oriented solutions in the municipality to problems in such areas as administration, forestry, alpine land, valley produce and roads. The local municipality of Grabs is comprised mainly of forests and alpine land, but has no building land. The Municipality of Grabs would like to use the project to initiate a participatory process for forest and alpine use and find a funding means.

Based on the results of the study on biodiversity of bats in the chestnut woods of Altomalcantone, the intention is to increase knowledge about the ecological function of this significant environment with respect to its management. The study will focus on the ecology of the most abundant species, Leisler noctule bat (endangered species in Switzerland and Europe), and will give us the opportunity to assess management modes of chestnut woods.
Chestnut woods are interesting environments from the landscape and naturalistic profile. Today, many of them are abandoned, with negative effects on existing wildlife. Bats are amongst the most endangered mammals in Switzerland and Europe. Many of them find shelter in hollow trees. The objective of the study is to know what bats are present in the woods and to assess the effect of their being abandoned, in particular on Leisler noctule bat, an endangered species in Switzerland and Europe. For this purpose, 200 special nest-boxes have been hung in managed and abandoned woods, and are regularly checked. Results will provide information about wood management.

tourism / sport / leisure

Through this project, the life of our forefathers in the stone age is shown and can be experienced in a virgin landscape. Activities forgotten for a long time, such as fire lighting , cereal grinding or tools production are part of the offer, that must contribute to provide wood experience and environmental awareness deep in the souls of the population.

The existing networks of paths, cycling paths and cross country tracks must be included in the town Geo-Informations-System (GIS). The signs presents at crossings or forks are also recorded. All the data must be available on the Internet portal "grainau.de" for subscribers and guests. Data must also be recorded in the communal data-bank in a form that can be used by GPS Systems and that can also be loaded by hikers or cyclists in their systems.
The situation of the networks must be changeable also in the short term, according to the conditions. Also these data must be accessible to users.

The historic town of Leuk does not have any hotel beds; however it does have a number of old apartments lying empty, some requiring renovation. Converting all this available living space scattered throughout the town into hotel rooms is the core idea behind a decentralised hotel in Leuk.

The project is based on close co-operation between the three administrations and aims at defining tangible and innovative tourist offers for the low seasons (spring and autumn) to provide mountain resorts, which up to now have put their main focus on the winter season, with the support necessary to promote a more diversified form of tourism including vast territories and being able to direct the development of the tourist resorts towards clearly defined and readily indentifiable social and environmental sustainability.

The project, which is based on a close relationship between the three administrations, seeks to formulate concrete and innovative proposals for tourism in the intermediate seasons (spring and autumn) so that the mountain resorts - which have until now concentrated mainly on the winter season - develop means for promoting tourism that is more diversified, spread over wider areas and capable of guiding the development of tourist areas that are much more environmentally and socially sustainable.

traffic

At present the general public is able to access Alp Flix by car. However the parking spaces on the Alp are to be removed as part of the improvement scheme and a traffic ban applied to close the road to unauthorised users. Concurrently one or two supervised collective parking areas are to be created down in the valley. To provide access to the Alp Flix a dial-a-bus service is to be provided as a means of public transport of the sort which has proved successful in the nationwide project "Alpine Valleys Bus / Alpine Bus" as a starting point for hiking excursions to the Greina route.

The DYNALP² project corresponds to the "co-ordination - management - communication" aspect of the general project on gentle mobility, specifically the development of a gentle mobility network (focal points - green routes, etc.) at the site of the two villages (Corrençon-en-Vercors and Villard-de-Lans) and the strategic sectors of tourist activities. The logistics involved in the hire (or purchase) of electric vehicles will be handled by the municipalities. A gentle mobility or multi-pass card is to be trialed. Signposts dedicated specifically to gentle mobility are to be set up throughout the territory of the two municipalities. The municipalities themselves will take charge of operating the network in co-operation with private sector partners, the objective being that this innovative alternative offer will strengthen the appeal of our villages. Finally a continuous communication campaign will be launched among local residents, tourists, regional authorities and the local, regional and national media.

Spiggengrund and the Upper Kien Valley lie at the south-eastern end of the Kien Valley proper and form part of the municipality of Reichenbach in the Kander Valley. The southernmost part is located on the margin of the UNESCO Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn World Heritage site. The Upper Kien Valley is used for mountain farming and tourism. A broad-based goal-finding process is designed to address the further development of the Upper Kien Valley with a focus on solving conflicts of use in the fields of mobility and leisure traffic.

Given Slovenia's imminent accession to Schengen, increased tourist commuter traffic is to be expected particularly in the Alliance region of South Carinthia-Karawanken. The quality of the intensive tourist development of the area of unspoilt nature and culture (protected areas) is to be given a boost with a solar mobility concept (new uses for electric vehicles). Complementing the bathing lakes and excursion destinations in the region (centres of tourism) the existing protected areas in the hinterland of these tourism centres are to be incorporated into a solar mobility and development concept. The interconnected network of biotopes created as a result is designed on the one hand to contribute to raising people's awareness of environmental and nature conservation issues and, on the other, to boost the regional value-added cycles and strengthen the identity of the local economy and population.

Highlighting the thorough network of pedestrian and bicycle itineraries in the three towns being considered, which have already been connected by means of the "Strada Regina" (Agno-Bioggio-Manno), and promote it as an alternative to vehicle mobility for daily itineraries and journeys for work, recreation, tourism and for shopping. The objective is to make these movements competitive with the individual motor vehicles traffic.
The idea to recover the historic and current values of the ancient Strada Regina between the towns of Agno Bioggio and Manno stems from the local intertown project Agenda 21, and is part of the context of sustainable development and follows the policy of agglomerates of the Confederation. In particular, through a pedestrian and bicycle route which connects the three sites and places of particular interest, the objective of the project is to make people think about the great issues of our highly industrialized countries, and offer a valid alternative for recreation and leisure, health promotion and proximity tourism.

energy

Within a two-year period, the communities in the Nagelfluhkette cross-border Nature Park aim to implement the following measures to come as close as possible to the goal of energy autonomy by 2015: data capture and assessment of the potential, feasibility study/studies, political decision-making process in all thirteen municipalities, planning for an information and motivation campaign, knowledge sharing with other (e5) regions, and planning for the first implementation measures by the local authorities.
Six municipalities in Oberallgäu and seven in the Vorderer Bregenzerwald have combined to form the Nagelfluhkette Nature Park. In the initial phase from the middle of 2005 to the end of 2007, the Nature Park is being developed in terms of content, planning, structure and legal form. This umbrella project is receiving funding from the Interreg IIIA programme. Main activities/milestones: creation of a development and management programme, foundation of an association, development of the organizational structures, mutual familiarization and knowledge sharing as a basis for co-operation, planning and implementation of suitable pilot projects, co-operation with partners within the Alliance in the Alps local authority network.

The Municipality of Sent, which is dedicated to close-to-nature tourism, is located on a sun terrace in the Lower Engadine. Sent has chosen this project to promote two separate strands: "energy saving" and "building land for local residents". Specifically it is planning a housing area for local residents, with building reserved exclusively for energy-saving homes. Given the proximity to the Scuol tourist resort the price of land is already at around CHF 400.- to 500.- per m2. For local residents who do not have any land of their own this is a high price. With a housing area for local residents the price should be reduced by 10% to 50%. However the municipal authorities want to do more, and with its membership of the "Alliance in the Alps" it has underscored its intention to embrace and follow the course of sustainable development. The houses to be built in this designated area must all be energy-saving homes (with Minergie-P minimum standard).

population / culture

Through this project, the life of our forefathers in the stone age is shown and can be experienced in a virgin landscape. Activities forgotten for a long time, such as fire lighting , cereal grinding or tools production are part of the offer, that must contribute to provide wood experience and environmental awareness deep in the souls of the population.

Since the 17th century the Bregenzerwälder costume for women has not changed in its main aspects but has just adapted to the times. It is the oldest costume in the German speaking area, however it is still lively and cannot be imagined outside the social life. It is a lively element of the living customs of the region. The production is extremely time- and cost-intensive as in the past, the necessary skills are no longer readily available.
In order to ensure its continuation, the possibility to continue to produce was ensured and included in the "Juppenwerkstatt" (costumes factory) of Riefensberg, together with a costume museum.
The Juppenwerkstatt must be managed as a lively museum. In order to give new impulse and to bring young generations closer to their own traditions, an exhibition was set up on the costly gold and silver jewel works in the costume and a video shot about the production of the expensive Bregenzerwälder women's costume. The production of the costume with its elements is connected to the seasons and strongly linked to the works of the still living craftspeople. At the same time, the video makes it possible to represent the multiple uses around wearing the costume. Since the setting up of the Juppenwerkstatt, more than 200 "Juppen" have been renovated or newly made.

Objective: Involvement of the local population in an overall concept for gentle mobility in Werfenweng. Key principles: approach based on incentives instead of prohibitions, with bonus schemes like those offered to incoming tourists, for a "gentle" changeover with easier acceptance and better chances of realisation, based on concrete suggestions for implementation on a step-by-step basis. A main focus of this acceptance-based concept lies in the transferability of the envisaged model to other regions with an interest in gentle mobility.
Werfenweng Mobil + was launched in 2004. The intention now is to further develop the overall concept of gentle mobility in several project stages with a varying focus such as traffic planning, tourism development and awareness-building with both locals and tourists. Werfenweng Mobil + is subject to a continuous process of further development and implementation.

The project is based on close co-operation between the three administrations and aims at defining tangible and innovative tourist offers for the low seasons (spring and autumn) to provide mountain resorts, which up to now have put their main focus on the winter season, with the support necessary to promote a more diversified form of tourism including vast territories and being able to direct the development of the tourist resorts towards clearly defined and readily indentifiable social and environmental sustainability.

Preparation of a guide by the pupils of the primary school, for other children who will visit the Brunone Valley, that is considered Natural Monument and Paleontologic Park. The first stage of region study will be performed in collaboration with the experts of the "E. Caffi" Museum of Natural Sciences, Bergamo; the children will prepare an educational guide with exploration and study itineraries appropriate for children and will define the bases for a use plan.
Recovery and enhancement of environmental resources (Natural monument of the Brunone Valley) by means of historic and cultural dissemination and information campaigns. Production of information material on environmental emergencies and the development of good ecological practices, with the participation of schools and the production of brochures with the contribution of local associations for the promotion and enhancement of the historic, cultural and anthropic heritage of the region. Promotion of tourism packages with the participation of local economic establishments (hotels, restaurants, craftspeople, dealers, farms etc.)

regional development / regional planning

The aim of the "mag er hö" project is implementation of the landscape development concept for Stutz - Stutzberg so as to preserve the diversity of this biotope. Co-operation between landowners, farmers and the local authority is essential in order to preserve the unique character of this major biotope and stop the annual loss of 0.7ha of open land (rough pasture and litter meadow) in the Stutzberg area.
Landscape changes! The changes can be fast and uncontrolled; they also occur imperceptibly. Steering measures are often not effective until it is too late. Because the assets of the natural environment and landscape are unique and defy reproduction, and because the structures have developed over the centuries and thus form part of the local identity, Frastanz has decided to develop a landscape development concept as an instrument for steering the increasingly rapid process of landscape change and landscape consumption. The central element in the project is to develop a concept for the whole area of the municipality for the long-term preservation of landscape diversity.

On the occasion of the projects carried out by the UNI Innsbruck and the technical school Lichtenstein, the issue of strengthening or creating a town core emerged as fundamental. The first architectural measures were carried out with the construction of two buildings (Kindergarten and café/office building).
With the decision to create facilities such as volleyball court, playgrounds with artificial grass, children's playground, music rehearsal rooms and teenager areas in the centre of Langenegg, the town core was clearly revived.
Near the town centre there is an area owned by the town of Langenegg, that is perfect for the creation of a theme path. The transformer at the edge of the lot of the Vorarlberger Power Station must be renovated.

The Entlebuch region has been working for a number of years on pooling different activities in a variety of sectors and on developing a common objective. A milestone was reached when the region was accepted as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2002.
As part of the DYNALP project the management of the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch (UBE) is pursuing a project designed to promote the population's awareness of an active, future-oriented and sustainable development. Its aim is to facilitate co-ordination and assist the transfer of know-how to the individual communities and through to the population itself.

The Municipality of Sent, which is dedicated to close-to-nature tourism, is located on a sun terrace in the Lower Engadine. Sent has chosen this project to promote two separate strands: "energy saving" and "building land for local residents". Specifically it is planning a housing area for local residents, with building reserved exclusively for energy-saving homes. Given the proximity to the Scuol tourist resort the price of land is already at around CHF 400.- to 500.- per m2. For local residents who do not have any land of their own this is a high price. With a housing area for local residents the price should be reduced by 10% to 50%. However the municipal authorities want to do more, and with its membership of the "Alliance in the Alps" it has underscored its intention to embrace and follow the course of sustainable development. The houses to be built in this designated area must all be energy-saving homes (with Minergie-P minimum standard).

The DYNALP² project corresponds to the "study" section prior to building four "passive" housing units at Auzet. This phase extends to the Detailed Draft (DD) included, an important step which enables planning permission to be filed. This is a basic stage because the success of construction with the securing of the "passive building" label depends on its quality and accuracy. In France there is very little housing which adheres to the standards imposed by this label. The engineering study for Project Management (PM) - architect, design office - is more considerable because of this than for traditional housing and thus the fees also. On the one hand, DYNALP² funding allows the project to be started with the Engineering and Design Offices, on the other a partnership to be organised with a qualified Project Management team, from the Vorarlberg, for example, in conjunction with the "Alliance in the Alps" and CIPRA.

business

Active environmental education is the key to a responsible attitude in our dealings with nature, culture and the landscape. Experience with the Regio Plus projects shows that both local residents and visitors to the region have a strong need to experience the natural world and to relax there but also to be informed through environmental education. The themed trails created to date cannot satisfy these needs alone. What is required is a comprehensive offering for the various target groups combining experience, information and emotion.
In collaboration with the Werdenberg School of Forestry and the Environment and the Werdenberg Nature Park, the community of Grabs has developed a corresponding educational and information offering and a competence platform in the field.
On the basis of the two Regio Plus projects "Werdenberg Personality" and "Toggenburg on the Move", the two regions want to establish a nature park with a total area of 500 km². Regional nature parks are areas that are special in terms of their natural, scenic and cultural characteristics. The aim is to make use of the nature park to maintain and preserve these assets and make them available for use by the local people and the tourist trade. This can take the form of "Klangwelt Toggenburg" for the promotion of local culture and typical music, the development and marketing of new regional products in agriculture, forestry and the timber industry, renaturing areas like the Saxerriet project which have great ecological importance as part of the biotope network in the valley, landscape amelioration projects like Bürgerwingert in Wartau (where the ancient cultural landscape has been restored for people to experience), or integrated amenities for recreation in the natural environment as in the case of the Natural Hazard Trail, the Gorge Trail or the Sound Trail.
The actors in the planned nature park will be able to build on these experiences, develop them further and network them, with new initiatives and projects also to be developed and implemented, e.g. in the field of renewable energy or environmental protection.
In this context the park will serve as a platform for communication, co-ordination and co-operation. In the framework of the discussion and working process in numerous working groups, the local people are playing an active part in addressing the needs of their region, helping to find solutions and thus strengthening their sense of identity and awareness for sustainable development in the region.

A number of local producers are active in the Malcantone area, supplying a range of fresh and processed farm produce. In order to promote the sale of these products, the Malcantone Region has launched a plan to create a map of the food and agriculture in the Region. The idea is to enhance the local resources, make them more visible and present them in relation to the territory.

How can regional economy circles be supported in a sustainable way? How can the survival of country farms be guaranteed and the image of a living natural and cultural landscape be preserved? How can it be enhanced sustainably? How can the needs (and consequences) of modern tourism be harmonised in an environmentally friendly way with regional products and modes of production? Answering these questions and solving the connected tasks within the framework of the Alpine Conventions protocols, these are the tasks that the towns in the Ammergauer Alpen have set for themselves and as platform for the inter-town implementation in 2004 they have set up the Ammergauer Alpen GmbH.

soil / geology

Preparation of a guide by the pupils of the primary school, for other children who will visit the Brunone Valley, that is considered Natural Monument and Paleontologic Park. The first stage of region study will be performed in collaboration with the experts of the "E. Caffi" Museum of Natural Sciences, Bergamo; the children will prepare an educational guide with exploration and study itineraries appropriate for children and will define the bases for a use plan.
Recovery and enhancement of environmental resources (Natural monument of the Brunone Valley) by means of historic and cultural dissemination and information campaigns. Production of information material on environmental emergencies and the development of good ecological practices, with the participation of schools and the production of brochures with the contribution of local associations for the promotion and enhancement of the historic, cultural and anthropic heritage of the region. Promotion of tourism packages with the participation of local economic establishments (hotels, restaurants, craftspeople, dealers, farms etc.)

water

The Municipality of Flühli-Sörenberg boasts a huge wealth of landscape areas shaped first and foremost by the influence of its water resources. As part of the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch (UBE) and the Alliance in the Alps network of municipalities the municipality is drawing up models that contribute towards the value added of the natural beauty spots in terms of tourism and secure their future protection and conservation. The Flühli-Sörenberg Water World structured around elements such as landscape, water and health aims to harmonise nature and culture, the existing and the new.
As part of Dynalp the municipality is to develop a master plan to define and co-ordinate the offers, which are to strengthen the municipality's sustainable development and enable a value added in terms of tourism.

Actions for the protection and enhancement of the rural territory by identifying a theme itinerary relating to the villages and the fountains located within them (human and cultural landscape) and at the same time connected to the hydrological cycle (from the source to its use, environmental aspect).

environment / nature / landscape

The aim of the "mag er hö" project is implementation of the landscape development concept for Stutz - Stutzberg so as to preserve the diversity of this biotope. Co-operation between landowners, farmers and the local authority is essential in order to preserve the unique character of this major biotope and stop the annual loss of 0.7ha of open land (rough pasture and litter meadow) in the Stutzberg area.
Landscape changes! The changes can be fast and uncontrolled; they also occur imperceptibly. Steering measures are often not effective until it is too late. Because the assets of the natural environment and landscape are unique and defy reproduction, and because the structures have developed over the centuries and thus form part of the local identity, Frastanz has decided to develop a landscape development concept as an instrument for steering the increasingly rapid process of landscape change and landscape consumption. The central element in the project is to develop a concept for the whole area of the municipality for the long-term preservation of landscape diversity.

On the occasion of the projects carried out by the UNI Innsbruck and the technical school Lichtenstein, the issue of strengthening or creating a town core emerged as fundamental. The first architectural measures were carried out with the construction of two buildings (Kindergarten and café/office building).
With the decision to create facilities such as volleyball court, playgrounds with artificial grass, children's playground, music rehearsal rooms and teenager areas in the centre of Langenegg, the town core was clearly revived.
Near the town centre there is an area owned by the town of Langenegg, that is perfect for the creation of a theme path. The transformer at the edge of the lot of the Vorarlberger Power Station must be renovated.

The Entlebuch region has been working for a number of years on pooling different activities in a variety of sectors and on developing a common objective. A milestone was reached when the region was accepted as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2002.
As part of the DYNALP project the management of the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch (UBE) is pursuing a project designed to promote the population's awareness of an active, future-oriented and sustainable development. Its aim is to facilitate co-ordination and assist the transfer of know-how to the individual communities and through to the population itself.

The LER Pfyn-Finges Association is planning to create a regional nature park in the area in and around the Pfyn Forest. The first step is a nature park in the sense of the canton's law on nature and land protection (kNHG). At a second stage a "Regionaler Nature Park" will be created, in the sense of the federal law, currently being revised, about nature and land protection (NHG).

An alpine and hilly territory that, in the course of time, has experienced a slow and continuous decline in human activities (agriculture, livestock farming). At the same time, a little known territory (even by locals) yet which has a wealth of biodiversities, landscapes and historic-cultural resources where the possibilities of tourism have not been exploited. This project builds on the idea that it is possible to expand the offer of tourism which will show consideration for the local environment and culture, but also able to kindle new and diversified production processes.