Networking and knowledge sharing

Future in the Alps, a broad-based knowledge management project run by CIPRA, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, is aimed at promoting sustainable development in the alpine region. The objective of the project is to encourage people, businesses and institutions to network in order to share and implement know-how and information and thus stimulate sustainable development in the Alps. With this project, CIPRA is contributing to the implementation of the Alpine Convention. The project runs from July 2004 to December 2007.

Disseminating practical knowledge

Future in the Alps is designed to promote existing and new initiatives aimed at harmonising the calls of environmental protection, the needs of the inhabitants and economic objectives. Practical experience and the latest research findings are collated, evaluated and processed for further application (alpKnowhow). alpService makes the results available to a wide range of actors. Sustainable pilot projects that apply this knowledge are in turn supported and monitored in alpPerformance.

Sustainability with a six-fold focus

Future in the Alps addresses six key issues: regional value added, governance capacity, protected areas, mobility, new forms of decision making, and policies and instruments.

Store of knowledge in alpKnowhow

In the framework of alpKnowhow, the first phase of the project, about 40 experts from all the countries of the Alps spent several months collecting and processing the latest findings of research and other publications, and the results of practical experience gained with model projects for each of the six key issues. An evaluation system was developed to support the process of selecting knowledge for Future in the Alps. The results from alpKnowhow are available here.

Knowledge transfer through personal contacts and the media

For the long-term use of the knowledge collected, various demandbased products and services are being developed in several languages in the framework of alpService and made available for practical application and research. Workshops for key players in the regions that Future in the Alps is organising in collaboration with professional partners are targeted at deeper study of the topics and cross-border knowledge sharing. Personal contacts will also be promoted through international conferences in which Future in the Alps is involved.
As far as the print media are concerned, CIPRA will be presenting the results of Future in the Alps in a "Third Alpine Report", in "CIPRA Info" and in articles in the relevant journals. For the general public there will be additional coverage in the daily newspapers.
The project Newsletter and this database-supported website offer digital access to the collected data. Moreover, Internet users will be able to contribute on-line via a number of forums.

Implementation of the findings in projects and networks

In the first half of the project, Future in the Alps already generated two major international projects. They form part of alpPerformance, in which the results of Future in the Alps are implemented by the actors in the regions.
In an INTERREG IIIB project called NENA (Network Enterprise Alps), ten partners from all the alpine countries have set themselves the goal of establishing an alpine-wide network of small and medium-sized businesses and thus promoting sustainability-oriented enterprises.
In the framework of the DYNALP² project, which is organised by the Alliance in the Alps network of local authorities, municipalities in the alpine region are implementing recommendations made in Future in the Alps.
 

Download: Project folder (pdf, 400 kb)

The Future in the Alps Project is organised by CIPRA, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, and financed by the MAVA Foundation for Nature Conservation. Through the Project CIPRA is contributing to sustainable development in the alpine region and to the implementation of the Alpine Convention.