Alps / Europe

On March 2 Austria's Lower House of Parliament, the National Council, adopted a number of key changes to the statutory basis of environmental risk assessments. Under the amendment mandatory environmental risk assessments have been waived for specific projects (construction of or modifications to leisure and recreation parks, sports stadiums, etc.).

Buying products from the region strengthens regional economic cycles and is kinder on the climate. However there has been some debate within the EU whether the subsidising of regional products by members state governments actually obstructed the European single market.

Less than one year before the start of the 2006 Winter Olympics uncertainty still prevails as to how to fill the financial gap of around €180 m that has resulted from a lack of revenue. Moreover the internal disputes within the Games' Organising Committee that have now been going on for several months have reached a new high with the forced resignations of both the Chairman and his deputy.

On 16 February representatives of 19 forestry agencies from seven alpine countries launched the Interreg IIIB Project "KnowForAlp" in Vaduz/FL. KnowForAlp is an alpine-wide network for forest owners and foresters whose aim is to enable a comprehensive exchange and transfer of know-how.

Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research have found specimens of mistletoe at altitudes of up to 1500 m. It was previously thought that in Switzerland mistletoe grew only in areas below 1000 m above sea level.

What is the monetary value of the Alpine landscape for the resident populations and tourists? This question was studied in the framework of Swiss National Research Programme NFP48 "Landscapes and Living Spaces in the Alps".

Mountain sports in the Alps are the focus of the latest English/French publication in the series "Revue de Géographie Alpine/Journal of Alpine Research", which contains five essays from the fields of cultural geography, tourism economy, and sport- and ethno-sociology. Thomas Bieger examines the patterns of demand on the traditional Swiss winter travel market and concludes that while the number of winter sports has greatly increased, demand is concentrated on just a few offers.

From 1 - 3 September 2005 the Italian RURALIA association is holding a two-day conference in the Piedmont entitled "Architecture and Landscape in Rural Mountain Areas and their Social and Economic Development". The objective of the conference is to consider proposals for saving villages from decline and rehabilitating rural buildings for new uses.

Things are looking good for green energy in Austria. In the region of Lower Austria, for example, 2004 saw the construction of more biomass heating plants, biogas digesters and wind power plants than ever before. Today about seven percent of the electricity generated in Lower Austria is a product of wind, biomass or biogas.

In 2004 France's winter sport resorts invested 348 million euros - more than ever before - in refurbishment and upgrade measures. In the last ten years, such investments have increased by about 200 percent compared with only 50 percent for ski area turnover. The number of skier days per season is now stagnating at 63 million.