High construction costs, unused sports facilities, environmentally damaging large-scale projects: loud criticism continues to surround the staging of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina/I. We must ask whether such sporting events still have a place in the Alps, says Vanda Bonardo, President of CIPRA Italy.
Alps / Europe
Media releases
Connecting people, overcoming borders, protecting the Alps: For 70 years CIPRA has been working for a good life in the Alps. What might the Alps of the future look like? On the occasion of its birthday on 5 May, CIPRA is also taking a new look at itself.
A war has broken out in Europe that contradicts everything CIPRA stands for: Intensive cooperation across language barriers and cultural differences, cross-border cooperation and the search for development opportunities that strengthen people and nature.
The European Parliament has shown no understanding. Even the last rescue attempts by three parliamentarians were shot down. The new toll regulation for road haulage on European motorways will lead to the one-sided promotion of hydrogen and electric engines. This will lead to a massive disadvantage for freight transport by rail and to even more trucks.
What are the possibilities and challenges for a cross-border organisation for shepherds in the Alps? CIPRA held an online conference on 27 January 2022 with representatives from agricultural colleges, national authorities, nature conservation groups and shepherds' organisations to find answers.
News
One third of the lorries on the Brenner motorway are rerouted to save toll costs. In doing so, they take detours of up to 120 kilometres, as a study from Tyrol/A shows. But the European Parliament does not take this into account.
A modern information and networking platform, improved safety and easier orientation along the trail: the Via Alpina, the transalpine long-distance hiking trail, is getting a makeover in 2022. CIPRA International started a crowdfunding campaign to support this project.
Is heliskiing in the public interest? Vorarlberg extends its authorisation by two and a half years: CIPRA Austria calls for greater emphasis on climate protection.
History repeats itself: after the fiasco surrounding the construction ruins in Turin in 2006, the plans for Italy's supposedly “green” Winter Games in Milan and Cortina in 2026 are now too coming under criticism.
Mass tourism in the Alps has collapsed due to the ongoing Corona pandemic, and the opportunities for switching to environmentally and socially just tourism have increased. But they must also be exploited, says Hans Weber, Executive Director of CIPRA Switzerland.