On 19 December 2013 the European Council will decide whether there should be a European strategy for the Alpine space. States and regions have been working for months on an appropriate proposal - while excluding representatives of civil society. Why the alpine macro-region needs the science, NGOs and municipalities.
Austria
News
… the new silver bullet aimed at reviving the ailing winter tourism sector comes in the form of so-called "Downhill Bubbles".
Observer organisations of the Alpine Convention are bewildered at their exclusion from the Alpine macro-region. They are demanding their inclusion in the ongoing process for a macro-regional Alpine strategy.
With its "Alpen.Leben" (Living in the Alps) project, CIPRA Austria is sounding out the role of the Alpine Convention for a macro-regional strategy and is asking who should actually have a say in shaping this European Union strategy for the Alps.
News
Fewer and fewer areas remain untouched by building development. Vorarlberg has therefore seen the establishment of the "Bodenfreiheit" (ground clearance) association, which is now successfully buying up land for public use.
Markus Reiterer began his new job on 1 July 2013 as Secretary-General of the Alpine Convention at the "Goldenes Dachl" in Innsbruck. The new head of the Permanent Secretariat talks about his aims.
Austria's highest suspension bridge, including the "Steps into the Void", is intended to lure tourists to the Dachstein Glacier in a similar way to the recently opened "Du Gouter" luxury hut for walkers on Mont Blanc. The ways in which the Alpine mountain world courts visitors.
The European Union is publishing its first analysis of existing macro-regions - encouraging news for current developments in the Alpine space.
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on a macro-regional strategy, while the Alpine Space Programme submitted an expert report to the European Union.
Many people in the Alps are afraid of being marginalised by the surrounding metropolitan areas. But the expansion of the sphere of action and influence also offers numerous opportunities - if we rise to the challenge, CIPRA believes.