Switzerland

What treasures and resources are hidden in the Alps? How do we deal with them as sustainably as possible? These and similar questions are posed in the August 2021 issue of SzeneAlpen.

Rockfalls and rockslides are nothing new in the Alps, but dwindling permafrost is making the situation even worse – for mountaineering and for villages.

Helicopter flights and Australian white wine on the one hand, an eco-museum and recycled smartphones on the other: positive and negative awards from environmental organisations point the way to a more sustainable future.

Integrating marginalised groups better, reviving ghost towns in the Alps, or organising a meeting on “Rural Commons”: the first “Alpine Changemaker Basecamp” (ACB) in Valposchiavo/CH at the beginning of July 2021 saw around 30 participants from the Alpine region further developing their projects for a liveable future in the Alps.

The Alps as a climate-neutral, climate-resistant region by 2050: this is the objective of the newly launched “Climate Action Plan 2.0” of the Alpine Convention. Concrete steps will now follow in such areas as mountain farming, spatial planning and biodiversity.

While the new CO2 law in Switzerland has for the time being failed, a climate protection alliance is forming in Bavaria; Austria is discussing a climate protection law; and in France the Climate Council is taking courageous decisions.

AlpTick is our idea of one ticket for all public transport in the whole Alpine region. The work of the CIPRA Youth Council (CYC) has finally borne fruit. This year, travellers to Switzerland will be the first to experience our mini AlpTick creation: Sustainable travel is one step closer to the goal of a unified Alpine ticket for trains and buses with the Graubündenplus ticket.

A “vision,” an innovative “lighthouse project” with “international appeal” – while countless cannons provide the necessary snow in other Alpine regions, eastern Switzerland is planning something really big: an indoor snow sports facility in a mountain tunnel in Flums. What is already possible on Dubai’s indoor ski slope, namely weather-independent winter sports, is to become a reality in eastern Switzerland by 2030.

Switzerland has chaired the Alpine Convention since the end of 2020. One of the main topics for the next two years will be climate protection.