From 4 to 11 June 2015 mountain areas will be at the heart of Expo Milano. The “Mountain Week” will consider international co-operation, agriculture and sustainable development. CIPRA is contributing to two projects during this themed week.

Three orchestras will be appearing for the first time on stage together. For these musicians from Italy, France and Slovenia the concert, held under the motto “The Alps. No limits”, is a real challenge: they live up to 800 kilometres apart, speak different languages and have different needs, such as the fact that 32 of the musicians have mental disabilities. This example of Alpine-wide co-operation can be heard at 6:00 pm on 6 June at Madonna del Piano di Bianzone and at 5:30 pm on 7 June in the “Cascina Triulza – Civil Society Pavilion” at the Expo.

Two dozen young people from different Alpine countries will be using the Expo as an opportunity to scrutinise their activities and habits under the motto “A good day has 100 points”. The greater their CO₂ footprint, the more points are added, with the target being not to exceed 100 points a day. The challenge here is that participants in the “Youth Alpine Express” are travelling from their homelands to Milan with the aim of showing visitors to the Expo and political representatives of the Alpine countries that sustainable living is possible.

The “The Alps. No limits” and “Youth Alpine Express” projects represent a collaborative effort between ministries, municipalities and regions, cultural institutions and associations as well as non-governmental organisations. The projects are being financially supported by (among others) the German Ministry of the Environment, the Swiss Federal Office for Spatial Development ARE and the region of Valposchiavo.

Source and further information: http://youthalpineexpress.eu/, https://www.facebook.com/events/379646898909868/, http://www.mountainweek.org