CIPRA Annual Conference 2019

25th - 26th October 2019
in Altdorf/UR, Switzerland

Inspiration, shared experiences and participation: the annual CIPRA conference saw over 100 attendees from every Alpine country meet in Altdorf/CH at the end of October 2019 to discuss the “Alpine Cultural Workshop”. The event was organised by CIPRA International and CIPRA Switzerland.

The Alps are a mosaic of stories, people and traditions. In his opening speech at the “Alpine Cultural Workshop”, Giovanni Netzer called for “the opportunities of the Alpine region to be seized and people to be encouraged to make use of the great freedom of these regions”. Netzer, artistic director of the theatre festival Origen in Riom/CH, creates culture in a peripheral region of Graubünden, beyond the established spaces and outside the usual cultural institutions. “Theatrically distant spaces”, such as those offered by the Alps, make new approaches possible.

Why would an environmental organisation like CIPRA want to address the issue of “culture”? This question was answered by Katharina Conradin, President of CIPRA International: “Culture is the basis upon which we identify with our environment”. It is only by identifying with something – for example a beautiful landscape – that people are prepared to commit themselves to it. 

Podcast