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Looking for answers to resource shortages

Jun 10, 2014 / alpMedia
Resources are finite, including those in the Alps. What solutions are available for living a good life that do not simply depend on ever more consumption? Some answers will be provided at the CIPRA Annual Conference to be held in November 2014 in Annecy, France
Image caption:
The CIPRA Annual Conference on 13-15 November 2014 in Annecy, France, will address the question of what is required for good living in the Alps. © Heinz Hess

New technologies proclaim solutions for environmental and climate problems without questioning the dogma of growth. The reality, however, is that more and more natural resources are being consumed and that CO2 emissions continue to increase. This year’s CIPRA Annual Conference, to be held from 13 to 15 November 2014 in Annecy, France, will provide a common platform for developing ideas for new lifestyles. Based on the firm view that a good quality of life in the Alps cannot be based on ever-increasing consumption and resource depletion, the conference will question current spatial planning policies and economic systems and provide an impulse for new and creative approaches. As an Alpine town on a lake, that also faces numerous different demands in terms of its use, the French city of Annecy is a clear example of the relevance of the themes addressed.

Futurologists such as Hugues de Jouvenel will relate how new lifestyles, resource sharing and new forms for the economy can contribute to a good life for all in the Alps. Michil Costa, a hotelier from the Italian province of South Tyrol, will show how economics serving the common good, i.e. a form of economics that puts the needs of humans and nature first, can be implemented in a large hotel business. Among others Ueli Strauss, Director of the Spatial Planning Office of the Canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland, will also be demonstrating what answers spatial planning can offer.

The Friday session will see open discussions where visions for “sufficient Alps” will be debated and developed. There will also be questions as to how these visions can find a place in Alpine policy and how the new EU Strategy for the Alps can be made more sustainable and sufficient.

Source: http://cipra.org/en/events/cipra-annual-conference-2014

Filed under: alpMedia 06/2014