News
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Implementing knowledge - making the most of local potential: "Green" jobs and solar-heated mountain refuges
Incorporating sustainability objectives into political programmes is not enough to achieve a sustainable development in the Alpine region. As many of those affected by the policies as possible must take part, particularly at the local level. Sustainable projects always have the best opportunities wherever local or regional organisations make the most of the scope they have under policy instruments.
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Referendum in the Puster Valley and restoration of a protection forest in Hinterstein - We'll have our say! The people living in the Alps are no longer prepared to look on; they want to be involved.
In recent years co-operative planning processes have gained in importance as a result of targets set by the EU or national governments. Participation in the sense of greater co-determination and co-decision is also being called for at grassroots level, by citizens, land owners and pressure groups.
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From the Dorfmobil Klaus project to the reawakened Merano-Mals railway - "Soft mobility" helps to promote tourism in remote areas
The major problems caused by transit traffic through the Alps dominate the media. And yet it is all too often forgotten that more than two thirds of traffic in the Alps is home-made. So what are the alternatives? This was one of the key questions put to our team of experts.
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Biological diversity as an investment - Protected areas give the Alps a good image and help man and nature
Given good management, protected areas can contribute both to regional value-added and the preservation of biodiversity. Environmentally friendly holiday accommodation with a recognised seal of approval like the Gîtes Panda in the French Alps enhances the quality of life in and around protected areas.
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Cyberspace on alpine pastures, cultural festivals and exchange marts - Education projects and cultural centres promote cohesion
The state is stepping back and social structures are weakening: Citizens must take their affairs into their own hands and organise themselves to bring about decisions locally.
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From timber construction to hay wraps - Besides natural resources people's skills and commitment are the Alps' real wealth
Deploring the exodus of the population and the proliferation of tourism, and doing nothing about it, is one approach; the other, far more constructive solution is to show how money can be earned, and secure jobs created, using the resources available locally.
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Extracting Stores of Knowledge
The future belongs to those who help to shape it. And in the Alps countless initiatives involving thousands of activists are working to do just that. Yet most of them are unaware of the fact that elsewhere other people are working away on exactly the same problems as they are. This is precisely where the Future in the Alps Project launched by CIPRA, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, comes into play. It is all about collating practical experience throughout the Alps, classifying it and making it available to those who need it.
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New publication on Alpine Towns
In 2005 CIPRA, the International Commission on the Protection of the Alps, organised a large conference on Alpine Towns and has now published the collected findings in a conference book.
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Unconventional co-operation in Switzerland's mountain regions
The Swiss Working Group on Mountain Regions has struck up a co-operation venture with eBay International AG, the world's largest internet auction house. Private individuals as well as small and medium-sized businesses are to be trained in buying and selling products and services via eBay.
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Indoor ski venues closing in on the Alps
It's not just in the desert state of Dubai that indoor ski runs are proving increasingly popular, but also in Europe. No snow means no revenue, and the mild weather is giving Europe's ski resorts a serious headache, one which the ski industry is hoping to relieve with artificial snow and indoor venues, regardless of global warming issues.