Alps / Europe

(12.01.2006) The latest volume of Harry Potter (in English) was printed largely on eco-friendly FSC-certified paper from the Swiss Alps. The FSC abbreviation stands for Forest Stewardship Council and is a guarantee of ecologically sound and socially and economically sustainable forestry activities. The use of FSC paper was one of the demands made by J.K. Rowling, the star author of the Harry Potter series.

(12.01.2006) The Master of Landscape Architecture (IMLA) at the University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil/CH is to be expanded in 2006, and will now also be available jointly at the Universities of Nürtingen-Geislingen/D and Weihenstephan/D.

(15.12.2005) The Interreg IIIB Project "GenderAlp! Spatial Development for Women and Men" has been up and running for a year now. The Land of Salzburg/A as lead partner already has a number of project results to show. "Needs-oriented spatial planning for women and men in Salzburg" is just one of 47 partial projects by GenderAlp!

(15.12.2005) The alliance of regions voluntarily committed to dispensing with the use of genetically modified organisms in agro plant cultivation (founded by Upper Austria/A and Tuscany/I in November 2003) now includes 36 members across Europe.

(01.12.2005) Around 150 representatives of six mountain regions convened for an exchange of experience and knowledge on the role of local governance in sustainable development at a meeting held in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) from 16 to 18 November. The aim of the conference was to consolidate existing networks and promote sustainable development at community level. Participants from the Central Asian mountain regions of Pamir and Tien Shan, from the Altai, the Carpathians, the Caucasus and the Alps seized the opportunity to exchange their experience and establish contacts for further co-operations.

(01.12.2005) The 2006 Yearly Symposium of the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA) is to be held in Bad Hindelang/D from 18 to 20 May. The Symposium is to focus on the growing threat to alpine regions posed by natural hazards and the impact of the climate change on alpine tourism.

Swiss researchers have conducted a study to examine the extent to which man-made lighting has penetrated mountain regions since the 1970s. The comparison of satellite imagery shows that areas which previously were lit only in isolated spots - if at all - are now increasingly exposed to night time lighting.

The latest issue of the Revue de Géographie Alpine series comprises five specialist articles on a variety of topics. One article examines the causes of flooding and the measures that are necessary to prevent it based on the example of the Isère/F region while another article focuses on sustainable water management in general.

The international "Transport Across the Alps" conference is to be held in Lucerne/CH from 1 to 3 December. Key issues to be addressed at the conference include the impact of road traffic along the main alpine thoroughfares, the influence of statutory and political provisions on transit traffic and the interactions between transport, regional development, tourism, the environment and the economy.

As part of their study on the "Influence of Climate Change on Succession Processes and Population Dynamics of Vegetation in Alpine Environments" research teams at the universities of Hanover/D and Zurich/CH have concluded that the rate of change in the floristic composition of vegetation in the Swiss Alps is increasing all the time. According to the experts this trend is consistent with global climate change.