News from the Alps
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Challenges for alpine agriculture
Loss of biodiversity, climate change, migration: just some of the problems affecting the Alpine region. The concept of agroecology offers sustainable solutions - but we have to implement them together.
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EmpowerLIFE – simply do it
Simply do it is the motto of the EmpowerLIFE project launched in 2023. It supports people in realising their do-it-yourself ideas and plans in relation to climate protection.
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Gigaliners: a danger to people and nature
Trucks weighing up to 60 tonnes and 25 metres long: the European Parliament’s Transport Committee voted in favour of so-called gigaliners in mid-February 2024 – despite the serious concerns expressed by CIPRA.
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The urban exodus and the climate
Many mountain regions in the Alps are affected by out-migration. However, climate change is also causing some people to migrate – at least temporarily – from the cities to the mountains, as an Italian research project shows.
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The role of forests in climate change
What role will forests play in the future in the face of climate change? At the end of 2023, CIPRA Slovenia co-organized a meeting of various interest groups on this topic. Experts agreed on the need to designate more areas where forests are left unmanaged.
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Natural diversity through stones
What do the large woolly bee, the protected fire-bellied toad, the busy ant and the white stonecrop have in common? They all feel right at home in and around cairns, which CIPRA’s “StoneRich” project is creating in seven pilot regions.
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UNESCO recognizes Alpine season as cultural heritage
In December 2023, UNESCO added the “Alpine season” to its Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Known for centuries in Switzerland and neighbouring countries, the Alpine season remains alive and well thanks to its many different forms.
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Working together for better public mobility
In many rural areas of the Alps, public transport services are inadequate, both for daily needs and for tourism development. The new project by CIPRA France and CIPRA Germany aims to promote cooperation between stakeholders and to stimulate creative processes of international exchange so as to develop solutions.
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Point of view: Mountains for everyone? Not a chance!
Access to the mountains and mountain sports is often unfair, exclusive, segregating and discriminatory. Henriette Adolf, Deputy Executive Director of CIPRA Germany, argues in favour of equal participation in mountain sports.
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Extreme weather at a glance across the Alps
At the end of November, a new Alpine-wide research centre presented itself to the public at the Schneefernerhaus, the German environmental research station below the Zugspitze peak: the “TUM Alpha – Centre for Alpine Hazards and Risks” will coordinate, on an international basis, the prediction of extreme climate events in the mountains.