Articles
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CIPRA conference on cities in the Alpine space
CIPRA's annual conference will be held in Brig/CH on 22 - 24 September. The subject of the 2005 conference is Alpine cities and their role as sustainability actors, with a focus on the following main aspects: - design, management and optimization of relations between Alpine cities and the surrounding areas; - networking, alliances and enhanced co-operation and synergies among Alpine cities to achieve effective positioning in the face of competition from other European locations.
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Increased heavy goods traffic on the Brenner route
In 2004 more than fifty percent fewer trucks were carried by the RoLa piggyback services on the Brenner railway than in the previous year. Whereas 140,000 HGVs used the rail link in 2003, the figure for 2004 was a mere 60,000. In contrast, truck traffic on the Brenner motorway increased by a monthly average of twenty percent (in the period January to October).
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Satellite handsets for Scotland's first mountain museum
If two Scottish visitor centres have their way, tourists in the Highlands will soon be walking about with hand-held computers. That will help turn Schiehallion Mountain into a dedicated mountain museum, and Helmsdale will become a centre for Scottish gold-panning tours. The postcard-sized computers employ a technology that is similar to the GPS system to be found in modern cars, and they are programmed like traditional museum audio guides.
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Artificial high water affects ecology of running water
A new WWF study shows that the artificial high-water (surges) and low-water (sinks) caused daily by hydraulic power plants are having disastrous repercussions on the ecosystem of running water.
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From vegetable plots to supermarkets: land consumption in France
The French association for regional planning and rural development has recently published a white paper on the subject of land consumption as a result of urbanisation, entitled "The End of the Landscape?". More and more arable land is being built up with residential buildings and industrial parks, and land consumption is progressing at an alarming pace.
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Deregulation of public services accentuates regional polarisation in Switzerland's alpine regions
A new study by the Swiss National Research Programme NFP 48 entitled Landscapes and Habitats of the Alps has shown that the deregulation of public services has accentuated inequalities between centres and peripheries in alpine regions.
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8th Alpine ministerial meeting: mixed results
At the 8th Alpine Conference held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen/D on 16 November the Environment Ministers of the alpine states were unable to reach agreement on drawing up a legally binding "Population and Culture" protocol for the Alpine Convention. In the area of transport however the alpine states intend to set a new direction.
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Glaciers melting faster than anticipated
A new study by Zurich University using satellite images to analyse the surface area of 930 glaciers has shown that Switzerland's glaciers lost around 18% of their surface area between 1985 and 2000.
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Certification system for sustainable hotel establishments
The Ibex Label is to be used to certify Swiss hotel establishments which excel through particularly sustainable and social management. Depending on achievements one to five of these Ibexes are to be awarded by the Association for Economy, Ecology and Society.
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Who's picking up the bill? New study on external transport costs in Germany and Europe
A study published in early October on the external costs of transport in the EU, Switzerland and Norway by the research institutes IWW (Karlsruhe/D) and Infras (Zurich/CH) shows that the transport system in Germany causes some €150 bn in health and environmental costs each year.
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