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Young Voices, New Ideas

Young people want to be heard and taken seriously. That requires staying power. CIPRA is helping.

The Human Yardstick

What role does CIPRA play on the international architecture scene? Köbi Gantenbein on the subject of CIPRA's work with Constructive Alps, the competition for sustainable construction and renovation in the Alps.

Freedom from Excess

Whether the subject is energy, transport or tourism, at CIPRA the sustainability debate is increasingly focussing on the question: What do we really need to live a good life? With the Alpine Dialogue on Energy Transition, CIPRA is contributing to today's sufficiency debate. In October 2013, CIPRA opened the dialogue with a workshop in Lucerne in central Switzerland.

Bear Report 2013

Young people beyond boundaries

The Youth Parliament of the Alpine Convention (YPAC), held in Chamonix, sought to find solutions for creating an open society. Political education and more information were uppermost on the wish list of the participants, who came from all of the Alpine countries.

Service as the key to success

Numerous mountain communities in Europe would like to build or renovate their kindergartens, schools or community centres in an energy-efficient way so as to save costs and energy. Implementation is a major challenge, however, as know-how and experience are still lacking. A service package can now provide further help.

Live simply!

The Alps and their natural resources are coming under increased pressure. But how can a change in values open the door to an ecologically sustainable way of life? CIPRA investigates this question in its latest annual report.

Tomorrow’s climate: warmer, wetter, costlier

This winter was the second warmest in Italy and one of the wettest since 1800. The world’s largest reinsurer is now also warning of the increasing natural risks as a consequence of climate change.

Municipal network for nature protection

Nature knows no bounds. Therefore, 25 members of the “Alliance in the Alps” network of municipalities are now working together to ensure greater biodiversity and quality of life. Below is a summary of the aims of the international dynAlp-nature projects.

Youth participation in the Alps: a situation report

Where are young people involved in decision-making? How clearly are their voices heard? In its report CIPRA gives a first Alpine-wide view of the participation of young people.

Point of view: Second homes – no end in sight

By voting “Yes” in 2012 in the referendum “No to the unrestricted building of second homes”, Swiss voters expressed their desire for new tourism policies. Dominik Siegrist, President of CIPRA International, expresses doubt that the population’s demand canactually be implemented.

Workshop in Lucerne (CH), October 2013

Living simply - with fewer resources

(08.04.2014) The Alps are coming under increasing pressure with developments such as the energy transition, the growth of tourism and urban sprawl. But we can offset the limited nature of their natural resources with the help of cultural resources – changing our values to focus more closely on an environmentally-friendly way of life. What this entails is the subject of CIPRA’s 2013 Annual Report.

Young voices, new perspectives for the Alps

How do things stand with youth participation in the Alps? Where is action needed? A CIPRA report summarises the situation in the Alpine countries and shows the way forward. CIPRA has already taken a first step by creating a youth advisory council.

Our demand: Olympics-free Alps!

After the celebrations, the hangover of the morning after the Olympics: the reckoning of the consequential damage and the follow-up costs in Sochi. And just as it has been for all the venues around the world that have hosted the Winter Olympics, the reckoning will be severe. In an open letter, CIPRA is calling on IOC President Thomas Bach to initiate a fundamental reform of the IOC. In fact CIPRA has upped the ante with a policy document demanding that no more Winter Olympics be planned or staged in their current form.

Olympics-free Alps!

Open letter to Thomas Bach, IOC President Schaan/LI, 25 February 2014

CIPRA embarks on a long-distance walk

CIPRA is taking over in 2014 the management of the secretariat of the "Via Alpina" long-distance trail. Together both networks are working for more sustainable development in the Alps. Passionate hikers shall not be the only ones to benefit.

Italy sticks to the traffic protocol

Much was at stake, but finally the concerns regarding the validity of the traffic protocol have been dismissed. How a declaration on a declaration saved the principle at the heart of the Alpine Convention, but cannot exorcise the ghost of the Alemagna autobahn.

CIPRA embarks on a long-distance walk

On 1 January 2014, CIPRA International took over the secretariat of the long-distance trail Via Alpina. Together both alpine-wide networks are working for more sustainable development in the Alps. Passionate hikers shall not be the only ones to benefit.

What municipalities can do for hermits and fire salamanders

The Alps possess an especially large and valuable diversity of plants and animals; this can only continue if habitats are preserved and remain connected to one another. Municipalities can contribute to this in many ways: CIPRA has produced a short film for municipal representatives showing how to make use of these opportunities.

Macro-region for the Alps: We are ready!

The EU gave the go-ahead for a macro-region for the Alpine region five weeks ago, but civil society has been left in the dark ever since: national and regional governments are still discussing whether civil society should be permitted to play an active role in the steering group and have again adjourned the debate. NGOs and networks are ready to help build the “House of the Alps” as long as they are given access to the construction site.

Why Sochi is not in the Alps

The 2014 Winter Olympics could have been held in the Alps except that, at the time, Salzburg’s candidacy fell through with the IOC. Nowadays, the Winter Olympics have virtually no chance of success among the people who actually live in the Alps. CIPRA looks back at the experiences gained in recent years.

An Alpine Crossing Exchange is legally feasible

There are no legal obstacles to the introduction of an Alpine Crossing Exchange (ACE), provided the Alpine countries show the necessary political will. This is the conclusion reached by a study commissioned by the European Region Tyrol - South Tyrol - Trentino.

Point of view: who will fill the macro-regional Alpine house with life?

Just as in the building of a house, the inhabitants are the most important persons involved in the Alpine macro-region. But, eight weeks after the start of the process, states and regions have yet to indicate to the representatives of civil society whether they may contribute. R.S.V.P.

Why Sochi is not in the Alps

The idea of the Alps as a venue for the Winter Olympics is these days scarcely conceivable. CIPRA has now produced a review of the reasons underlying this, the experiences gained from the candidatures of Annecy, Salzburg, Munich and Graubünden (Grisons), and what remains of the Turin Games.

Genetic engineering: sinister passengers in the Alps

In Switzerland genetically modified rapeseed is spreading in uncontrolled fashion. Yet its cultivation and use for feeding have been prohibited there since 2008. How is it that such rape is appearing in places where it has no right to be?

Oh...

…the Alps have clearly got wilder, particularly in the Swiss canton of Graubünden (Grisons).

An Alpine Crossing Exchange is legally feasible

There are no legal obstacles to the introduction of an Alpine Crossing Exchange (ACE), provided the Alpine countries show the necessary political will. This is the conclusion reached by a study commissioned by the European Region Tyrol - South Tyrol - Trentino.

Sustainable means a different kind of Olympics

For Switzerland today, a pioneering spirit means effectively reducing one’s carbon footprint. And using one’s own resources in such a way that generations to come are able to go on living a worthwhile life together with the rest of the world. Anything else is a misrepresentation, like the planned Winter Olympics in Graubünden in 2022. Sustainable Winter Olympics need a change of direction, something that the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which dictates the terms, is not even close to initiating.

NGOs and networks for a macro-region Alps and participation of civil society

On 19 December 2013 the European Council will decide whether there should be a European strategy for the Alpine space. States and regions have been working for months on an appropriate proposal – while excluding representatives of civil society. Now the NGOs and networks are presenting a joint paper containing their views.