The mountains of France are going up to Paris.
From 21st March to 21st July 2015, on the railings of the Jardin du Luxembourg (Senate) in Paris, the “Mountains of France” exhibition is presenting French mountains in 83 large-scale pictures.

The exhibition is a journey at high altitude in the French massifs, including the Alps, showing the beauty, wealth and diversity of the French mountains. An exhibition which is an incentive to go and discover these mountain territories and their inhabitants.

“Mountains of France” is also a publication: a glossy magazine of 116 pages containing all the photographs on view at the Paris exhibition.

Participating in this event are, among others, the National Parks of France (PNF) and the Federation of Regional Nature Parks.

On the occasion of this exhibition, two days of seminars, admission free, will bring together French mountain experts in the Palais du Luxembourg (Paris – FR):
-    Thursday 4th June  2015: "Reinventing Mountains Today"
-    Friday 5th June: "High Mountains, an Experience that Makes Life Worthwhile"

You will find more information at this link

A First in France: the Col du Palet refuge, in the Vanoise National Park/F, is going to adopt the use of hydrogen to manage its energy.

In June the Col du Palet refuge, set in an exceptional, wild location in the Vanoise National Park, will adopt the use of hydrogen for its energy management. This is an unprecedented event in France! It is a very important step forward in the field of sustainable energy concerning the Alpine areas and the enhancement of the use of renewable resources.

The energy currently used by the refuge is supplied by solar panels, a form of energy that is already   clean and respects the environment. However, the energy produced by the photovoltaic panels throughout the year is, unfortunately, wasted for lack of a means of storage. That is the reason behind the idea of using hydrogen technology, as this makes it possible to optimise the production and long-term storage of solar energy. Indeed, according to Stéphane Martin, technician in the Vanoise National Park, “Hydrogen technologies are first and foremost a fantastic means of storing electrical energy and redistributing it cleanly by avoiding the emission of greenhouse gases.”

The Col du Palet refuge, situated at an altitude of 2,600m and difficult to access, will therefore be able to benefit from this technique and use previously stored energy at periods of peak energy consumption. In short: less waste and more positive effects on the environment.

The project is largely financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and, if it is successful, other refuges in the National Park will adopt the same energy management system. In this context, ALPARC will step in to communicate and facilitate the transfer of experience and skills to the other managers of refuges in the Alps.

The common aim of all these actors is to promote energy innovation in order to develop and materialise new eco responsible systems.

Enclosed: Press release of the NP Vanoise

On July 16th, the “Youth at the Top” event will finally take place! The project is led by ALPARC in partnership with Educ’Alpes and with the financial support of the German Ministry of the Environment (BMU).

You will find enclosed the list of the 33 participants in the “Youth at the Top” project.

Here, you can find further information about the event.

Website: http://youth-at-the-top.org/en/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/YATevent

The 19th and 20th of June, the network of the Alpine municipalities “Alliance in the Alps” and the French municipality of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville will organize an event on the following topic: “Social wealth, natural diversity. Activate the assets of the Alpine municipalities”.

In this years symposium of "Alliance in the Alps" people will discuss how these assets of the Alpine communities can be activated and how blockages can be overcome. In the context of the European Strategy for the Alps they will also talk about the possible role of municipalities in an Alpine macro-region.
Benefit from the long experience of the network of municipalities and get to know good practices and actors from the entire Alpine region on 19 and 20 June 2015, in the French municipality of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville.

You can find enclosed all the details of the event and the application form in French, Italian, German and Slovenian.

ALPARC and the Alpine Protected Areas will be represented at the Expo Milano 2015 with projections of the Multivision “For the Alps”.
The German Pavilion hosts the Multivision during the Mountain week, the 9th of June.

ALPARC and the Alpine Protected Areas will be represented at the Expo Milano 2015 with projections of the Multivision “For the Alps”.
The French Pavilion presents the Multivision on May the 7th.

Mit dem starken Franken erhält der naturnahe Tourismus in der Schweiz neue Aktualität. Nach den neuesten Zahlen besitzt der naturnahe Tourismus einen Anteil von rund zwanzig Prozent am Alpentourismus. Besonders wichtig sind dabei ein starker Naturbezug, ein funktionierendes Qualitätsmanagement und ein effektives Marketing. Zusammen mit Fachleuten aus dem ganzen Alpenraum und mit Unterstützung der Bristol-Stiftung hat die HSR neue Qualitätsstandards für den naturnahen Tourismus entwickelt. Als Ergebnis liegt eine umfassende Checkliste zum naturnahen Tourismus vor. Damit erhalten Destinationen ein Werkzeug in die Hand, mit dem sie die eigene Arbeit weiterentwickeln können.
 
Im Rahmen der Fachtagung vom 10. Juni 2015 in Rapperswil werden die neuen Qualitätsstandards vorgestellt und gemeinsam mit Tourismus- und Umweltfachleuten diskutiert und vertieft. Es gilt zu klären, wie diese Qualitätsstandards gewinnbringend eingesetzt werden sollen und welche innovativen Produkte und Angebote daraus hervorgehen können.

Hier geht‘s direkt zur Anmeldung

Das Progamm ist in der Anlage unten.

The winners of the 10th international competition “Fotografare il parco” have been announced. This contest was organized by the Stelvio National Park (IT), the Gran Paradiso National Park (IT), Abruzzo, Latinum and Molise National Park (IT) and by the French National Park Vanoise in collaboration with Swarovski Optik Italia. Once again, the contest registered a great participation of many amateurs as well as professional photographers. More than  400 participants sent about 3200 pictures coming from Italy, France and other European countries. You can see the winners and the prizes in the file enclosed.