Le Réseau Alpin des Espaces Protégés
Europarc organise the XI Charter Network Meeting. It takes place in Greece (Tzoumerka, Acheloos Valley, Agrafa and Meteora National Park) between the 9-11th April, with a special post-conference excursion until the 14th April. It is an excellent opportunity to all professionals working and interested in sustainable tourism in protected areas to examine, discuss and learn from each other. Using practical examples and experience from across Europe, this will be a valuable chance to consider how to explore a “sustainable response” to the many social and cultural impact that tourism brings about in Protected Areas.
Registrations are now open, all information available at: www.europarc.org/xi-charter-network-meeting
“Our Natural Treasures”: in 2019, the European Days of Parks is a call to reconnect with nature, to highlight the natural treasures that make our Protected Areas so special.
Europarc invites all European Protected Areas to organise events in and around the 24th May to jointly celebrate our natural treasures. There are promotional materials available in 30 languages. Events should be register here.
All information and promotional material available at: www.europarc.org/european-day-of-parks
The 24th Memorial Danilo Re took place at the Les Contamines Montjoie Natural Reserve from 24th to 28th January 2019, in the frame of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Reserve.
The event gathered the Alpine rangers, staff and managers of protected areas that are daily engaged in the conservation and protection of the alpine biodiversity. Participants from Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia and even Slovakia competed in four categories: mountaineering ski, giant slalom, shooting and cross-country, with a total of 50 teams: a record number of participants for the Danilo Re Memorial.
The pupils of Les Contamines Montjoie schools opened the ceremony: they sang the European hymn and presented the work done on the emblematic species of the Alps.During the opening ceremony, the French Ministry for the Ecological and Solidary François de Rugy, gave a video speech “Thanks to you [staff of the protected areas], your professional involvement and your personal commitment for the Alps and these fragile mountains, biodiversity conservation is here at the heart of the concerns of all" Ministry said during his speech "The event marks the entry in an important year for the action of France in the Alps, since we will endorse, next April, the Presidency of the Alpine Convention.”
Moreover, during the opening ceremony, Les Contamines Montjoie Major Etienne Jacquet, ASTERS Director Christian Schwoehrer, Director of the European and international office for the French Ministry for the Ecological and Solidary Mme Virginie Dumoulin-Wiecorkiewicz, Secretary General of the Alpine Convention Ambassador Markus Reiterer, ALPARC President Dr. Peter Oggier and Mauro Fissore, Member of the steering committee warmly welcomed the teams and their supporters.
Seminars on tourism and environmental education
In addition to the competition, two seminars were held. One, focused on sustainable tourism on the Espaces Valéens terriotires in France and organised with the CGET took place on Thursday 24th. A second, held on Friday 25th focused on the role of the protected areas and their staff in raising awareness and reconnecting the young people to the mountain environment. Experiences from the YOUrALPS project and associated protected areas were presented.
The Memorial hosted as usual the ALPARC General Assembly.
In addition to the competition and the seminars, Alpine and transnational friendship was celebrated.
The Trophy: overall victory for the Berchtesgaden National Park (men) and Gesäuse National Park (women)
The overall victory went to Berchtesgaden National Park (DE, Team 2), followed by the mixed team of the Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso (IT) and the Parc National de la Vanoise (FR, Team 1). For the ladies, the victory went to the Gesäuse National Park (Austria) , followed by the Hohe Tauern-Tyrol National Park (AT, Team 2) at the third place the Berchtesgaden National Park (DE, Team 1). A big thank you to all the 50 teams who took part in this 24th edition, and special thanks to the team of the Contamines Montjoie natural reserve and the other local organizers for making the event happen in perfect conditions.
The results of each discipline as well as some pictures are available on the Danilo Re Web site and on Facebook.
The 25th Memorial Danilo Re will took place at the National Park Hohe Tauern -Salzburg from 16th to 19th January 2020. You are all invited to save the date.
With the financial supports of :
Experiences and educational approaches for children and young people all across the Alps were shared during ALPARC’s 5th workshop on Mountain Education in Alpine Protected Areas. The workshop was held from October 3rd-5th, 2018 in Trenta, Triglav National Park (SL) and gathered protected area staff as well as external experts involved in mountain-oriented education. The workshop aimed at fostering international exchanges and increasing knowledge on current issues such as the use of technology in environmental education activities and the role of youth participation in the different protected areas.
The use of new technologies in environmental education
The Slovenian Centre for Outdoor Activities (CSOD) guided the debate on the use of new technologies in outdoor activities. The theoretical approach was followed by a field experiment allowing participants to directly test an app developed by the organization with the help of teachers. However, some barriers still remain - the use of new technologies can cause young people to become increasingly disconnected from nature. However, it was argued that new technologies can be an educational support in activities and may facilitate the first contact with nature for those who are not used to having a hands-on experience in the mountains.
Youth participation in protected areas
The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss the subject of youth participation in protected areas. The experts from the city of Idrija, with Mateuz Straus, facilitated an exchange on this topic and contributed with their experience gained during the GaYa project. Improving youth participation in park operations is considered essential to increase young people's awareness of nature protection, allowing them to become further anchored and more involved in their territories. Several protected areas such as Prealpi Giulie favor a youth council which is involved in official park meetings and manages its own budget.
This workshop was co-organized by ALPARC and Triglav National Park.
Come to the international conference "Learning and networking for sustainable development in the Alps - The Alpine School & OurAlps network" on May 14th and 15th 2019 in Morbegno.
The Alpine School Model, one of the major YOUrALPS project output aiming at re-connecting youth to their natural environment, will be presented at the conference.
The event will give you the opportunity to discover the OurAlps network and to network with other Alpine stakeholders.
The event is organised in the frame of the INTERREG Alpine Space YOUrALPS project.
To register to the conference and for further information please click here:
The final conference of the Interreg Alpine Space projet ALPBIONET2030, will take place the 8th and 9th October 2019 in Chamonix.
Please save the date, further information will be available soon on the project web site here: https://www.alpine-space.eu/projects/alpbionet2030/en/home
Like its bigger sister, the quadrennial AlpWeek, Alpweek Intermezzo is an international event on sustainable development and related Alpine issues, jointly organised by key Alpine organisations. The 2019 edition of the event is conceived as a lunch to lunch conference which will bring the main Alpine stakeholders together to meet and exchange views on the topic “Tomorrow in the Alps”.
More information on alpweek.org
The 5th Edition of Youth at the Top will take place on 11th - 12th of July 2019 all over the Alps & the Carpathians.
The common topic of the 5th edition will be: Myths and Legends in the Alps
Further information and the registration form will be available soon at: http://youth-at-the-top.org
The Federal National Park Commission has appointed Ruedi Haller as the new director of the Swiss National Park. On 1 October 2019, he will succeed Prof. Heinrich Haller who wishes to retire.
The Director is responsible for the operational management of the Swiss National Park. He heads the Park and its 3 divisions: Operations and Monitoring, Research and Geographic Information Systems, Communication and Public Relations. 45 employees share 27 full-time positions. The management and administration of the Park is centralized in Zernez, where the Visitor Centre was built 10 years ago. The Federal National Park Commission (FNTC), appointed by the Federal Council, is the strategic body of the Swiss National Park.
Ruedi Haller will be the seventh director to assume operational management of the oldest national park in the Alps since its foundation in 1914.
We offer our congratulations to Ruedi Haller and wish him all the best as director.
Educators, teachers, researchers and organizations in the field of education you are all invited to network via the new OurAlps web platform. An interactive map, information on events and news as well as the exchange of educational materials, photos and videos allow all interested people to get involved and contact other actors in different countries. The website is available in five languages and is the central communication tool of the international network of the same name. The network is based on the broad values and principles of environmental education. A link to the YAPP platform, a web site dedicated to youth exchanges, is also included on the OurAlps home page.
The OUrALPS network and its web platform have been developed in the frame of the Interreg Alpine Space project YOUrALPS and they will be officially presented in a conference in Morbegno (Italy) the 14th and 15th of May 2019.
ALPARC is lead partner for YOUrALPS and responsible for technical and financial management and the coordination of project partners’ activities. Moreover, the network is responsible for the project’s communication activities.
YOUrALPS is an Interreg Alpine Space project and lasts from November 2016 to October 2019. It is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme.
For further information about the project, please visit the YOUrALPS website
This appeal went to the politicians of the Alpine countries at the final conference of the GaYA project in Chambéry/F. The extent to which the topic gets people moving was shown by the participation of numerous young people and representatives from politics and society throughout the Alps.
Actively promote a political culture of participation, anchor the participation of young people in decision-making processes, and make youth participation a must, not just a nice extra! The partner organisations of the Interreg GaYA project brought these political recommendations to the politicians of the Alpine countries.
How can youth participation in cities and rural areas be promoted? What innovative ideas and projects are there? What can politicians and decision-makers do? More than 200 participants from all Alpine countries travelled to the GaYA conference in Chambéry, France, to answer questions on youth participation. In interactive sessions, young people, politicians and interested parties from various Alpine countries exchanged ideas. In addition, the event offered music and Alpine cuisine as well as films produced by young people, which were presented as part of an Alpine-wide film competition.
The conference also marked the end of the two-year EU GaYA project. Besides the international exchange and the political recommendations, the project partners presented a toolbox for youth participation and a comparative study on participatory democracy in the Alps.
As a GaYA project partner, ALPARC is also committed to involving the younger generation more closely in political decision-making processes especially in the rural areas and in the protected areas municipalities. For two years ALPARC was responsible for the coordination of the pilot activities and a video presenting the main project achievements and innovative results was developed by the network and presented at the GaYA final event.
Source: GaYA Press release 17.12.2018
Information on GaYA project: www.alpine-space.eu/projects
You know about Ecological Connectivity, Fragmentation and Habitats? Well then, take up the challenge and test your knowledge in our picture quiz!
At this moment, a picture quiz is running to bring the topic of Ecological Connectivity closer to a wider public. In this perspective the project partners of the ALPBIONET2030 project have collected pictures and questions to set up an entertaining online picture quiz game and raise attention to the key topic of the project: ecological connectivity.
Let pictures speak instead of words: https://apps.facebook.com/fb-quizzes/ecological-connectivity