Mreža zavarovanih območij v Alpah
Latest news from the initiative Youth at the top: a photographic retrospective 2016, compilation of texts and drawings that young participant(s) have sent to us through postcards, and finally the dates of 2017 and 2018 editions revealed !
Video clips and photos to be discovered
A short video clip expressing the atmosphere of the 2nd Edition of Youth at Top event has been released during the Alpweek and the Alpine Conference in Grassau (Germany), in October. See the video
The video -best of- invites you to discover all the others videos produced by the young participants or by their guides available on the ALPARC YouTube Channel. Furthermore, you are invited to see the numerous pictures taken by the participants during their experience: funny, touching, happy or contemplative. These pictures will certainly encourage you to take part in the adventure in 2017!
The photo galleries are available at https://www.facebook.com/YATevent
and in each « event » sheet on the official website http://www.youth-at-the-top.org/en/events .
Compilation of postcards sent by young participants
This year an ALPARC postcard dedicated to the initiative was created and served as a support to the expression of groups of young participants about their experiences: messages in any language, stories, impressions and sketches are compiled in this document online we invite you to read:
2017 and 2018 editions
The dates of the next two editions in 2017 and 2018 has been validated during the workshop of the International Working Group "Education for the mountain environment" in late October.
It is now:
• 11th July 2017
• 12th July 2018
A call for participation for the 2017 edition will be open in February 2017.
The initiative is supported by the German Ministry for the Environment and German Presidency of the Alpine Convention, and is coordinated by ALPARC, in partnership with Educ’Alpes in France.
Take about thirty people in charge of mountain environment education in the Alpine protected areas and draw them deep into an Alpine valley for 3 days, at an altitude of 1,800 m, in a refuge with neither Internet connection nor telephone network. Once there, encourage them to exchange and collaborate in a Workshop about their day-to-day work; sprinkle with curiosity, good humour and work in the open. What will result?
An explosive force, made up of creativity, a willingness to share skills and experiences, a desire to establish links, to face up to the challenges and priorities of mountain environment education, to valorise one’s experiences and learn from each other.
Such was the experience shared by about thirty participants from the 6 Alpine countries during the 4th “Mountain Environmental Education in the Alpine Protected Areas” International Workshop, which was held in the Refuge de Bayasse in the Mercantour National Park (France) from 18th to 20th October 2016.
The participants, most of whom are long-term members of the “Mountain Environmental Education” Working Group, had the opportunity for exchanging and sharing , but also for working together on various themes (e.g. “biophilia”, visitor centres, educational messages and the attitudes of young people towards parks…) and on collective projects currently in progress. Notably, one main event was devoted to the “Youth at the Top” initiative which originated from this group: the assessment of the 2016 edition was followed by reflection about improving and perpetuating the operation and preparing the editions to follow. Throughout the meeting the participants helped to finalise the “The Alps in my Backpack” teaching tool (a large format map of the Alps printed on fabric) which will have its first outings in the field in 2017.
A Common Quest: How to (re) establish Links between Young People and Nature
One of the guiding principles of some of the informal debates and workshops was the question as to how the link youth-nature can be (re) established .This question was approached from several angles: from the role played by the mountain environment educator and from the message they can carry, to the role of teachers and the structure of school curricula. “This subject has been a topic of discussion in the French education group for several years,” declared Isabelle Roux, the Head of the Educ’Alpes Network. “For our network, mountain education rests on 3 pillars: encouraging youngsters to enjoy contact with nature, favouring games and free times, and creating experiences from mountain slope”. A vision which ALPARC shares entirely.
Nature Interpretation
Thus the workshop was the opportunity for discovering and trying out innovative approaches in non-formal education. This was the case during the field workshop devoted to interpretation and led by Markus Blank of the Gesäuse National Park (Austria), representing the Interpret Europe association. Heritage interpretation is an approach where the goal is to provide a different way of seeing and a deeper understanding through first-hand experience of sites, objects or events linked to a particular heritage. It is very widespread in the United States and has been growing popular in Europe over the past few years.
The Results
The results of the meetings: a report, PowerPoints, shared resources, photos, etc. are being made available progressively as they become available on the ALPARC extranet, in the workspace devoted to this working group. www.alparc.org/extranet
A big thank you to those who took part, to all who helped to make the workshops so lively and notably the Mercantour National Park for their enthusiastic hosting!
The Workshop was organised by ALPARC in partnership with Educ’Alpes and the Mercantour National Park and was funded by the Principality of Monaco.
These meetings are held every two years: rendezvous in autumn 2018 in Italy or Slovenia!
Further information: http://www.mercantour.eu/index.php/accueil-eedd/actualites
With the support of the Principality of Monaco:
Organisation:
We are happy to announce that 3 project proposals put forward this year at the second call for projects in the EU Interreg –Alpine Space Programme have been selected. They are the YOUrALPS and ALPBIONET2030 projects, led by ALPARC, and the GaYA project, in which ALPARC is a partner and responsible for a Workpackage.
YOUrALPS - Educating Youth for the Alps: (re)connecting Youth and Mountain heritage for an inspiring future in the Alps (2016-2019)
ALPARC and their 12 partners are taking up the challenge involved in reinforcing mountain education and making young people more aware of the natural heritage and culture of the Alps in a durable way. Starting by structuring a network of education players in the Alps, the aim is to bring closer together the sectors of formal education (schools) and non-formal education (education players in the mountains, such as, for example, the protected areas), by promoting the inclusion of mountain environment education in educational programmes via the concept of an “Alpine School” which will be tested in many pilot sites. The project plans for active participation from both political decision makers and young inhabitants of the Alps.
GaYA - Governance and Youth in the Alps (2016-2018)
The project leader Agenzia di Sviluppo GAL Genovese/Italy and its 7 partners , among which ALPARC and the Massif des Bauges Nature Park, will unite their forces and skills during a period of 2 years in order to develop the governance of young people in the Alpine space .They will be supported by different pilot sites, both urban and rural , with the participation of groups of young people , in order to contribute to reinforcing the capacities of political decision-makers to involve the young, as citizens, in the decision making process.
These two projects confirm the importance and the potential of our thematic Pole devoted to mountain environment Education and young people. Even if it is technically not possible to involve all our members in such projects, either as partners or observers, we will take care to inform them and see that they benefit from the actions and results of these projects. This will be especially true for those taking part in our “Mountain Environment Education” workshop.
ALPBIONET2030 - Integrative Alpine Wildlife and Habitat Management for the Next Generation, (2016-2019)
ALPARC and their 14 partners are working together on ecological connectivity in the Alps and with the new Alpine Macro-region. The aim of this project is to improve on the already substantial work carried out on this theme in the past few years, notably by proposing a mapping of the areas strategic to connectivity in and around the Alpine arc, by developing a strategy for managing wildlife in tandem with various players and by working on mediation tools to respond to conflicts which may arise at the implementation of ecological networks.
We are happy to be starting work right away with all the partners and observers of each project. To find out more pending the setting up of Internet sites devoted to each project, you can see the presentation of the successful projects on the Alpine Space programme page.
The registration is open for the 22nd Edition of the “Danilo Re Memorial” that will take place from the 26th to the 29th of January 2017 in Admont (Austria) in the Gesäuse National Park.
Set up your team and register via the online form. On the official website you will also find the programme and some additional information.
Please complete your registration before the 31th of December
Thematic seminar : “ Interpreting the Alps “
This year the thematic seminar will take place in a workshops format on the topic :
“INTERPRETING THE ALPS” – “How do I connect heart and mind with the alpine landscape?“
The workshops will give an insight into the heritage interpretation approach including some practical experience. It will be run by members from Interpret Europe, the European Association for Heritage Interpretation. Each workshop is facilitated by a native speaker in one of the Alpine languages French, German, Italian and Slovenian, as well as in English.
ALPARC General Assembly 2017
As usual the General Assembly of ALPARC will take place during the Danilo Re Memorial on the 27th of January 2017. All the ALPARC members are kindly invited to participate.
If you are an ALPARC member you can make your hotel reservation online with the registration form by join your team or as a single person (supporter). In case you will attend only the General Assembly ALPARC please contact ALPARC for further information for accommodation.
We look forward to seeing in Admont!
The ministers and high-level representatives of the Alpine countries as well as the representatives of observer organizations met on the 13 of October 2016 in Grassau, Germany to discuss important issues on the future development and protection of the Alps.
Some of the topics discussed were the topic of green economy in the Alps, the developments in the scope of the EUSALP and Alpine protected areas.
At the Alpine Conference the Presidency of the Alpine Convention was handed from Germany to Austria. Read the statements of both ministers on this occasion in the Alpine Convention press release.
Source : Alpine Convention
We relay the sad news of Larry Hamilton loss. He deceased after an illness, on the 6th of October 2016 at the edge of 91 years old.
Larry Hamilton was not only one of the major architect of protected areas on a worldwide scale, but also a friend of many years of the ALPARC network. Few years ago, whereas he was travelling in France, he had come to visit us to get to know our activities. Thereafter, he had regularly communicated on the activities of our network in the international newsletter he produced with his wife « Mountain Protected Areas Update ».
With Larry loss, mountain world and the Nature protection environment has lost a tireless friend and one of the ecological movement great figure.
We know that his work will be pursued through UICN work and mountain networks that stand for Nature protection.
At the XIVth Alpine Conference in Grassau (Germany) two new Pilot Regions were nominated by the Alpine Convention: the Achental Region (Germany) and the French part of the Ecoregion Mont Blanc.
The evaluation carried out by the Platform Ecological network of the Alpine Convention on the already existing 8 Pilot Regions has confirmed their valuable contribution to the implementation of a pan-alpine ecological network and their nomination has been confirmed for the upcoming 4 years.
Interesting details on the activities of the Pilot Regions can be found on the modules of the exhibition on Alpine Pilot Regions for Ecological Connectivity.
The publication “Alpine Nature 2030 - Creating [ecological] connectivity for generations to come” edited in October 2016 gives an overview about twelve years’ experience on ecological connectivity in the Alps and offers interesting perspectives for the evolutions of the upcoming years. Numerous experts and scientists have contributed to this publication. A large number of unpublished maps complete the articles that propose a detailed analysis on various topics such as the link between ecological connectivity and ecosystem services, the alpine Pilot Regions for ecological connectivity, the European and national policies on ecological networks, the cartography of alpine connectivity areas and many more.
This publication is available as open e-paper and can be downloaded as pdf.
Three short videos were realized to promote the publication, explaining in a simple and entertaining way the topic of ecological connectivity to a larger public.
Will the three love stories come to a happy end? Join our fish, ibex and bearded vulture in their quest for love:
"Life needs connectivity- Three love stories"
Visit our Youtube page and have a look at these 3 video clips!
The next Workshop “Mountain Environmental Education in the Alpine Protected Areas” will take place on 18th and 19th October 2016 at the Mercantour National Park/France. As usual, it is a 2-days work meeting addressed to staff of Alpine Protected Areas in charge of education.
Please find below the programme description and some practical information.
Registration is closed since September the 15th.
On the occasion of the AlpWeek and the Alpine Conference, ALPARC handed over a list of political demands for the future of Alpine protected areas to the German Federal Minister for the Environment, Dr. Barbara Hendricks, and to the official representative of the Austrian Presidency of the Alpine Convention.
The document entitled “The future of Protected Areas in the Alps - Political Demands” had been jointly elaborated by the ALPARC members in the context of the network’s 20 Year Anniversary. The document comprises six key demands that are crucial for Alpine protected areas in order to ensure the continuous and successful carrying out of their missions in nature and landscape protection as well as in sustainable development.
Read the complete document below in English or in the Alpine languages.
The 30th edition of the international Sondrio film Festival will be held from the 7th to the 13th of November 2016, in Italy. It takes place every year in Sondrio since 1987.
The aims of the Festival are the awareness of the culture of nature parks, protected areas and environmental protection, environmental education and the promotion of nature films.
It is mainly dedicated to nature films, of high scientific and cinematographic level, made in nature parks and protected areas worldwide.
For more information : http://www.sondriofestival.it/en/festival
A short video clip expressing the atmosphere of the 2nd Edition of Youth at Top event is released this week during the Alpweek and the Alpine Conference in Grassau (Germany). See the video
The video invites you to discover all the others videos produced by the young participants or by their guides available on the ALPARC YouTube Channel. Furthermore, you are invited to see the numerous pictures taken by the participants during their experience: funny, touching, happy or contemplative. These pictures will certainly encourage you to take part in the adventure in 2017!
The photo galleries are available at https://www.facebook.com/YATevent and in each « event » sheet on the official website .
This summer 40 Youth at the Top events enabled more than 550 young people and about 150 adults to experience a night and to share moments in the mountain along 6 Alpine countries and in 4 Carpathians countries.
Read the complete press release of the 2016 Edition.
The dates for the 2017 and the 2018 edition will be communicated in November.
The initiative is supported by the German Ministry for the Environment and German Presidency of the Alpine Convention, and is coordinated by ALPARC, in partnership with Educ’Alpes in France.
