Mreža zavarovanih območij v Alpah
The third and last InnovAlps workshop took place on the 21st and 22nd of June 2016 in the Regional nature park Baronnies provençales. Situated between the Southern Alps and the Provence, the Baronnies massif is at the crossroads of Alpine and Provençal influences. The place is famous for its valuable and diversified local production, its open landscapes, its typical agricultural and built heritage and its geology and biodiversity.
In this vast territory (half of the villages has less than 100 inhabitants), the nature park administration spearheads many rural development initiatives and coordinates innovative actions in collaboration with a large network of local actors. Some of them, together with the park staff, had opportunity to express themselves during the workshop in June. They underlined the importance of the park’s development charter as a guiding principle for their actions in favour of a sustainable, economic and solidary development. In order to support such a development, the actors think that it is essential to relocate the local economy, based on local resources and production. The region needs to sustain and promote mountain agriculture through diversification and a quality approach. In the Baronnies region, agriculture is a key sector that employs 18% of the working force.
One innovative initiative in this perspective is a network of about fifty producers and buyers (artisans, restaurateur and small shops). The aim was to improve local products sales and to facilitate supply. In 2013, the network became institutionalised with the creation of the association “Short circuits in the Baronnies Provençales”. In cooperation with the park and the department, an online shop was created which facilitates the link between producers and buyers. It also allows improving logistics in this vast territory, with collect and pick-up locations. The Association members ensure the quality of their products by signing a common charter on top of their official certifications (AOP, IGP, AB, …).
The participants also discussed other projects of the park: the development of touristic offers that valorise the outstanding quality of the night sky, natural and cultural heritage education or the promotion of new work and life styles, such as co-working. Gilberte Bremond, deputy director of the park, underlined that the French Regional nature parks have the explicit mission to innovate, to “realise experimental or exemplary actions”. Innovation is in their DNA, so to say. The Swiss and Austrian participants benefitted from the experiences and were able to collect ideas for their own territories.
InnvAlps is coming to its end
The InnovAlps project is a search for innovative approaches and alternatives for development of protected area regions. Three pilot regions, all classified nature parks, have engaged in a transnational exchange on innovation. They have presented their projects in the fields of tourism, local production, environmental education and more generally governance and cooperation on regional level.
The last InnovAlps event will the final conference on September 29th and 30th, 2016, open to all interested persons. It will take place in the regional nature park Pfyn-Finges in the Valais (CH). Under the title « Alpine Nature Parks – Model for Change », the conference will present the results of the project. The event will also be the occasion to discuss further actions within the ALPARC network in the working field of regional development.
"Initially I thought it would have been boring... but in the end it was amazing!" Lilou and Kilian, France. Read more in the official press release below.
On 12th and 13th July, for the second edition of the operation, almost 700 participants (more than 500 young people and about 150 adults) from 8 countries of the Alps and the Carpathians together saw what it was like to live as a group and share exciting moments in the mountains: an event that will long remain in their memories. In all, 37 events took place in the Alpine Arc and 4 in the Carpathians.
Visit the project’s official page: www.youth-at-the-top.org
the Facebook page www.facebook.com/YATevent
and our Youtube channel.
The retrospective video of the 2016 edition of Youth at the Top will be available this autumn.
Our thanks go to all our partners and to the young participants for making this edition a success!
"Youth at the top" is a project coordinated by ALPARC, together with Educ’alpes in France, with the special financial support of the German Ministry for the Environment (BMUB).
This collective project emanates from the “Mountain Environmental Education in the Alpine Protected Areas” working group, whose driving aim is to develop links between young people and mountains.
After the success of the international “Wildlife and Winter Sport Activities” workshop in the Massif des Bauges on 3rd and 4th March last, attended by 45 people, a working group on this theme was set up at the beginning of summer. The will to work together in the ALPARC network stems from the finding that the disturbance of wildlife in winter is a problem that follows the same dynamic in many Alpine territories. Sharing knowledge and practices can bring added value: more visibility, greater awareness –raising among the public who practise such activities and a better quality of management in the Alpine protected areas. The operating objective for this group of around 20 people is to develop a project on a transnational scale together.
The working group has at its disposal an online collaborative working space, where information and photos can be shared. Last May the steering committee, made up of technicians from the Bauges Nature Park, ASTERS and ALPARC, met for the first time to collect the feedback from the workshop and set out the next steps.
The results of the online survey
Among the first actions planned by this committee was an online survey which was launched by ALPARC last June and in which 27 people took part (44 % protected areas, 30 % researchers and 19 % Alpine clubs), its aim being to channel ideas for projects. Overall the survey confirmed once again the interest in working together on this theme, notably on awareness-raising, communication and monitoring of the disturbance (wildlife and sports activities). 74 % of participants are in favour of a campaign to raise awareness on an Alpine scale. The idea of working with the pilot regions was brought up, as well as partnerships with Alpine clubs and firms in the outdoor sector for the communication/awareness-raising campaign.
The next step will be to develop a project on an Alpine scale. Furthermore, ALPARC is actively looking for financing which could support these activities and the development of a common strategy.
For further details: Workshop report « Wildlife and winter sport activities »
To join the working group: ALPARC extranet
Ten young people aged from 12 to 15 recently took part in the “Media Camp” organised by the Berchtesgaden National Park in Germany.
“My objective was to get the youngsters to take more time over taking a photo and so be more aware of how they were doing it. They learned to experiment with the camera settings rather than snap away willy nilly,” explains Mark Walter, the professional photographer who for the second time was in charge of the camp.
Can nature and the media really go hand in hand?
“Absolutely”, according to Julia Herzog, in charge of environmental education at the National Park: “Nowadays young people can no longer imagine their lives without modern technology. So for that very reason we want to use this activity as an appetizer to get them to take an enthusiastic interest in the nature around them.”
Thus the camp programme offered notably: a thematic introduction to the aesthetics and composition of the image – A debate on the meaning of the term “Wilderness”- The choice of a personal theme related to the Wilderness – A hike , taking photos and making films on this theme , but also: games, meals and cookery together , a night in a refuge…
Please see the full press release attached (In German)
Following summer reads on the beach or on the grass, we recommend reads for the beginning of the autumn term with some studious books:
"Wilderei im rhätischen Dreiländereck" - "Poaching in the Raetian region – Cross-border studies tracking until Tibet"
This book (304 p.) was written by Heinrich Haller, Director of the Swiss National Park and will be published in October 2016 in German language and in 2017 in Italian language. A presentation of the book is planned for the 12th October 2016, 8.30pm, in Zernez/CH.
To read an extract: https://issuu.com/haupt/docs/9783258079653
“Urban Protected Areas - Profiles and best practice guidelines” – IUCN (2014)
Continued urbanization and metropolisation make urban protected areas a matter of crucial concern. In this volume the IUCN emphasizes management approaches that are especially relevant to protected areas in urban regions.
Download: https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/PAG-022.pdf
"Alpine Nature 2030 - Creating [ecological] connectivity for generations to come"
ALPARC is currently completing the publication of its book to be published in October 2016, on the occasion of AlpWeek and the XIV Alpine Conference which end the German Presidency of the Alpine Convention, in Grassau/D from the 11th to the 15th October 2016. The book is published by the German Ministry of Environment in English language and will be downloadable on ALPARC website www.alparc.org/nature2030.
There are still a few places available to participate to the forth Workshop « Mountain Environmental Education in the Alpine Protected Areas » on the 18th and 19th October, in the French National Park of Mercantour, at the Refuge-hôtel de Bayasse.
Registrations are opened until the 15th of September!
(If you are interested but not able to register before this deadline, please contact info@alparc.org)
National Parks Austria (www.nationalparksaustria.at) and Hohe Tauern National Park (www.hohetauern.at) are pleased to announce the 6th International Symposium for Research in Protected Areas, 2nd – 4th of November 2017.
The symposium will be held at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Salzburg, Austria. The Call for Themed Sessions is now open: please enter your suggestions for themed sessions before 31 October 2016 online on www.nationalparksaustria.at/symposium2017
Aims
At this symposium researchers, protected areas managers, as well as individuals from government, business, non-governmental organizations and the general public, who are interested in protected areas, may present and discuss topics which are highly significant for protected areas and are currently taken up by research. The manifold aspects of the interrelation between protection aims, protected area management and the impacts on nature, society and the regional economy in times of transition form the general thematic base of this international conference, held every four years since 1996.
Six of Austria’s most ecologically valuable regions have been designated as national parks. They reflect the great diversity of this Central European country: high mountains, forests, water and riparian marshes, and steppes. Austria is part of two biogeographic regions: the alpine and the continental, and most of the Austrian national parks are part of two important regional networks for protected areas: ALPARC and DanubePARKS. In close cooperation with these regional networks, and supported by scientific institutions, we are looking for entries across the entire geographic region from the Western Alps to the Danube Delta.
2-stage Call
In order to identify current issues of relevance for both research and protected areas, the organizers of the Symposium invite all interested individuals, institutions, protected areas, networks and initiatives to propose topics and contributions to this event in two stages: First, we are asking you now to propose session topics. Second, in early 2017 you will be invited to submit presentations for the definitive themed sessions. The conference programme will be finalized by the end of June 2017.
Call for Themed Sessions
First, please suggest topics for themed sessions. A themed session can be organized as a series of presentations, as a workshop or as a chaired discussion and will last 1.5 hours (or 2x1.5 hours).
Please enter your suggestions for themed sessions no later than 31 October 2016 online on www.nationalparksaustria.at/symposium2017
All proposals to be written in English.
Following a review, the organizers will decide on definitive themed sessions by 12 December 2016.
We welcome research topics from all disciplines and basic or applied research relevant for protected areas. We are looking especially for proposals of:
• sessions with a clear link to highly significant topics for protected areas and/or management practices
• session themes addressing current research or innovative approaches
• sessions that promise contributions from different countries (i.e. not park- or country-specific)
• sessions focusing on current research approaches to wilderness and wilderness areas in Europe, on one or more aspects like natural processes, global change, threats, visitors, education or governance
Please note:
Conference language will be English.
There will be no refunding of costs for travelling, accommodation and meals that are not included in the conference. We are unable to award grants.
We are looking forward to receiving your proposals of themed sessions for the 6th International Symposium for Research in Protected Areas 2017 in Salzburg!
Many thanks in advance!
Rund 30 Naturzentren informieren die Schweizer Bevölkerung über Natur und Umwelt. Doch im Zeitalter der Informationstechnologie stehen die Naturzentren neuen Herausforderungen gegenüber. Welches sind die Erfolgsfaktoren der Umweltbildungsarbeit auf dem Weg zu den Naturzentren 2050?
Près de 30 centres nature informent la population suisse sur la nature et l’environnement. A l’heure des nouvelles technologies de l’information, les centres nature font face à de nouveaux défis. Cette Journée de réflexion abordera les facteurs de réussite de l’éducation à l’environnement dans les centres nature.
Die Tagung «Naturzentren 2050: Mit innovativen Ideen in die Zukunft» informiert am 16. September 2016 über aktuelle Trends und Standards in der Bildungsarbeit von Naturzentren und diskutiert mögliche Synergien in der Zusammenarbeit mit Schulen, der Museologie und der praktischen Naturschutzarbeit.
Die Veranstaltung richtet sich an Fachleute und interessierte Personen im Bereich Umweltbildung (Naturzentren, Regionale Naturpärke, NGO’s, Schulen, Verwaltung etc.). Sie wird vom Pro Natura Zentrum Aletsch im Rahmen des 40-jährigen Jubiläumsorganisiert. Tagungssprachen sind Französisch und Deutsch; es findet keine Simultanübersetzung statt.
La Journée de réflexion « Centres nature 2050 : des idées innovantes pour le futur » présentera le 16 septembre 2016 les tendances et les standards actuels dans le travail d’éducation dans les centres nature et permettra d’aborder le sujet des synergies possibles dans la collaboration avec les écoles, les musées et le travail de protection de la nature sur le terrain.
Cette manifestation s’adresse aux professionnels et aux personnes actives dans le domaine de l’éducation à l’environnement (centres nature, parcs naturels régionaux, ONG, écoles, administrations etc.). Elle est organisée par le Centre Pro Natura d’Aletsch dans le cadre de son jubilé des 40 ans. Les langues de cette Journée de réflexion sont le français et l’allemand ; aucune traduction simultanée n’est prévue.
Anmeldung/ Inscription: http://www.pronatura-aletsch.ch/umweltbildungs-tagung
For the second year between the 5th and 11th of December, the Alpine Convention organizes the Reading mountains Festival. The festival is an occasion to celebrate the Alpine literature and to promote cultural differences and similarities all along the Alps.
We invite all of you to participate!
Protected areas, associations or interested organization are all invited to organize their own event in the frame of the Reading Mountains Festival with a reading by a local author, by a presentation of a book taking place in the region or by finding all the innovative way to promote the Alpine literature.
This festival was launched in 2015 under the German presidency of Alpine convention 2015-2016 and the Permanent secretariat in order to celebrate on the 11th of December the International Mountain day. The idea is to exalt all the cultural specificities and similarities through the Festival’s events which promote the modern alpine literature in different places around the Alps and enable people to connect.
The Mountains reading festival represents also an occasion to discuss about alpine literature, its meaning, its impact and purpose. In 2015 some mountains lovers and actors discussed these issues and some of these discussion were captured in the film “People, Books and mountain –The Quest for Alpine literature”.
The first edition was a great success, with more than 100 events in all the Alpine countries, in four alpine languages and several dialects.
We strongly encourage all the Protected areas and alpine actors to participate this year!
For more information, registration, suggestions, ideas and materials visit the Alpine convention website.
