The first edition of the international “Youth at the Top” project was a big hit!

With a little help from the sunny weather in the whole Alpine Arc, groups of young people have participated with great enthusiasm in the first edition of this innovative project: sharing a physical, human, cultural and artistic experience in the mountains at the same time.
The 16th and the 17th of July 2015, a total of 27 events took place simultaneously in 5 alpine countries: France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, and Germany. More than 370 young people aged between 7 and 28 and 105 adults (guides, rangers, families, educators, artists, artisans...) participated across the whole Alpin arc. The first edition of “Youth at the top” was organized by ALPARC and Educ’Alpes with the financial support of the German Ministry for the Environment.

The participants had the chance to experience an overnight stay in a refuge or in a camp and to discover, through different artistic educational actions, the importance and the value of the alpine mountain territories.  The activities organized within each event differed from one place to another: rock painting, land art, creative writing, wooden sculptures, light painting, tales, team games, star observation, walking to a summit, meetings with local peoples and many more…

A young participant from MJC Briançon in the PN Ecrins (France) declares:  “I really liked spending two days with friends, sleeping outdoors, and going to the mountains during the summer holidays!  We saw a refuge in a 8000-year-old cave, and I really liked the tale”.

“I did not think I would make it… It has been a long time since I last went to the mountains” Lucie, RN Passy

Whereas each event consisted of different activities, all of them shared the same aim: to bring youth from 5 alpine countries to the mountains simultaneously, in different Alpine Protected Areas and natural sites. The idea was to go beyond administrative and language barriers by considering the Alps as one region.
Furthermore, as most of the young participants are living in the region close to a protected area, the initiative gave them the chance to discover new areas that they may never have seen before. On the other hand, the local professionals (refuges, transport, et cetera) also benefited from taking part in the event.

Discover what went on in each of the 27 events that were part of the project and have a look at the pictures from each area at:

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

or visit the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/YATevent

After this success story, the organizers are already planning the next edition of “Youth at the Top”. A retrospective video dedicated to the 2015 edition will be published soon!

Let's meet in 2016!

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

Une approche comparative des mesures grands prédateurs dans le cadre du Développement Rural

Maison Rhodanienne de l’Environnement
32 Rue Sainte Hélène 69022 LYON

De 10h30 à 15h30 (déjeuner fourni)

La FRAPNA (Fédération Rhône-Alpes de Protection de la Nature) organise cet évènement conjointement avec le Bureau Européen de l'Environnement (BEE), France Nature Environnement (FNE) et FNE PACA.
Des éleveurs et représentants agricoles de différents pays européens seront présents pour partager leurs expériences.

Objectifs de la table ronde :
Le but de cette journée est de discuter des différentes mesures proposées dans les programmes de Développement Rural dans l’Arc Alpin mais aussi au nord de l’Europe pour faire face à la présence de prédateurs et en particulier des loups près des zones d’élevage.
Une approche comparative des différentes mesures dans les différents pays peut en effet s’avérer très utile et aider à mieux comprendre les interactions entre les prédateurs et les animaux d’élevage et les meilleurs outils pour s’y adapter.

Participants :
Cette table ronde est en particulier à destination des chambres d’agricultures, des syndicats, des décideurs locaux, régionaux, des ONGs de protection de la nature et des décideurs européens.

La table ronde se déroulera en trois temps :

1 - Présentations
Etat des lieux - les populations de loup dans l’Arc Alpin et les pays du Nord.
Etude comportementale du loup face aux chiens de protection des troupeaux.
Les mesures mises à disposition dans le deuxième pilier de la Politique Agricole Commune.

2 - Témoignages
Des agriculteurs/éleveurs Suédois et Français, ainsi que des ONGs italienne et allemande offrirons leurs témoignages.

3 - Discussions
Les intervenants et participants seront invités à largement échanger sur le sujet tout au long de la journée.

Confirmez votre présence par mail à patricia.urge@frapna.org ou par téléphone au 04 76 42 98 47.

Le dossier de candidature des Alpes de la Méditerranée au Patrimoine mondial de l'Humanité de l'Unesco avance à grands pas. Les experts de l'UICN France (Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature) ainsi que le Ministère de l'Ecologie, du
Développement durable et de l'Energie ont été enthousiastes à la présentation du dossier et au travail réalisé. Mais la route est encore
longue. Maintenant, les équipes s'apprêtent à s'atteler à la prochaine étape: définir le périmètre exact du bien.

Pour en savoir plus, consultez le communiqué de presse.

Alparc is celebrating its 20th birthday. Since 1995, the network has been opening doors for exchange, recognition and joint activities among the protected areas in the Alps. Staff members of protected areas have found each other across cultural, linguistic and legislative borders. Not only did they live in the same mountain range, they also recognized their similar ambitions and concerns.

During the past 20 years, Alparc has realized many successful projects and created numerous opportunities for protected area staff members to learn from and inspire each other. This is something we can be proud of.

Therefore, the year 2015 is a year of celebrations and festive activities, among which a land art photo contest and the first edition of the international Youth at the Top event. We will also take the opportunity to think about the role of the Alpine protected areas today and in the future, and come together to establish a shared vision for the years to come.

We look forward to sharing experiences, forming new friendships, joining strengths and realizing new projects together for the Alps.

A short history of ALPARC

Events during the celebration year

The role of scientific councils            

Experts from science, protected mountain areas and administration will discuss the role of scientific councils regarding science and management in protected areas.

The workshop will be based on the presentation of various models in organising scientific councils existing in different countries and for different categories of protection. Afterwards, different aspects of scientific councils as an interface between science and protected areas will be discussed: To what extent and under what conditions are scientific councils able to promote scientific research in protected areas? To what extent and under what conditions can they support the management and the policy of a protected area and mediate conflicts? How can they contribute to building networks and cooperation?

Outcomes of the workshop will be recommendations concerning the establishment and the management of scientific councils, an analysis of scientific councils as interfaces between science and mountain protected areas (article in a scientific journal) and inputs to a planned Alpine Space project on the governance of protected areas and the contribution of science.

As the number of participants is limited to 40, the date of registration will be taken into account in the selection of participants.

Please find below the announcement, the programme and the registration form to send back to iscar@scnat.ch

The organising institutions:

ISCAR Jean-Jacques Brun, Thomas Scheurer
LabEx ITEM Isabelle Arpin, Philippe Bourdeau, Fabien Hobléa, Sophie Tocreau, Gaëlle Ronsin
ALPARC Guido Plassmann

For further information: http://www.iscar-alpineresearch.org/

Sommet(s) pour le Climat is a project led by a group of French mountaineers, consisting of a collective crossing of the “Massif des Écrins” in the French Alps. The aim of the project is to promote useful solutions for a more ecological and sustainable world. On the occasion of the COP21, which will be held in Paris in December 2015, this project highlights the positive values of the mountain as well as the importance to mobilize the mountain networks to fight against climate change.
Several actions are proposed both at national and international levels, including:

-    21 day crossing across the peaks of the Massif des Écrins” (29 June – 19 July 2015);
-    Simultaneous climbing all over the world to enhance the international dimension of the issue (11-12 July 2015);
-    Organization of a photo contest :“photos décalées”.

The project is supported by different partners: FFCAM, Mountain Wilderness, Négawatt Association, Écrins National Park, Educ’Alpes, Réseau Action Climat, la Revue Durable.

For further information, you will find the press release below.

To know all the details about this project, visit the website.

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.

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.

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 Slovenian Pavilion hosts the Multivision during the Mountain week, from the 1st to the 14th of June 2015.               

More information about EXPO2015

http://www.expo2015.org/en/index.html

More information about the Multivision
http://grafimedia.fr/multivision/index.php?lang=EN

The Continuum Suitability Index (CSI) was successfully calculated with regional data by the region of Bavaria, Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg and integrated into the web application http://www.jecami.eu. In this application, regional analyses of the indicators are now possible and can be carried out from desired locations. The CSI tool serves as a tool to identify areas with potential and then to investigate them further.

You can download the report below (only in German available)