News

For years now the French town of Annecy has been pursuing a policy of sustainability. As a reward for its efforts the principal town of the Haute-Savoie département and its 53,000 inhabitants have been nominated as the Alpine Town of the Year 2012.

The Province of Bolzano wants to become more energy efficient by 2050. Every inhabitant of the Province currently produces around five tonnes of carbon dioxide. The aim is to cut that figure to a mere 1.5 tonnes over the next forty years.

Hubert Buhl talks about towns that are pioneering climate change mitigation, environmental role models, and an award capable of changing entire communities.

The label for sustainable development was awarded to the Slovenian town of Idrija for its commitment to climate protection among other initiatives. The "Alpine Town Year" was ceremoniously inaugurated in February.

The Alpine Space Forum, to be held in Innsbruck/A from 22 to 23 February 2011, focuses on coping with demographic change in the Alpine region. The Alps are particularly affected as settlement areas are limited and many Alpine communities are located in the peripheries.

Time for photographers of the Alps to show off their best shots! The Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention is organising a photo competition with the aim of publishing the twelve best photographs in a calendar. There will also be a special prize for each published photograph.

ASSOCIATION “Alpine Town of the Year” - Bolzano’s municipal councillor Helmuth Moroder explains how the “2009 Alpine Town of the Year” intends to achieve ITS aim OF BEING carbon-neutral by 2030.

In April the Slovenian town of Idrija has been declared "Alpine Town of the Year". In the Year of the Alpine Town Idrija intends to make a big step towards becoming a model town for climate protection. In the context of sustainable development, the "Alpine Town of the Year" brand should help the town to become known outside Slovenia as well.

The new December 2009 issue of Revue de géographie alpine / Journal of alpine research looks at mountain tourism and sustainability. Six articles examine the sustainability of current practices in tourism and take a closer look at the experience gained with sustainable tourism.

The Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention has gone online with its climate portal, in time for International Mountain Day and the climate negotiations in Copenhagen. The climate portal collates and disseminates information on events, activities and developments relating to climate change in the Alps. Climate-related information from throughout the Alpine region can be submitted to the portal for publication.