OpenSpaceAlps is one of fifteen projects approved in the frame of Call 4 of the Interreg Alpine Space programme. It brings together seven partners from Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Slovenia to work on the topic of near-natural open spaces in the core Alpine and EUSALP areas. 
The main objective of OpenSpaceAlps is to foster sustainable development of the Alpine area by contributing to the safeguarding of open spaces featuring environmental and natural values. In the valleys, these open spaces are decreasing due to e.g. development of settlements and transport related areas, whereas in the higher altitudes they are being dissected by tourism, forestry and agriculture related infrastructures. The path taken is to initiate and facilitate processes towards the adoption of new spatial planning approaches in the alpine countries as well as to promote multilevel, transnational spatial governance.

First steps of the project having been started 8 months ago gathered alpine planning instruments in the different countries, a summary of all project results related to former INTERREG or other projects concerning the topic of natural spaces, ecological connectivity and the role of protected areas as back-bones and biodiversity reservoirs for the alpine space.
Next steps involve the analysis of governance approaches of planning strategies in pilot areas, an alps wide mapping of open spaces where protected areas of all categories are occupying an important place and a concept for a network of spatial planning institutions allowing an integrated approach of spatial planning in the Alps considering human activities and the needs of nature and ecology.
Several parks of the ALPARC network are directly or indirectly involved in different work-packages of the project. In this sense, this new project is an excellent continuation and practical implementation for the results of the work of the last 15 years concerning ecological connectivity.

The LeadPartner of this project is the spatial planning agency of Salzburg (A). ALPARC is partner and workpackage leader dealing with the international dimension of the project including governance aspects, ecological connectivity concepts and biodiversity protection strategies within alps-wide spatial planning approaches. The project will end by Summer 2022. ALPARC is supported by the German Ministry (BMU) for this project.

ALPARC is officially taking part to the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2021 in Marseille (FR), next January 7th - 15th, in cooperation with the Swiss National Park.
The congress has been postponed from June 2020 to January 2021 due to the Corona crisis.

After the first selection phase, the IUCN responded to our application asking us to join forces with the Swiss National Park in our activities during the Congress. This gives us the opportunity to closely cooperate with the oldest national park in the Alps and central Europe towards the common goal of fostering intra-generational discussions.

In fact, the concept consists in fostering a dialogue between young professionals and other experts on the role of protected areas in the mitigation of the effects of climate change.  In this context young professionals from all over the Alps will be invited to a preparatory workshop in Munich in October 2020.

Ecological connectivity, biodiversity conservation and the safeguard of mountainous ecosystem services in view of climate change will be the central topics of the slot that ALPARC will have during the IUCN World Conservation Congress. For this objective, the network will not only collaborate with various protected areas but also other stakeholders, such as the EUSALP action group 7, in order to recommend solutions to the current challenges. 

More information and the exact date of the workshop will follow soon.

Bolzano will be the location for the Matchmaking Workshop of the Alpine Climate Board next 30th June and 1st of July, to take further steps towards the implementation of the Alpine Climate Target System 2050; and of the Climate Communication Conference by ALPACA, an initiative of CIPRA International, Alliance in the Alps and the Alpine Town of the Year Association to strengthen the transregional exchange of knowledge and experience.

An introduction to the thematic of climate change and its impact on alpine protected areas

Klimawandel und alpine Schutzbebiete - Rolle und Aktionen

An introduction to the thematic of climate change and its impact on alpine protected areas

Changement climatique et espaces protégés alpins - rôle et actions

En hiver, les Alpes sont de plus en plus fréquentées par les pratiquants du ski de randonnée, du free-riding et des raquettes. Cela engendre un dérangement de la faune sauvage: le tétra-lyre, pour économiser son énergie, passe le plus clair de l'hiver dans un creux dans la neige, ce qui le protège aussi des prédateurs; cet hiver, à vous de choisir le bon tracé!

Pour en savoir plus sur l'initiative: www.bepartofthemountain.org/fr

Dear colleagues,

After the decision taken by the French Government over the COVID-19 matter, we decided that it was preferable to keep our offices in Chambery closed to protect our team. We will be working on our projects as usual, from home, and will still be available on our emails and mobile phones. Don't hesitate to write to : info@alparc.org for any matter. Please note that our regular office phone is not working.

Take care of yourself and have a nice day!

The ALPARC Team

This ATLAS is part of the INTERREG Alpine Space project ALPBIONET2030

It is a tool to a sustainable Alpine environmental policy. 

The aim of this meeting is to increase mutual knowledge and analyse how EU institutions, EUROPARC, ENOS and other organisations can work together on European Policies to promote the value of outdoor sports and nature conservation for health, well-being and environmental sustainability.

The discussion will help us to:

• Showcase the benefits of Outdoor Sports in Protected Areas including health and well-being, social inclusion, sustainable tourism, education and environmental engagement.
• Showcase good examples of how people are managing outdoor sports in Protected Areas to minimise their impact on wildlife and ecology.
• Discuss how policymakers and European Institutions can work more effectively on this issue, setting environment (Protected Areas) as a key topic for the new EU Work Plan for Sport (2020-2023).
• Nature health centres as a cornerstone. The Jurmala Communiqué 2019: healthy parks, healthy people.
• Enlarge the possibilities of outdoor activities that may take place in Protected Areas, so that they are seen as valuable outdoor grounds.
• Sustainability as a guideline: importance of economically viable projects.

The Fo­rum will pro­vide a plat­form for ex­change, cov­er­ing a wide range of per­spec­tives, and cap­tur­ing a di­ver­si­ty of vi­sions. With this, it aims to re­de­fine and set the agen­da for bio­di­ver­si­ty as a fo­cal point over the next 10 years in cur­rent themes and top­ics across sec­tors.

In this, the Fo­rum sup­ports the “New Deal for Na­ture” to be forged by the Con­ven­tion on Bi­o­log­i­cal Di­ver­si­ty at the end of 2020. It is aligned with Sus­tain­able De­vel­op­ment Goals and achieve­ment of which will re­quire the in­volve­ment of all sec­tors/so­ci­etal ac­tors, so­ci­etal con­sen­sus and col­lec­tive search for so­lu­tions to con­serve bio­di­ver­si­ty.