CIPRA

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
International
Commission for the Protection of the Alps, Commission Internationale pour la Protection des Alpes
(CIPRA)
logo
legal form non-governmental umbrella organization
founding 1952
Seat Schaan , Liechtenstein
main emphasis Alpine Convention (intl. Abbrev.)
Action space Alpine region / countries bordering the Alps
Members > 100 organizations
Website cipra.org

The International Alpine Protection Commission CIPRA - French for Commission Internationale pour la Protection des Alpes - is a non-governmental umbrella organization with over 100 organizations throughout the Alpine region. She is committed to the protection and sustainable development of the Alps .

The International Commission for the Protection of the Alps and the Alpine Convention are often confused, and in fact both are closely related. Since it was founded in 1952, CIPRA has called for a convention for the Alps and has been critical of its creation and implementation in the 1990s. It is involved as an observer organization in the bodies of the Alpine Convention.

Goals and Activities

CIPRA pursues a double strategy: on the one hand, development from above with the Alpine Convention , on the other hand, development from below with projects, initiatives and networks. The “ Alliance in the Alps ” community network, the “ Alpine Town of the Year ” association and the “ Via Alpina ” association are important partners for this task. Providing information on the Alpine region is one of the most important tasks of CIPRA. The website, the SzeneAlpen special issue, the alpMedia newsletter and numerous other publications and events serve this purpose. CIPRA has its roots in nature conservation . In addition, she focuses on social, economic and sociopolitical issues such as resource management , energy and mobility, participation , gender and sufficiency issues . She supervises and implements projects on the following key issues, always with a reference to the Alpine region: nature and people, social innovation , the changing economy and Alpine politics.

organization

Country representatives

CIPRA has seven national representations and one regional representation, namely in Germany, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia and South Tyrol. These are independent organizations and act as interfaces to the members and to national politics. The Dutch environmental group for the Alps (Nederlands Milieugroep Alpen) is a supporting member. The CIPRA International office is located in Liechtenstein .

Member organizations

Around 100 organizations and institutions are under the umbrella of CIPRA. This mainly includes other environmental organizations and institutes, but in the case of Austria also all nine federal states, in France nature parks and in Slovenia individual members.

Assembly of delegates

The highest body of CIPRA is the assembly of delegates. All national representations have six votes each, the regional representation South Tyrol two. The supporting member (Nederlandse Milieugroep Alpen) takes part in an advisory capacity. The assembly of delegates usually meets once a year.

Bureau

The Presidium is a somewhat leaner body. Each national representation has two votes in it, the regional representation of CIPRA South Tyrol one. The Presidium also meets annually. It has already become a tradition that the managing directors of the national and regional CIPRA representations meet before the executive committee meeting. The President of CIPRA is currently (since November 2014) Katharina Conradin from Switzerland , the Vice Presidents are Christian Baumgartner from Austria , Serena Arduino from Italy , Miro Kristan from Slovenia and Treasurer Hugo Quaderer from Liechtenstein . Kaspar Schuler is the managing director of CIPRA International, Barbara Wülser is the deputy managing director.

Youth Advisory Board

The youth council is an advisory body for the committees, management and office of CIPRA International. It was launched by the CIPRA delegate assembly in Bolzano in October 2013.

history

The International Alpine Protection Commission was founded on May 5, 1952 in Rottach-Egern , Germany . The idea to found it was born in the World Conservation Union ( IUCN ). The immediate trigger were planned major projects in the Gran Paradiso National Park , Italy. From the beginning, CIPRA had a very close relationship with the IUCN. The first President of the IUCN was Charles Jean Bernard, who was also elected the first President of CIPRA in 1952. Wolfgang E. Burhenne , who was also active in the IUCN, was at his side as secretary at CIPRA . In 1952, CIPRA joined the IUCN as a member. Nevertheless, CIPRA remained an independent organization, for which its own regulations were drawn up.

For a long time, CIPRA's work focused on holding one meeting each year. Resolutions were drawn up on the subjects dealt with, and initial successes have also been achieved, e. B. a planned power plant construction in Val di Genova could be fended off, the Krimml waterfalls could be preserved.

The CIPRA committee at that time was a largely homogeneous group of natural scientists. Some worked not only in CIPRA but also in IUCN. The contacts were therefore maintained at various levels, including through a lively correspondence. Also, there was hardly any change in personnel up to 1970, which ensured continuous activity and strengthened friendly relationships.

A crisis loomed in the late 1960s. After the annual conference was canceled in 1973, it was decided in autumn 1974 on the sidelines of an IUCN conference in Trento on the subject of "The Future of the Alps" to place CIPRA on a broader base of supporting organizations with a multi-member presidium at the top. A CIPRA agency should be set up in each country.

Austria was the first country to set up a “national committee” on April 4, 1975. In the same year, intensive discussions were held on the traffic problems in the Alpine region, and the planning of the “Alemagna” motorway from Italy towards the Austrian border was already underway Recognized as a danger at the time, the fight against this autobahn was to become a long-running success for CIPRA Austria. National committees were also formed in the other Alpine countries between 1975 and 1992.

In the 1980s, CIPRA repositioned itself. She increasingly relied on the exchange of experience and information. In 1990 a full-time office was set up in Liechtenstein.

Since its inception, CIPRA has worked to give Alpine policy more weight on an international level. A milestone is the signing of the Alpine Convention in 1991 . Since then, CIPRA has been an official observer on their committees, providing ideas and a basis for discussion on current issues and taking critical positions. The general framework convention, which has since been ratified by all contracting parties, is given concrete form in so-called implementation protocols.

Topics and trends

In the 1950s and 1960s, the debates centered around nature and landscape protection, tourism and the topic of energy. In all areas it was primarily a matter of preventing certain construction projects or placing areas under protection. In addition, work has also been carried out in the animal and plant protection sector to create uniform, transnational guidelines. The prevailing view was that the Alps should be preserved in their original form. Particular attention was paid to the protection of those areas that were of scientific interest.

In the course of the reorientation after 1974, on the other hand, CIPRA adopted an ecological perspective, in which spatial and landscape planning in particular gained in importance. At this time there were also organizational changes that had an impact on the thematic orientation of CIPRA. At the annual conferences, instead of several regional projects, the focus was on a general topic that was dealt with across national borders.

This aspect was expanded further in the 1980s. The topic should now be «explosive», connected to the conference venue and of national interest. At this point in time, the step towards a holistic view of nature and environmental protection in the Alpine region was taken. This was reflected in efforts to create an Alpine Convention. Not only the landscape to be protected was important, but also the people who lived there. There was therefore an opening towards socio-economic issues.

For a long time, the delegates discussed technical issues exclusively at the annual meetings, which from the end of the 1960s onwards were called “conferences” or “annual conferences”. These took place alternately in one of the participating countries. As a rule, they extended over two to three days and often also included excursions into the vicinity of the conference location. Foreign speakers are invited today and the conference is open to the public. The annual conference was the event of the year in earlier decades as CIPRA's activities focused on it. CIPRA's field of activity has expanded considerably since the 1990s. The annual symposium is still an important meeting point where a professional exchange takes place between representatives from different countries.

languages

When it was founded in 1952, German and French were defined as the “official languages”. This restriction to bilingualism - although there were also Italian and Slovenian representatives at CIPRA - was seen by some members as a deficiency. An opening took place in the late 1980s under President Mario F. Broggi. Contacts with the Italian and Slovenian regions were intensified. The establishment of a full-time branch also guaranteed that contacts could be maintained. This led to Italian being recognized as official CIPRA languages ​​in 1990 and Slovenian in 1992. Today CIPRA communicates consistently in German, French, Italian and Slovenian as well as partly in English.

partner

CIPRA works with an international network of organizations, institutions and private individuals whose goals are to reconcile ecological balance, economic stability and social progress in mountain regions around the world.

Networks

  • Alpine Town of the Year is an association in which the Alpine towns that have been awarded the title "Alpine Town of the Year" have come together. This title is awarded for special commitment in the implementation of the Alpine Convention. It has been awarded by an international jury since 1997. Any city within the scope of the Alpine Convention that shows willingness to put the Alpine Convention into practice can become Alpine City of the Year . CIPRA has been represented in the jury since it was founded and has been in charge of the association's office since 2003.
  • The network of municipalities " Alliance in the Alps " is an amalgamation of around 300 municipalities and associations of municipalities who work together to make the Alps a sustainable living space. In 1997, CIPRA was involved in the establishment of the community network and between 2000 and 2014 performed some of the secretarial tasks and project management for the network.
  • Central Asian Mountain Village Alliance is a community network in Central Asia that was founded in June 2003 based on the model of the community network "Alliance in the Alps". In this Central Asian community network, like the sister organization in the Alps, it is about sustainable development in mountain communities and the exchange of experiences, especially in the field of energy, such as the construction of stoves and the insulation of houses.
  • The Via Alpina is a cross-border hiking trail from Trieste / I to Monaco. The total of five long-distance hiking trails are meeting places, experiences of the alpine living and natural spaces and physical connection between all eight alpine countries. The association was founded in 2000 by an association of alpine associations and local authorities under the leadership of the French association " Grande Traversée des Alpes ". In 2014, CIPRA International took over the coordination in order to maintain the offer and to enrich it with the topics of sustainable development.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ CIPRA website for its member organizations
  2. ↑ Alpine town of the year
  3. ^ Website of Allianz in the Alps
  4. ^ CIPRA website on the Via Alpina network
  5. ^ Royal Dutch Climbing and Mountaineering Association (NKBV)
  6. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.vcoe.at