ESC: Sustainable development in the Alps

CIPRA, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, is a non-governmental umbrella organisation with national representatives in all the Alpine countries, representing more than 100 associations, organisations and local authorities from seven Alpine states. CIPRA has been working since 1952 towards achieving sustainable development in the Alps; it also strives to preserve the natural and cultural heritage, maintain regional diversity, and bring about solutions to cross-border problems in the Alpine region. The Alpine Convention, launched at CIPRA’s initiative, is a guiding principle for the way CIPRA thinks and acts. CIPRA´s principal activities are: information, lobbying, networking and managing projects at an international level. The main topics of CIPRA’s work revolve around Social Innovation, Nature & People and Economy in transition. Young people are an important target group, because sustainability means giving today’s and future generations the same opportunities as those who came before them. And yet young people are still often excluded by politicians and authorities when it is a question of shaping the framework for their future. CIPRA’s objective is accordingly to strengthen the role and importance of young people in political decision-making processes. Since 2009 CIPRA has been exploring innovative ways of establishing exchanges and co-operation with young people. CIPRA wants to incorporate the concerns of young people more effectively in its work and also encourage and empower other players within the Alpine region to do so. It sees itself as a mentor and enabler for a more intense involvement of young people in the Alpine region. That also includes education to sustainability, which represents a key component for raising the awareness of young people for their habitat. Many projects have been initiated and supported in the last ten years, some of them with EU-funding.