Online Encyclopaedia for Research Projects in Alpine Space

Online Encyclopaedia for Research Projects in Alpine Space

An initial meeting at the European Academy in Bolzano (EURAC) for the WIKIAlps Project

The European Union’s “ETC Alpine Space Programme 2007-2013” has financed ca. 60 projects over the past six years. Some of these projects have examined how to improve the connectivity between zones with a high biodiversity e.g. in order to increase wildlife survival chances or they have developed guidelines for new approaches to territorial governance. The results are available in the form of online databases, recommendations for action, or as software or web-GIS tools. The “WIKIAlps” project, now under way, will develop the relationship between various projects on the subject of spatial development, combine project results, and build contacts with interest groups. The aim is to offer decision-makers quick and clear access to the collected results. The European Academy of Bolzano (EURAC) invited the project partners from the entire Alpine space to the initial meeting held last week in Bolzano.
The aim of the WIKIAlps project is to offer politicians and decision-makers a quick and efficient overview of spatial development issues that is based on the processed results, goes beyond national borders, and encompasses all the various projects. “The results of the projects must be available where they are needed”, says project leader Caroline Pecher of the EURAC Institute for Alpine Environment. Meetings are being organised for this purpose with politicians and administrators from various Alpine countries to take their requirements and needs into consideration during the processing of results. One of the main results of “WIKIAlps” will be a Wikipedia-like website presently being developed on the topic of spatial development. It will clearly and quickly present the processed information on spatial development, allowing political decision-makers and civil servants to directly integrate research results regarding spatial development into Alpine space policies. Moreover, guidelines and recommendations will be developed to support decision-makers and civil servants during their daily work.
WIKIAlps is one of the most recent projects to be approved by the EU in the course of the Alpine Space Programme. It will be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Alpine Space Programme of the European Territorial Cooperation (www.alpine-space.eu).
WIKIAlps-project partners:

• European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC) - Italy
• Fondazione Montagna sicura - Montagne sûre (FondMS) - Italy
• Ifuplan – Institut für Umweltplanung und Raumentwicklung - Germany
• Institut national de Recherche en Sciences et Technologies pour l’Environnement et l’Agriculture (IRSTEA) - France
• Znanstvenoraziskovalni center Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti, Geografski inštitut Antona Melika (ZRC SAZU) - Slovenia Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW), Institut für Interdisziplinäre Gebirgsforschung (IGF) – Austria
• Schweizerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für die Berggebiete (SAB) – Switzerland

Ljubljana, October 2013

Contact: dr. Janez Nared, janez.nared@zrc-sazu.si, telefon: 01 200 27 16