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"We'll keep at it."

Virtually everyone was there. Idrija's festival hall was packed to the rafters, and the youth symphony orchestra summoned specially for the occasion was in full flow. There was plenty of drama, and the TV people were there, too. A murmur went through the 1,000-strong audience as they got to their feet and began clapping. Then a large burly man in a dark suit walked onto to the stage. Deep creases bracketed his laughing mouth like waterfalls, stretching up to his white temples. Bojan Sever, the major of the small Slovenian town in the alpine foothills, held aloft the certificate confirming their status as Alpine Town of the Year 2011. Cameras flashed and the applause redoubled. That was just over a year ago.

Soča valley soon under water?

The proposal was made by Slovenia's Ministry of Economic Affairs just before the summer break. Five hydroelectric power plants are to be built on the Soča river and its tributaries, the Ucja and Idrijca.

Idrija is the Alpine Town of the Year 2011

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.

cc.alps showcases future mobility in the Alps

In September CIPRA focused on the issue of sustainable mobility and transport as part of cc.alps and co-organised two events on these topics.

An Alpine Museum for Slovenia

In early August more than 1'000 mountaineers and mountain enthusiasts attended the opening of the Slovenian Alpine Museum (Slovenski planinski muzej - SPM) in Mojstrana/SI. The multitude of guests who attended underlines just how strong the demand is for such an institution in the Slovenian Alps. Slovenia owes its Alpine Museum first and foremost to Miro Eržen, who fought for the project for 25 years. The new Museum was officially inaugurated by the President of Slovenia Danilo Türk.

Where unemployment is now unheard of: Idrija/Sl, the "Alpine Town of the Year"

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.

Calm and collected in a heated discussion: Ivan Hribar, director of Snovik thermal spa/SL

The Thermal Center Snovik was the winner of one of the seven prizes in CIPRA’s cc.alps competition for its activities . We met the director Ivan Hribar.

Actors, Discourses and Interfaces of Rural Tourism Development at the Local Community Level in Slovenia

EU funds for fifty harmful projects

At the end of February Friends of the Earth Europe and CEE Bankwatch published a list of 50 environmentally damaging and economically dubious infrastructure projects in Central and Eastern Europe, which are either financed or planned to be financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and EU regional development funds.

International workshop series "Disseminating Knowledge - Networking People" Transport and visitor management in mountain areas

On May 10 and 11 CIPRA International and CIPRA Slovenia organised a workshop on the topic of "Transport and Visitor Management in Mountain Areas". It became clear already with the first contributions that there are no straightforward answers when it comes to the relationship between transport development and regional development. There are areas of the Alps which do well economically despite being difficult to access.

DYNALP²: Visions and actions to ensure young people remain in their mountain communities

The DYNALP² workshop series is now underway in Slovenia. In Bovec the first workshop on 30 and 31 March dealt with solutions on how to prevent youth exodus. At first glance it might seem as if this issue affects only certain Alpine valleys, but the answers put forward can be of interest in many ways to politicians and regional players in the communities.

Conference publication with findings of the AlpWeek 2004

"The Alps of the Next Generation" was the theme of the AlpWeek 2004 held in Kranjska Gora/SI, a conference which looked at ways of finding solution approaches to current problems and staged a number of scientific discussions.

Slovenia: plans for a series of hydraulic power plants

Slovenia has granted concessions for the planning of a series of power plants along the Mura, Drava and Sava rivers. The International Committee for the Protection of the Mura River Unsere Mur - Nasa Mura, founded in spring 2006, is opposing this threat to precious river landscapes of the Alps and pre-Alps.

Plug-in IT services for small and medium-sized businesses

The Alise project (Alps IT Service Network) is designed to provide those small and medium-sized businesses for which IT operations have become a burden with all the IT services they require directly from the Network.

Alpine Week: Four organisations that operate throughout the Alps join forces

This year the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA), the International Scientific Committee for Alpine Research (ISCAR), the municipality network Alliance in the Alps and the Network of Alpine Protected Areas (Alparc) are organising a joint conference in the form of an "Alpine Week". It is to be held in Kranjska Gora/SI from 22 to 25 September. The conference has elected as its theme: "The Alps of the Coming Generation - From Forecasts to Action".

Project launch: Study of persistent organic pollutants in the Alps

Very little is known to date about the actual extent of the threat to the Alps caused by persistent highly toxic environmental pollutants, also known as POP chemicals. However initial studies suggest that they do represent a burden on the Alps, especially since POPs tend to deposit in cold areas such as mountain regions.

Conference of Regions in Kranjska Gora/SI

On 24 October 2003 representatives of the seven pilot regions of the EU research project REGALP convened at the Conference of Regions for an exchange of experience at Kranjska Gora/SI.

Euregio Adria-Alps

The Adria-Alpen Euregio has moved one step closer to its founding following a series of meetings of the Chairmen of Carinthia/A, Veneto/I and Friuli/I and representatives from Slovenia (with Croatia also to be involved soon).

A thousand valleys - one challenge

Protection of Underground Water as a Source fo Drinking Water in Maribor

High-Mountain Lakes in the eastern part of the Julian Alps

Forest management in climate change

Water in climate change

The Atlas of Slovenia

Biotic Diversity in Slovenia

Environmental Performance Reviews: Slovenia

Avalanches in Slovenia

Soča

Cultural landscapes in Slovenia

CIPRA-Info 80: Klima - Wandel - Alpen. Tourismus und Raumplanung im Wetterstress