COMUNITY NETWORK - PLANNING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ON THE LOCAL LEVEL IN THE ALPINE AREA

The Alpine area represents a test for the idea of new Europe as a comunity of regions. This is an area of utmost ecological, industrial, cultural and social importance. The inhabitants of the Alpine area themselves are responsible for the sustainable preservation of the richness and uniqueness of their region. This involves the planning of sustained development, the establishing of contacts and joint European responsibility. The development of industry based on underestimated energy sources and excessive exploitation of natural sources have affected the environment considerably. In order to earn a better living, people have been abandoning their high-altitude farmsteads which, on the other hand, have been increasingly popular with tourists. This has lead to radical transformations of the whole mountain area. The Comunity Network Pilot Project was carried out in 1997 under the protection of CIPRA International. It initially involved 27 Alpine comunities - the number has increased to 33 - with two Slovene comunities, Kranjska Gora and Bovec. On the local level, the pilot phase consisted of the preparation of environment-based development as defined in the guidelines of the Alpine Convention and its protocols, with the introduction of environmental criteria in the community planning of sustainable development as the starting point. The headquarters of the Alpine Comunity Association are situated in Bad Reichenhall, Germany, with the Alpenforschungs Institut of Garmisch Partenkirchen providing for the expert support of the programme. The Alpine Comunity Association aims at achieving that Alpine comunities become independent in the field of environment management, and capable of setting their own priorities and development goals, while selecting institutions and experts able to help with the realisation of the projects. Developmental strategies are based on cultural heritage and tourism.