SHARING WATER

Hillside reservoirs are subject to debate and are generally associated with snow coverage “at any cost” to the detriment of our resources and landscapes. However, they are now better designed to integrate into their environment, and serve multiple purposes. The French Group of Mountain Resort Mayors has produced a “Blue Book on Hillside Reservoirs,” which is the result of collaborative working sessions attended by elected officials in mountain resorts. Without minimizing the ecological impact that these artificial lakes can have, the report concludes that “These impacts should not make us forget that a balance can be found between the economy and sustainable water management,” and that “Hillside reservoirs are also a means of combining ecology and the economy by diversifying our tourist offering.”

In their “Eco-commitments” charter, the Domaines Skiables de France group has agreed to optimise the volume of snow produced, to store water in order to stagger draining phases, and to share this resource with farmers in the event of drought.

Reinventing Snow Machines

The Savoie-based SME WeSnow is a pioneer in the production of “positive energy” snow, made using snow canons inspired by the heat-pump model. “We make very cold, dry snow using flake ice with the help of a large freezer set to -26°C. This process releases energy that we capture with a heat exchanger, which then enables us to give back twice as much,” says Bertrand Lambla, the company’s director. WeSnow has already equipped Super Besse with 9 snow canons that provide coverage for the bottom of the ski area, regardless of the temperature, and use the energy produced to heat municipal buildings.

Wesnow.fr

Mobility Incentives To Reduce Pollution

In Les Saisies, the lessaisies-express.com platform aggregates all available forms of transportation to take tourists to their accommodation in the resort. “We factor in the final mile, since our journey mapper includes the free shuttles that bring holidaymakers as close to their accommodation as possible,” says Fabienne Roux, communications director for Les Saisies. In order to encourage visitors to adopt greener travel habits, the resort is offering a 10% discount on lift passes to those using the train + bus solution. And to make things more practical, transportation, ski passes and ski lockers can all be booked on the website.

Euromontana is a European cross-sector group fostering cooperation and development of mountainous areas.

Its mission is to promote a “living mountains” concept by pursuing comprehensive, sustainable development and the improved quality of life. The group publishes a “Book of best practices” listing “success stories” to promote the transition. In the Pitztal Valley in Austria, a smartphone app has been designed to encourage workers to carpool using a system of points that can be used in partner businesses. More than 80 towns and companies have signed up to the app. In northern Portugal, in the mountainous region of Terras de-Tràs-Os-Montes, access to administrative services is made easier for residents, particularly the elderly, thanks to fully-equipped “administrative” buses that save isolated people from traveling into town.

In France, thanks to funds allocated as part of the Plan Avenir Montagnes project, different solutions for easier mobility are being developed. For example, in the Briançon region, a more coherent public transportation offering will be rolled out in part thanks to the government’s financial support.

Managing tourist flows

More and more people are visiting the mountains while the length of stays is becoming shorter, which is increasing traffic. The Grenoble-based CIPRA delegation works alongside all industry players in the French Alpine regions and as part of cross-border cooperation projects. As part of the speciAlps2 project, which ended in 2022, measures have been taken to control tourist flows in various Alpine regions. These include limiting vehicle access, introducing payment for carparks, increasing public transport, instating driving bans on certain days, and work on communication and eco-mobility solutions. The pressure on natural spaces will probably continue to grow, especially with the effects of global warming, according to project manager Magdalena Holzer. “There will never be enough initiatives like speciAlps2 to maintain a premium tourism experience and strengthen mutual learning on an Alpine-wide scale.”

FORMICABLE! Using cables to help the forestry industry.

Cable skidding has developed differently in France and Switzerland over the past several decades. Some 300,000m3 are harvested annually in Switzerland, compared to less than 50,000m3 in the Northern Alps. This technique enables wood to be extracted with minimum impact on both soil and biodiversity. It avoids the need to create roads for large machines, limits the production of GHGs, and decreases noise pollution that can disturb wildlife. The Formicable project, coordinated by the Pôle Excellence Bois, is a Franco-Swiss collaboration.

Its objectives were to:

Biodiversity

The major objective of the Avenir Montagnes investment fund focused on sustainable tourism facilities working on year-round diversification, the modernization of facilities and the protection of biodiversity.

Some 15 million euros have been allocated for the restoration of trails and biodiversity, which have been used to finance 85 projects.

- Train forestry workers in cabling techniques.

- Set up certified training courses for forestry apprentices and professionals.

- Promote an economically viable and environmentally positive operating model.

THE RESULTS: 6 young people trained in preparation for engineering functional safety certification, and 200 people trained using educational tools.

Rejuvenation

A recent Euromontana report people found that 66% of young people living in the mountains would like to stay and work there, but transport, education and work opportunities are insufficient.

However, regional revitalization is required to diversify the local offering and develop year-round activities in the mountains, especially among younger generations. As a result, initiatives have been launched to assist and retain them. Looking back at the group’s “Book of best practices,” we can see that actions focused on young people are booming in mountain resorts. In the Pyrenees, isolated refugee minors are being provided with training in mountain professions. To date, of the 15 young people involved in the AVENIR project, eight have found a job while the others are still in training. What’s more, the majority of them have decided to stay in the Pyrenees.

In Norway, the YESpecialists project encourages entrepreneurship among young people living in the mountains and supports their projects. Running from 2020 to 2023, the program is supported by Erasmus and the European Youth Portal.

In the Aragon region of Spain, young people are being given help to find work so that they can stay in the area. This is being led by the “Arago Retorno Joven” programme, which connects them with companies, helps them to settle in and provides them with financial support. Some 156 companies in the region have joined the program. Thanks to this initiative, 332 young people have settled in the region so far.

Private Initiatives

Private initiatives are also emerging alongside research and transition aid programmes. Created in December 2020, the CEC (Convention des Entreprises pour le Climat, of which Alpexpo, the Mountain Planet fair organiser, is a member) brings together 150 economic decisionmakers. Its aim is to develop awareness and transformation programmes for these figures. “The fact that people are using the scientific data that we share makes it possible to spread the mental burden of climate action. Is it up to scientists to carry this alone? No. Decisionmakers must also play their part. And the more levers for action we have, the greater the burden must be,” says Valérie Masson Delmotte, palaeoclimatologist and co-chair of the IPCC Working Group 1, at the Convention’s most recent session last October.

The 150 members of the Convention des Entreprises pour le Climat adopted ten policy proposals for the climate, demanding ambitious measures to fight global warming, pollution and biodiversity loss. Across six two-day sessions spread over 11 months, the selected leaders were joined by leading scientific and educational experts to rethink their company and activities. The overall goal was a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, combined with the priority of protecting biodiversity and regenerating nature.