From April 3rd to 4th 2019, ten key Alpine organizations put together AlpWeek Intermezzo, an international event on sustainable development and related Alpine issues. This event was a shorter version of AlpWeek, which is held every four years. Over a period of two days, a total of 60 invited guests from all over the Alps (e.g. Youth Parliament of the Alpine Convention, mayors from Alpine cities and scientists) came together in Innsbruck, Austria to answer the question ‘what is your most relevant concern for the Alps tomorrow’? 

In total, three main topics were presented during the conference: land use, mobility and climate change. Each topic was introduced by a guest speaker and was then opened up to debate. The results of each debate session were presented (as recommendations for future action) to the Alpine Convention during the XV Alpine Conference, which occurred in parallel with the event. AlpWeek Intermezzo also featured presentations on 10 projects addressing Alpine issues. 

The final conference report is now available and presents crucial information from the topic sessions and project presentations.

Key information from the topic sessions:  

• Land use: Participants called for limits to land use for tourism infrastructure and heavy and individual traffic as well as putting in place tourist quotas in some areas.
• Climate change: Action is needed on all levels to address climate change. Greenhouse gases need to be immediately reduced and the proper funding and support should be given to local administrations and regional climate coordinators to facilitate pan-Alpine initiatives on this issue. 
• Mobility: There is a need for efficient and intelligent means of transportation in the Alpine region that reduce the burden on inhabitants and maintain prosperity without further expanding road networks. 

Highlights from project presentations: 

• Green economy in the Alpine region: The Alpine Convention published its Green Economy Action Programme (GEAP) in April which identifies concrete areas for action to make the transition to a green economy by 2030. It is a stakeholder-driven program which builds off existing achievements and works towards creating a transnational, common approach for the region. 
• ALPACA: Alpine Partnership for Local Climate Action: This project believes that municipalities and local authorities play a key role in climate change adaptation and mitigation and aims to address the major challenges they face when addressing climate change.
• The UrbaBio project: Urban areas are important niches for biodiversity. This project integrates knowledge from the Alpine cities of Annecy, Belluno, Chambéry and Trento to development innovative solutions for nature conservation. 

The complete conference report can be found here.