Paul Messerli

The Vulnerability of the Snow Industry in the Swiss Alps

Abstract The future of Swiss alpine winter tourism must be reassessed in view of global climate change in order to determine possible strategies for overall development of mountain regions. At present, 85% of all Swiss ski areas still have sufficient snow cover. A 300-m rise of the snow line, however, would reduce this to about 63%. As a consequence, skiers will expect more artificial snow, go on winter holidays less often, and concentrate on ski areas at higher altitudes. On the supply side, climate change will be used to justify increased use of artificial snow and advances into areas above 3000 m. This raises a variety of new problems, both economic and ecological. Developments in the Swiss snow industry indicate the rise of 2 distinct classes of tourist resorts. Climate change may increase economic pressure in terms of capital concentration and division into “winners” and “losers.” Although global climate change certainly has an influence on tourism, it is not the only factor that determines the conditions of tourism.

Towns in the Alps: Urbanization Processes, Economic Structure, and Demarcation of European Functional Urban Areas (EFUAs) in the Alps

Abstract The European Alps are among the worlds most densely populated mountain regions. To date, towns have played a subordinate role within this area. Due to the marginal position of Alpine towns within national urban systems, they do not constitute an interrelated urban system, and no primary center exists. The current degree of urbanization cannot be measured by adding up the population of the towns in the Alps. Instead, it is necessary to demarcate urbanized zones according to functional criteria. This article presents a demarcation of urbanized zones in the Alps based on the French method of European functional urban areas (EFUAs). As elsewhere in Europe, urbanized zones are expanding and gaining importance under the influence of structural changes in the economy. At the same time, the shift to post-Fordist production and regulation is leading to more pronounced internationalization of medium-sized and small towns as well as conurbations. Census data on demography and commuting collected between 1960 and 1995 indicate that urbanization processes in the Alps have caught up with those occurring in non-Alpine Europe. A comparison of 1980 and 1990 data on employment shows that growth sectors in the Alps are lagging behind those in peri-Alpine conurbations. The Alpine border is gradually being turned into a residential and recreational area for these peri-Alpine conurbations. The present article argues that this externally driven functional division between urban regions outside the Alps and monofunctional recreational landscapes within the Alps contradicts the criteria of sustainable development. Hence, a policy of strengthening small and medium towns in order to increase the value of inner-Alpine lifestyles and economies and enhance town–country relations is preferable to the continued expansion of peri-Alpine agglomerations and metropolitan areas and should be encouraged within the boundaries set by ecological principles.

From Local Projects in the Alps to Global Change Programmes in the Mountains of the World: Milestones in Transdisciplinary Research

In the 1970s and 1980s UNESCO’s worldwide Man and Biosphere Programme (MaB) provided a great stimulus to overcome the large gap between natural and social sciences. The global project number six, Man’s Impact on Mountain Ecosystems, led to the Swiss National Research Programme ‘Socio-Economic Development and Ecological Carrying Capacity in a Mountainous Region’. It had a profound effect on mountain research in general and on an interesting collaboration between different alpine countries in particular. Even though the expression transdisciplinarity was not yet known and defined, participating scientists from different disciplines were forced to develop methods and models for a true inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation, as discussed in Section 3.2.

Urban Strategies and Regional Development in the Alps

Abstract Nearly two-thirds of the population in the European Alps (which totals 14.2 million) lives in towns or periurban municipalities. We state that strong towns in the Alps are necessary to prevent outmigration. But these towns must be internally integrated with their hinterlands and externally integrated in supraregional networks to maintain the quality of life and contribute to regional economic growth. This appears to be possible despite the differences that typify Alpine agglomerations, since both large and small towns have an internal and an external function; what differentiates them is the proportion between the two functions. Although these differences imply that possibilities for future development vary, some strategies may be generally valid for towns in the Alps.

Between Longing and Flight – Migratory processes in mountain areas, particularly in the European Alps

Mountain areas, including the alpine region, have always seen a great deal of migration movements. Current migratory processes, however, are related to urban populations new lifestyles and housing needs, to the construction of second homes and to international tourism. They present new challenges to many alpine regions. On 20 November 2009 the Swiss Interacademic Commission for Alpine Studies (ICAS) invited experts to discuss issues of Migration in Mountain Areas, particularly in the alpine ...

Research on Alpine Landscape Development: From Research to Policy

Abstract Swiss National Research Programs (NRPs) are usually geared to addressing issues of major societal concern. In so doing these programs produce different kinds of knowledge: analytical knowledge necessary for revealing the driving forces, conflicting interests and institutional settings that govern the processes under scrutiny; target knowledge oriented towards revealing the directions in which the processes should be guided; and action knowledge that informs about the means by which this can best be achieved. Analytical knowledge answers the questions “what is the problem?” and “what causes it?” while target knowledge helps to define “what is our vision for the future?” and action knowledge deals with “how can we solve the problem?” Production of these 3 different types of knowledge is usually linked in an iterative process in the course of the research supported in an NRP.