71 projects found
ACQWA
Assessing Climate impacts on the Quantity and quality of Water
Basic summary
Community link: Environmental management: water resources, water management, natural hazards
Community link: Climate change and energy
ACQWA aims to determine the effect of climate change on water levels and produces advanced and integrated models.
The first step is a quantitative description of climate change as the primary driver.
The next step is a description of the socio-economic factors of the water-sheds as secondary drivers. The project will develop several regional climate models and will link them to global climate models. Scenarios will be run, for example, on the effect of hazards like flooding (based on historical information and simulations). Another step is to simulate and map the impact on hydropower and the availability of water.
These models and their outputs can be of interest to policymakers on then EU level as well as the regional and local levels.
Community link: Environmental management: water resources, water management, natural hazards
Community link: Climate change and energy
AdaptAlp
Adaptation to Climate Change in the Alpine Space
Basic summary
Community link: Climate change and energy
Community link: Environmental management: water resources, water management, natural hazards
AdaptAlp looked at risk management and adaption under climate change. One of the strengths of the project was its comprehensive approach. It started with improving the data base on historic hazard events and future climate projections, and establishing best practice examples. Then developed tools for integrated hazard and risk management on the local level and finally producing policy-recommendations for climate adaptation.
As a consequence the project’s outputs are relevant for hazard experts as well as for policy makers on the local and regional levels.
AdaptAlp developed amongst others the following tools for the analysis of natural hazards and the harmonisation of risk management in the Alps: Multi-risk assessment tool, Glossary on geo-hazards, and The Shallow Landslide Analysis Package.
Community link: Climate change and energy
Community link: Environmental management: water resources, water management, natural hazards
Alp-Net
Thematic Network on Trans-Alpine Crossing
Basic summary
Community link: Economy, information technology, transport and infrastructure
Community link: Regional development: social and political systems, cultural heritage and local knowledge systems
Community link: Environmental management: agriculture, forestry, land use and land management
ALP-NET dealt with the specific characteristics of transport in the Alpine region,
such as the limited capacity of existing infrastructure and the high ecological
value and the sensitivity of the surrounding landscape.
ALP-NET brought together research teams, policy makers and stakeholders to
discuss problems and to prepare recommendations for the future.
The project outputs include policy recommendations, a databases of transport
stakeholders, and one of research reports. They are relevant for policy makers
working on the Alpine scale, transport companies, or other organizations
concerned with intermodal transport in Alpine region.
Community link: Economy, information technology, transport and infrastructure
Community link: Regional development: social and political systems, cultural heritage and local knowledge systems
Community link: Environmental management: agriculture, forestry, land use and land management
AlpCity
Local endogenous development and urban development of small alpine towns
Basic summary
AlpCity project wanted to raise awareness to the specificities of small alpine towns and find solutions on how to promote the Alpine Space as a competitive and attractive living and economic space.
Regional and local administrations or spatial planners of mountain areas can profit from recommendations that support the exchange within alpine regions and between them and the European Union. Have a look at these recommendations if you want to initiate exchange processes or the transfer of knowledge within your region.
Furthermore 21 pilot cases were developed (“Case Studies Exhibition”) that will serve as best practice examples for the development of further projects in these areas or other mountain regions. Have a look at these examples that mainly focused on the following four topic areas: 1. economic development, 2. services and quality of life, 3. urban environment, 4. cooperation among towns.
AlpenCorS
Alpen Corridor South
Basic summary
Community link: Economy, information technology, transport and infrastructure
Community link: Environmental management: agriculture, forestry, land use and land management
AlpenCorS analyzed the Southern transport corridor along the Alps with a
“bottom-up” multi-disciplinary approach. In particular the project dealt with:
- Economy – assessment of the influence of GDP on transport demands in
the areas crossed by the corridor;
- Transport – identification of critical points of land transport networks (e.g.
road and railway) located along the corridor for which priority intervention is
required;
- Technology – evaluation of ICT (Information and Communication
Technology) applications and services to increase efficiency and safety in the
transport sector;
- Intermodality and logistics;
- Territory – analysis of spatial impacts of infrastructure developments that
combine different actors (cities and regions, institutions, firms and citizens);
- Different case studies..
AlpenCorS developed a model (“SASI”) for the forecasting of economic
development within and outside the corridor, as well as guidelines. Both are
dedicated mainly to policy makers.
Project AlpenCorS helped to define a specific, long-term “corridor policy” shared by all of the actors.
Community link: Economy, information technology, transport and infrastructure
Community link: Environmental management: agriculture, forestry, land use and land management
ASSET
Assessing sensitiveness to transport
Basic summary
What Asset offers to mountain practitioners are valuable case studies on Alpine Crossing and Pyrenees crossings which are backed up by policy recommendations.
For the Alpine region a best case-scenario is suggested which includes the introduction of the policy measure ACE (Alpine Crossing Exchange) as a coordinated measure in all Alpine Countries in order to facilitate the transfer of goods from road to rail (with an ACE cap of lorries for each country). This will have positive effects on the environment especially on noise and climate costs, air pollution and accident reduction.
For the Pyrenees the future policy should introduce tolls, caps and speed regulations to restrict the traffic of goods in future situations to the same amount of traffic as at present. The main expected effects of the selected policies should be the modal shift from road to rail (currently 93% road) and the diminution of accidents, emissions and noise.
ASSIST
Alpine Safety, Security And Information Services and Technologies
Basic summary
Community link: Economy, information technology, transport and infrastructure
Community link: Environmental management: water resources, water management, natural hazards
ASSIST project focused on improvement of risk warning and risk management systems for risks typical to mountainous areas, e.g. avalanches, landslides, debris flows, floods. The project developed system architecture for the production and exchange of data products, which could be used for risk prevention and risk event management. The system consisted of different “Service Nodes”, which were laid out to support both day-to-day monitoring and predictions of risk mitigation scenarios, and operation during real crisis situations, with different requirements in terms of data products, data timeliness and distribution. The system combined stationary, in-field and communication nodes to ensure better risk prevention and crisis management. To learn more about project methodology see the project final report. The results of ASSIST project could be especially useful for risk managers, local planners responsible for risk prevention, mountain rescue services, emergency services and IT / geo-IT companies.
Community link: Economy, information technology, transport and infrastructure
Community link: Environmental management: water resources, water management, natural hazards
ATEAM
Advanced Terrestrial Ecosystem Analysis and Modelling
Basic summary
Community link: Biodiversity and conservation, ecosystem function and services, tourism
Community link: Environmental management: agriculture, forestry, land use and land management
Community link: Environmental management: water resources, water management, natural hazards
Community link: Climate change and energy
ATEAM mapped the impact of global change on major European ecosystems
and their services. Several scenarios of impacts and vulnerabilities of the
sectors agriculture, forestry, carbon storage, water, nature conservation and
mountain tourism were mapped at a regional scale for four time slices (1990,
2020, 2050, 2080).
Forecasts of land use show an overall decline in arable land. Climate and land
use changes are anticipated to have a positive effect on growing forest stocks in
Northern Europe, while droughts and fires were projected to pose an increasing
risk to Mediterranean forests. After an initial increase, the total terrestrial
carbon sink strength (plants and soil) is projected to decline. There will be more
basins in southern Europe with water scarcity and even more severe droughts
and more extreme floods in some areas of north-western Europe. Accelerated
extinctions rates indicate rapid biological impoverishment for most regions. The
mountain tourism sector will be impacted negatively in both winter and summer.
In comparison between regions, the Mediterranean seems most vulnerable
within Europe.
Community link: Biodiversity and conservation, ecosystem function and services, tourism
Community link: Environmental management: agriculture, forestry, land use and land management
Community link: Environmental management: water resources, water management, natural hazards
Community link: Climate change and energy
AWARE
A tool for monitoring and forecasting Available WAter REsource in mountain environment
Basic summary
AWARE provided tools for monitoring and predicting the water availability and distribution in catchment areas where snowmelt is a major component of the annual water balance.
The project developed mathematical models to represent snow-pack dynamics and snowmelt run-off. Their innovative approach is the integration of Earth Observation data and in-situ hydrological and meteorological measurements.
The output is a web-based information system, the AWARE Geo-Service, that should allow access to and execution of hydrological models through a set of integrated components. The AWARE geo service could be of interest for water policy makers, hydropower companies, and for regional, basin and municipal authorities.
BACCARA
Biodiversity And Climate Change, A Risk Analysis
Basic summary
Community link: Biodiversity and conservation, ecosystem function and services, tourism
Community link: Environmental management: agriculture, forestry, land use and land management
The BACCARA project will construct a 3-dimensional risk assessment model linking climate change, functional diversity and forest productivity. The approach will be applied to the main European forest categories.
The scope of BACCARA encompasses forest composition at multiple trophic levels, i.e. assemblages of forest symbionts (mycorrhiza), producers (keystone tree species), consumers (herbivores and pathogens) and their predators.
Community link: Biodiversity and conservation, ecosystem function and services, tourism
Community link: Environmental management: agriculture, forestry, land use and land management
