Impacts of climate change are now being felt across the European Alps and future scenarios predict even greater changes, which will include a reduction in snow cover at lower altitudes, receding glaciers and melting permafrost, and changes in temperature and precipitation extremes. These changes have potential implications for critical aspects of Alpine economies, including winter tourism; exposure of human settlements and infrastructure to natural hazards; agriculture and ecosystems; and water resources. Adaptation to these observed and projected impacts is therefore becoming increasingly important – both to limit near and medium term damages and also to avoid decisions that might exacerbate vulnerability to climate changes over the longer term.
The Wengen 2006 workshop took place from October 4-6, 2006, and brought together experts from the climate science, policy, and economics communities together with decision-makers from countries within the Alpine Arc to examine the vulnerability of particular sectors and systems to climate change impacts, and more importantly to assess progress on the formulation and implementation of adaptation responses at local, regional, and national levels.
A particular focus was placed on:
- the role of government and private actors;
- comparative experiences between the Alpine countries; and
- synergies and conflicts between adaptation responses and other priorities.
Introductory remarks
- Martin Beniston, University of Geneva, Switzerland
- Shardul Agrawala, OECD Paris
- Chris Hewitt, EU ENSEMBLES Project and Hadley Center, UK Met Office, UK
Keynotes - Chair: Marc Gillet, ONERC, France
Session 1A: Winter Tourism / National Perspectives - Chair: Marc Gillet, ONERC, France
- Climate change and risk appraisal in the Austrian ski industry, Christoph Wolfsegger, University of Lund, Sweden
- The Choices of Swiss ski lift companies towards artificial snow cover use: a statistical analysisClimate change and the Swiss winter tourism sector: interpreting current adaptation figures, Camille Gonseth, EPF-Lausanne, Switzerland
- Regional economic impacts of climate change on winter tourism in Austria, Nadja Vetters, Franz Prettenthaler, Joanneum Research Center, Graz Institute of Technology and Regional Policy (InTeReg), Austria
- OECD report on adaptation strategies in Alpine ski tourism: a cross country analysis, Bruno Abegg, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Session 1B: Winter Tourism / Local and Private Sector Perspectives - Chair: Ellen Wiegandt, Graduate Institute of International Studies
- Vulnerability and adaptation of winter tourism in Tyrol and Bavaria under conditions of climatic change, Robert Steiger, University of Innsbruck, Austria
- Adaptation in the French Alps : a perspective from the private sector, Éric Guilpart, Compagnie des Alpes, France
- Diversification of tourism as a response to climate change: an example from the department of Isère, France, Gerard Arnaud, Conseil Général de l’Isère, France
Session 1C: Winter Tourism / Looking Forwards - Chair: Greg Greenwood, DECANAT
- Active glacier protection in Austria: an adaptation strategy for glacier skiing resorts, Marc Olefs, Center for Natural Hazard Management and University of Innsbruck, Austria
- Adaptation to climate change in winter tourisms across the Alps, Christian Baumgartner, CIPRA, International Friends of Nature
- Climate change in winter sport – a new approach to transdisciplinary research and implementation, Ulrike Pröbstl and Wiebke Unbehaun, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Session 2: Agriculture and Ecosystems - Chair: Chris Hewitt, Ensembles Project/Hadley Center
- Global change impacts on selected ecosystem goods and services from the European Alps:a simulation study with stakeholder involvement, Harald Bugmann, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland
- Changing vegetation patterns at the alpine-nival ecotone – recent results from a GLORIA master site in the central Alps: part I, part II, Michael Gottfried, University of Vienna, Austria
- Risks and opportunities for the agriculture of the Alpine region in a changing climate, Pierluigi Calanca, Agrocscope Research Station, Reckenholz-Zurich, Switzerland
Session 3A: Natural Hazards / Scientific Basis
- Anticipating climate-driven geosystem changes in high mountain areas: a case-study in the Upper Engadine, Eastern Swiss Alps: part I, part II, Wilfried Haeberli, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- On the incidence of debris flows in the Swiss Alps from the early Little Ice Age to a future greenhouse climate, Markus Stoffel, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
- Dealing with climate change impacts on glacier and permafrost hazards as an example for adaptation strategies in mountains, Christian Huggel, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Session 3B: Natural Hazards / National and Local Responses - Chair: Markus Stoffel, University of Fribourg
- Knowledge, uncertainties, and adaptation: Changing cryosphere and changing behaviors in the Val d’Hérens, Switzerland, Ralph Lugon and Ellen Wiegandt, Institut Universitaire Kurt Boesch, Sion, and University of Geneva, Switzerland
- Climate Change, Impacts and Adaptation Strategies in the Alpine Space, Jean-Marc Vengeon, Pôle Grenoblois Risques Naturels
- Climate change and natural hazards in the Alpine Arc: a cross country analysis, Simon Jetté-Nantel, OECD Paris
- Adaptation to climate change in Switzerland’s natural hazards management policies, Hugo Raetzo, Swiss Federal Office of the Environment, Bern, Switzerland
Session 3C: Natural Hazards / Insurance - Chair: J.M. Vengeon, Pôle Grenoblois Risques Naturels
Session 4: Water Resource Management - Chair: M. Beniston, University of Geneva
- Implication of Climate Change for water resources in the Alps: Part I, Part II, Part III, Paolo Burlando, ETH-Zürich, Switzerland
- Climate Change impacts on EDF activities and water resources, Clarisse Fil, Electricité de France, France
- Water resource management in the Pyrenees under environmental change, Juan Ignacio Lopez Moreno, University of Fribourg, Switzerland and University of Zaragoza, Spain
- Impact of climate change on Lake Neusiedl (Austria) and potential adaptation strategies, Herbert Formayer, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
- Adaptation in the water supply sector of Eastern Styria (Austria), Iris Oberauner, Joanneum Research Center, Graz, Austria
Special Keynote
Wrap-up Session - Chair: S. Agrawala, OECD Paris
- Marc Gillet, ONERC, France
- Greg Greeenwood, Mountain Research Initiative, Décanat, Switzerland
Closing Remarks, Shardul Agrawala, OECD Paris and Martin Beniston, University of Geneva, Switzerland
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