The WeWild project (2016-2018) got well under way with the first workshop which was organised in Vorarlberg in March 2017. 16 stakeholders from six Alpine countries attended the two-day event, thereby underlining the interest in a common, Alpine-wide communication strategy regarding the behaviour of snow sports participants.

The fruitful workshop discussions helped the working group to identify the major needs regarding such a joint strategy and to reveal potential risks. It also allowed for the collection of ideas for objectives, actions and tools. Valuable input came from the stakeholder presentations on information campaigns and from Nils Westerfeld’s presentation on factors influencing eco-friendly behaviour of outdoor sports participants.

By now and based on these workshop results, ALPARC started working on a joint communication strategy that will also frame the creation of joint communication tools. ALPARC will launch a joint Alps-wide initiative that gathers protected areas as well as other key players and interested partners. The initiative’s mission is to educate and raise awareness of outdoor recreationists in the Alps using international cooperation, exchange and communication. Based on a positive, non-regulatory attitude, its aim is to gain momentum, increase visibility of existing campaigns and contribute to eco-friendly behaviour in snow and outdoor sports. The initiative will have an own identity and will be promoted via a website and a video clip which will be released in 2018. Our members, protected areas and other partners will be given the opportunity to join the initiative by signing a common mission statement.

The upcoming milestones in 2017 are the finalisation of the communication strategy, the creation of the graphical identity, video and website as well as the second WeWild workshop to be held in November 2017 in Aree Protette dell’Ossola (IT).
Interested protected areas and other organisations are openly invited to join our initiative and contribute to its development. For any inquiry, please contact Maša Klemenčič or Dominik Cremer-Schulte at the ALPARC office.

The project is financed by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN, Germany) with funds of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB, Germany).