The Alpine Network of Protected Areas 
OpenSpaceAlps
Near-natural open spaces are areas outside of human settlements that are free from technical development and other built structures. They are the basis for human well-being, the preservation of biodiversity and future generation’s livelihoods. The increase in human impact and landscape fragmentation are causing these essential spaces to dwindle. Coherent, transnational cooperation in spatial planning throughout the Alpine Space (AS) is needed to maintain open spaces and to avoid a race to the bottom regarding minimum standards.
OpenSpaceAlps is integrated into ALPARC’s field of work Biodiversity and Ecological Connectivity. The association is Work Package Leader of WPT3 “Alps wide strategic and governance planning”.
Overall objective
OpenSpaceAlps aims to foster sustainable development in the core of the AS and the EUSALP area by maintaining open spaces as part of Alpine green infrastructure (GI). Maintaining open spaces in the Alps fits into the EU Strategy on Green Infrastructure and the EU Urban Agenda. OpenSpaceAlps will also strengthen transnational, multi-level spatial governance by improving spatial planners’ and relevant stakeholders’ capacities on the preservation of open spaces.
General outputs
Work Package T3 “Alps wide strategic and governance planning”
Work package (WP) T3 has the goal of developing a planning tool at the European dimension of spatial planning, a practical aspect for territorial governance in Europe’s future development. This WP ensures an Alpine-wide dimension to the project. It complements WPT1 with a summary of relevant project results and EU policies and approaches on territorial planning. It is also directly linked to WPT4 and is a step towards establishing the AlpPlanNetwork. Moreover, it will include an Alpine-wide mapping activity that will tie together expert workshops and concrete planning experience and strategies from pilot sites in WPT2.
Specific outputs include Alpine-wide visualization and planning tools for open spaces, a catalogue of the results of transnational spatial planning projects (focusing on open spaces), basic maps of open spaces, a workshop report of regional expert exchanges and a report of transnational policies for Alpine-wide spatial planning.
The project lasts from October 2019 through June 2022 and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space Programme. (Total budget: 980.739,61 € -ERDF grant: 833.628,65 €)
Click here to open the final publication in English.
Click here to open the mapping report in English.
The mapping results are also available on JECAMI and in StoryMaps
More information: https://www.alpine-space.eu/project/openspacealps-2/
Contact: Guido Plassmann guido.plassmann@alparc.org