The Slovenian Presidency of the Alpine Convention has entered its second year and still has a lot planned for this year! Below is an overview of some of the activities taking place until autumn 2024 that contribute to the priorities of the Presidency programme.
A joint conference of the Alpine and Carpathian Conventions on the exchange of practices on the management of large carnivores took place from 6 to 8 March in Brdo pri Kranju. The main objective of the conference was to share experiences regarding the monitoring, prevention of conflicts, and poaching across the Alps and Carpathians. Participants, including the Alpine Convention’s Large Carnivores, Wild Ungulates and Society Working Group (WISO), exchanged examples of current conservation and management practices.
The next session of the Youth Parliament to the Alpine Convention (YPAC) will be held from 11-14 March in Kamnik, hosted by the Rudolf Maister Grammar and Secondary School Kamnik. It brings together pupils from ten secondary schools from the Alpine countries. Split up into working groups, they will discuss different topics related to this year’s theme, protected Alpine areas. The YPAC will conclude with a plenary session where pupils present, debate, and finally vote on the conclusions of their deliberations. Unique to this edition is that the Youth Council of the EU Strategy for the Alpine Macroregion (EUSALP) will join the YPAC. In 2024, Slovenia also holds the EUSALP Presidency, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
The Annual Meeting of the Mountaineering Villages (Bergsteigerdӧrfer) will be hosted by the Mountaineering Villages Luče from 31 May to 2 June. The theme will be “Cultural heritage and its significance for the Mountaineering Villages.”
Celebrations will commence for the 100th anniversary of the Triglav National Parkon 31 May in Trenta. Triglav National Park is the only national park in Slovenia and is named after the highest mountain in the country, Triglav, which sits at 2864 m in the heart of the park.
The Constructive Alps exhibition will open in the Triglav National Park Centre in Bohinj on 7 June. The travelling exhibition presents the winners of the previous edition of the prize for sustainable renovation and building in the Alpine region.
The Slovenian Presidency of the Alpine Convention and the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR) are organising an international conference “Joint action for the Alps – conserve, connect, and restore” from 12 to 14 June in Kranjska Gora. The three-day conference will offer participants the opportunity to examine the challenges facing biodiversity and geodiversity in the Alps and what policy, scientific, and social aspects need to be strengthened to safeguard their future. The event begins with the Alpine Convention Biodiversity Conference on 12 June, followed by the scientific conference ForumAlpinum “The Alps – A Refuge for Bio- and Geodiversity?” on 13 June, and a concluding thematic field trip on the final day.
The next edition of the AlpWeek will take place from 23 to 25 September in Nova Gorica. AlpWeek is organised by several Alpine Convention Observer organisations. Nova Gorica is a meeting point between cultures and languages, and fitting given that Italy will take over the Presidency of the Alpine Convention after Slovenia.
