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Lucerne World Mountain Conference

SaraM — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:06:57 +0000

Lucerne World Mountain Conference
Moving Mountains toward Global Sustainable Development
Lucerne, Switzerland, 11 – 12 October 2011

The world’s mountains were included in the global development agenda at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, by introducing a specific Chapter 13 into Agenda 21. Twenty years later, sustainable mountain development (SMD) matters more than ever, and it is important to take stock of what has been achieved so far, and what has not.

On the occasion of the 47th Permanent Committee of the Alpine Convention, hold under the Swiss Presidency, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swiss Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE) are organizing the “Lucerne World Mountain Conference”. The event will take place on 11 and 12 October 2011 in Lucerne, Switzerland, organized within the framework of the Mountain Partnership, with the support of the Mountain Partnership Consortium members and UNESCO.

In the months before the Conference expert groups drafted regional reports and a report on global aspects of SMD since Rio 1992, including the theme of green economy and institutional frameworks for sustainable development and poverty alleviation in mountains. The Conference will serve to present, discuss, and revise these reports, with a view to identify challenges and opportunities for the future of global sustainable mountain development.

The results of the Conference will feed into various efforts and international processes (i.e. the UN Secretary General’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP), the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio+20), and the CSD biennial cycle 20/21 in 2013 and 2014). SWOMM also aims to contribute to these international processes and discussions on SMD, focusing on sustainable transport in the mountain. In particular, in 2010, a special side event was organized during the CSD session on transport (swomm-side-event-12th-may-2010-at-the-commission-on-sustainable-development-csd; the-united-nations-transport-policies).

During the conference the Italian National Focal point of the Alpine Convention Mr. Paolo Angelini will announce the initiative for Rio +20, which is being jointly developed by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Mountain partnership/FAO and UNEP.

Participation in the conference is on invitation only.

For more information on the conference:

Photo: Flavio Scarpacci

Obama’s administration for greenhouse emissions cuts from fuel

RaffaeleV — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:18:29 +0000

On July 29^th the U.S. President Barack Obama announced on a press conference at the White House the achievement of a deal to increase fuel efficiency standards between the government and the major car companies. The agreement was signed together with Ford, GM, Chrysler, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Volvo – which represent the 90% of the U.S. market - as well as the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the State of California. It’s a significant solution coming after more than two years of intense talks between the parties involved.

“This agreement on fuel standards represents the single most important step we’ve ever taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said President Obama. According to some unrevealed sources, the agreement would require for the period 2017 – 2025 a reduction of 40% on fuel consumption (reaching an average of 54,5 miles per gallon) and a 50% cut in greenhouse gases emission (163 grams per mile of dioxide carbon). This targets would require a 5% annual improvement rate for cars and a 3,5% for light trucks between 2017 and 2025. The oil savings and the environmental benefits of this comprehensive program are showed in a new report entitled Driving Efficiency: Cutting Costs for Families at the Pump and Slashing Dependence on Oil, which the Administration released the same day during the press conference.

In order to achieve better standards, automakers are expected to boost their use of advanced technologies as a fundamental element to improve the vehicles fleet. Incentives on this matter are more likely to be implemented to encourage early adoption and a more favourable introduction into the market, including e.g. aids for further develop electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cells vehicles and aids for advanced technology packages for large pickups (hybridization and other performance-based strategies).

Great efforts will be surely necessary to reach such an ambitious program. Potential economic advantages for the environment and the population are undeniable, however it is not obvious that politics and industrial lobbies will maintain in the upcoming years the same approach, in consideration also of the current difficult economic conditions and many other financial aspects that may influence the decision assumed.

Related articles:

Higher Fuel Economy Standards Will Increase Clean Diesel Car & Truck Choices for Consumers (prweb.com)
New Fuel Economy Standard: 54.5 mpg by 2025 (blogher.com)
Cleaner Air and a Stronger Economy – A Record of Success (ynative77.wordpress.com)
Challenge President to Adopt Energy Measure with Double the Impact of Improved Auto Fuel Efficiency Standards at Fraction of the Cost (prweb.com)

88 km/hour is the new record speed for a solar-powered car

EleonoraC — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:07:23 +0000

Ivy – the solar-powered car built by students and teachers of the Australian University of New Southern Wales.

On 7 January 2011 a car moved by solar power achieved the 88 km/hour record speed, broking the Guiness World Land-Speed record for a solar-powered vehicle. The venture was carried out by Solar Racer Sunswift IV, also called Ivy, which has overcame the preceding record of almost 10 km/hour.

Ivy, planned and constructed by teachers and students of the New Southern Wales University, had already achieved 103 km/hour during a race reserved to solar-power vehicles in Australia in 2009, but the project was not approved.

The official test has been conducted in the Marine base of Nowra, south of Sidney, with the professional drivers Barton Mawer and Craig Davis at the controls. Normally the Ivy car uses solar cells for loading a 25 kilos battery, which has been removed to lower the weight and to be able to do the record test. Powered by silicon solar cells, the Ivy car at top speed produces about 1200 watt, the same power of a toaster!
Related articles

http://www.sunswift.com/

The role of transport for urban liveability and economic growth

admin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:15:30 +0000

The proceedings from the SWOMM 2009 and the Urban Mobility Report have been launched on the occasion of the XI^th Alpine Conference of the Alpine Convention, held on 8-9 March 2011 in Brdo, SLOVENIA.

The two publications focus on urban mobility in sensitive natural areas, providing suggestions on innovative means and policies to lower the environmental impact of road traffic. Having ambitious and effective transport projects is one of the key factors which define the urban liveability, says a survey carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2010 for the preparation of Report on urban liveability commissioned by Philips. When asked to nominate the first thing they would address if they were in charge of their city, most of the respondents (61%) picked transport and roads – above healthcare, the environment or any other issue.

The SWOMM 2009 and the Urban Mobility Report intends to contribute to the debate by investigating the theme of mountain mobility and transport, in particular with reference to alpine cities. The SWOMM 2009 publication is intended to present the main findings of the 2009 session of the Scientific Workshop on Mountain Mobility and Transport (SWOMM), where major experts from private and public sectors addressed in particular the theme of sustainable mobility in mountain towns. The event was organized by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea in agreement with the Liguria Region, UNCEM Piemonte, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat and the Alpine Convention on 11 December 2009 in Genoa (Italy). The volume also includes a final section dedicated to the SWOMM Side Event organized by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea and the Mountain Partnership Secretariat (FAO) on 12 May 2010 at the 18^th Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD).

The Report Alpine Urban Mobility has been prepared by the Sub Group “Alpine Urban Mobility”, that was constituted within the Working Group “Transport” (WTG) of the Alpine Convention. The Report deals with the urban mobility system in alpine towns, and it delves into policies and solutions adopted for the mobility management, such as ITS in public transport . On the basis of the works conducted, the Sub Group “Alpine Urban Mobility” finally suggests a set of recommendations on how to improve the urban mobility in the Alpine towns.

The two publications will be soon available on line and printed copy may be required. In the meantime, in order to approach the issue of Urban liveability and economic growth, we invite you to have a look to the because.philips.com/”>above mentioned Report prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The Report was set up to discover the most important elements in urban liveability, and to provide the policymakers with suggestions on long-term visions and resources for making cities better places to live and work.

SWOMM 2010 – Transport and Environment in Mountain Areas (swomm.info)
A. LEUXE – The real costs of transports in Alpine corridors (swomm.info)
The World’s Least Liveable Cities (huffingtonpost.com)
World’s Most Liveable Cities: 2011 Economist Intelligence Unit Report (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)

Multi sector perspective on Climate Change Adaptation in the Alps – 30-31 March 2011, Turin, Italy

FedericoM — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:10:54 +0000

Climate change is predicted to have a long-term impact on the Alpine area. It would produce disruptions not only in the fragile environment but also in the economy and society of the region, thus affecting the livelihood of populations. What are these expected effects? Are there any specific adaptation responses which could be implemented for the present and future? The Alpine Climate Change Days aim at discussing these issues.

The “Alpine Climate Change Days” promoted in the framework of the MANFRED Project (Management strategies to adapt Alpine Space forests to climate change risks, ETC Alpine Space Programme) aim to focus on the impacts of climate change in the Alps. Climate Change Adaptation in the Alps will be the main theme of the Conference to be held on 30 – 31 March 2011, at the Regional Museum of Natural Science in Turin (Italy), organized by the Italian Ministry for the Environment together with the Institute for Timber Plants and for the Environment (IPLA) and the Piedmont delegation of the National Union of Mountain Communities, Municipalities and Authorities (UNCEM Piemonte), in cooperation with the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, ISPRA – Eionet national focal point.

On 30 March 2011, the conference will provide a sound single platform to present interdependent initiatives of cooperation developed in the context of some European projects of the “Alpine Space Programme” which focus on climate change adaptation in the Alps. International speakers will share experiences and best practices conducted in particular in the field of Spatial Planning (Climate Change Adaptation by Spatial Planning in the Alpine Space - CLISP), Tourism (Climate change and its impact on tourism in the Alpine Space – ClimAlpTour), Forests (Management strategies to adapt Alpine Space forests to climate change risk – MANFRED), transboundary ecological networks (Restoring the web of Life – E-Connect) and risk prevention and management (Adaptation to Climate Change in the Alpine Space – AdaptAlp).

These projects deal with issues closely connected to the “European State of the Environment Report and Outlook” (SOER 2010) produced by the European Environment Agency (EEA), which on this occasion will be presented to the public with a focus on the information related to the Alpine region. Such information are also investigated by the System for the Observation and information on the Alps (SOIA) of the Alpine Convention and are of great interest also for the sustainable development of the Carpathians and other mountain regions that will intervene in the Conference.

A press conference and an ad hoc training session for journalists, public administration communication officers and press agents will take place in the morning of 31 March 2011, with the aim of illustrating the goals, activities and outputs of these projects under a scientific, institutional and media perspective.

Further information, including the registration form is available in the Manfred project website: www.manfredproject.eu

Schedule Agenda: Alpine Climate Change Days_leaflet

Adapting to Climate Change (jboydedu.wordpress.com)
Coping with demographic change in the Alps: Alpine Space Programme holds expert forum (your-story.org)
Lessons on Climate Change Adaptation from George Clooney’s 2nd Bout with Malaria (jamblemag.com)
“Lessons on Climate Change Adaptation from George Clooney’s 2nd Bout with Malaria” and related posts (greeneconomics.blogspot.com)

Google Launches Open Spot, an App to Help You Find Open Parking

ChiaradC — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:25:07 +0000

Google has launched Open Spot, a new app aimed at helping “driving users” to find and share parking spots.

How does it work? It is very easy: users update a map when they are leaving their parking spots, thus enabling other drivers who are looking for a parking spot in the same area to quickly find one.

You just need to use your phone. The app pulls up a Google map close to the user’s location and displays open parking spots within an area of 1.5km/0.9 mile radius. You could signal as available your parking spot when you are leaving… And when you are hopelessly looking for a spot to get to the shopping mall before the closing or to be on time with your dentist… you can hope that available spots have been signaled in the map by other users!

Spots are differently colored according to how much time has passed since they have been signaled… You could thereby choose the “fresher” one. However, after twenty minutes they disappear off the map. Indeed, it was already suggested that the system would be even more helpful if there was a way for users to confirm that they have “taken” a spot.

Open Spot is a great idea: a system relying on cooperation to save time and avoiding stress of driving users. It also has a great environmental value as it could help in saving gas and thus reducing pollution.

The only problem is that the contribution of this app to improve the parking process within an area would be really effective only whether the system will gain widespread adoption. Otherwise, if you’re one of the only person in the area who uses the app, it will likely be useless.

Let’s start to download the app and try it.. Then we could convince others to join it!

Related articles

Google Launches App to Help You Find Open Parking (http://mashable.com)

Google Labs launches Android app for finding open parking spots (openspot.googlelabs.com)

Use Google’s Open Spot Android App To Find Parking Spots [Androidapps] (gizmodo.com)
Open Spot Finds and Shares Free Parking Spaces [Download] (lifehacker.com)
Google Open Spot (timesunion.com)
Open Spot app helps Android users find parking (reviews.cnet.com)

Advanced mobility and ICT solutions in mountain environments – MIT

admin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 14:01:25 +0000

Filippo Dal Fiore, during the SWOMM Side Event at CSD18, explained research and development activities carried out by the Senseable City Laboratory at M.I.T, also providing some concrete case studies which could be successfully applied as advanced solutions for mountain areas.

The Senseable City Laboratory researches are focusing in particular on new means of transport and mobile technologies to be applied to people as catalysts as well as providers of spatial intelligence.

Mr Dal Fiore illustrated the case study of the so called Copenhagen wheel, an innovative bike’s back-wheel, designated to store energy and information while pedalling. The bike delivers a boost for uphill riding, while not releasing any pollutant in the air. It also allows a new open air tourist experience in mountain environments. According to the researchers, the bike’s information and connectivity capabilities are strongly attracting younger generations, i.e. the future inhabitants and visitors of mountainous regions.

Mr. Dal Fiore, afterwards, dealt with the case study of Currentcity, a system concerned with suitability to mountain environments, useful to monitor crowd presence through anonymous mobile phone data. The system allows regional and tourist planners to measure how many people visit different areas and when. It also enables emergency authorities to know how many people are where, in case of natural calamities. Moreover, it could be useful to measure how successful a new infrastructural investment has been, in term of amount of people who benefited from it.

Such researches and technologies may be successfully applied to mountains territories, in order to provide smart solutions for a more effective spatial planning.

Filippo Dal Fiore
Co-head of partners’ relations and technology transfer at the Senseable City Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Co-founder and managing director of Currentcity, a R&D foundation dedicated to exploring the applicability of digital data analysis to urban monitoring. Dal Fiore’s background is in social sciences, and he has focused on the transversal topic of information technology’s (IT) implications on human behavior. He has published the textbook edited by Mc-Graw Hill on “E-learning” and another one concerning Communities vs networks of innovation, for the “American Behavioural Scientist”. In the 2010 autumn, he will be defending his PhD in Applied Economics, carried out in partnership with the Free University of Amsterdam, MIT and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

www.swomm.info/Docs/dalfiore.ppt

Railways in mountain areas – UIC

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:21:16 +0000

Margrethe Sagevik, of the International Union of Railways (UIC), addressed the issue of railways in mountain areas during her presentation at the CSD18 SWOMM Side Event.

The UIC is the Worldwide Association representing the Railway Sector, counting about 200 members from all continents. The scope of UIC mission is promoting the rail transport at a world level, in order to meet challenges of mobility and sustainable development.

The association is pursuing this goal in various ways. In particular, they act as providers, making available know how, technical/operational expertise as well as solutions, regulations, standards, best practises. Moreover, they may fulfil the role of facilitators, by exchanging platforms, proposing new ideas and concepts, protecting the members common interests as well as supporting development policies for key infrastructure projects. Furthermore, they accomplish developing tasks by proposing specifications, standards, interfaces, studies, interoperability for international rail corridors. Finally, UIC is also involved in forums, seminars, conferences, congresses organization (i.e. WCRR 2008, UIC Highspeed, Global Rail Freight Conference).

Thanks to all these actions, UIC supports cooperation as well as partnerships among interested parties, thus bringing the existing gap with regards to solutions for addressing climate changes and sustainable development (i.e. the SLoCAT, Partnership on Sustainable Low carbon Transport).

Filled in low carbon performance, the railway is a means of transport strongly sustainable oriented. It is also safer than others and it preserves from traffic congestion.

However, Ms Sagevik highlighted the problem of building new railways within mountain areas, which is a quite complex issue influenced by several factors. Indeed, such investments are not directly sustainable according to a purely financial criterion. In particular, in developing countries they could also be not worth, at least in a short run. Therefore, there is a set of important aspects to be included into the cost/benefit analysis.

From a technical point of view, when new rail infrastructures are built in the mountains, the topography has relevant impact on the costs. Gradiant and curve radius, the classification of soil and rock, the need for avalanche and rock fall protection, the number as well as lengh of bridges and tunnels have to be added to other ordinary expenses. From an operational point of view, the railway reveals to be only a part of the whole solution to sustainable mobility in mountain areas. Combined transport are also needed (i.e. ROLA: Rollende Landstrasse), as well as high speed services and passenger tourism services. With regard to the financial aspects, maintenance costs have to be added to the investment costs, depending on the amount of tunnels and bridges. The environmental classification of the area is also a driver, as the existing environmental and landscape protection measures limit the range of possible actions. In addition, strategic, political, cultural and social aspects have influenced typology and costs of the activities.

Significant steps were already moved in Switzerland. The Swiss population enshrined the modal shift into the Constitution in 1994, voting for the ‘Alpine Initiative’, which is reflecting the country’s move towards environmentally sustainable transport in the vulnerable Alpine ecosystem. Measures include: two new transalpine rail links, the ‘land Transport Agreement’, the open access to the Swiss rail network for cargo traffic, increasing countrywide the mileage-related heavy vehicle fees, generating 900 million Euros in 2007, subsidies and incentives for combined traffic. Then, revenues from the heavy vehicle fee are spent on improvements and extensions to rail infrastructure, and the Swiss corridors have decreased of 16% in trucks crossing the Alps since 2000.

Future scenarios are increasingly including railway as a part of the solution for sustainable mobility in mountain areas. Priorities are, on the one hand, maintaining the existing infrastructure for ’regional’ train services. On the other hand, new infrastructure should also be constructed, mainly tunnels for high speed and heavy freight services (national and international train services). For a more efficient system, the capacity should be increased in terms of train load and time saving. Railways will play an important role in achieving sustainable mobility, especially in sensitive mountainous regions.

However, railways are not enough to avoid problems with car traffic (as traffic jams or parking space) and attractive combinations of public transport are needed. Innovative solutions may also add electro-mobility for the last mile, special solutions for the transport of baggage, optimal information to the customer about transport chains, etc.

Ms Sagevik quoted the Switzerland experience for a second time, as several car-free destination have been created within the Alpine area and they have successfully build advantages through connection by railway and other public transports (e.g. Zermatt, Ascona, Mürren).

Margrethe Sagevik
Is an environmental economist who has been the past seven years a sustainable development senior adviser in the International Union of Railways (UIC) – the global association for cooperation between and promotion of railways, in Paris. Margrethe has been working in the rail sector for more than 10 years, with a focus on how to improve the sustainability performance of rail within the rail sector – and to promote rail as a part of the solution to combat climate change and achieve a sustainable development.

www.swomm.info/Docs/sagevik.ppt

SWOMM – A distinctive approach to sustainable mobility in the mountains

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:58:02 +0000

Gathering experiences and researches, by using a multidisciplinary approach and advanced communication tools, the SWOMM workshop has become a point of reference for the debate on mountain mobility. Scientists, practitioners and policy makers in the Alps and the Carpathians have been regularly involved in the forum.

Opening his remarks Mr. Cetara explained that mountain mobility is addressed by SWOMM as an independent subject to focus on. This method of isolating specific researches and technical initiatives has proved to bring about some benefits, as relevant regularities have arisen when focusing on mountain mobility related issues. As an example, the issue of accessibility, which is a driver for local economic systems and is influencing society as well as culture, is almost everywhere linked to the specific geography and orographic structure of the territory.

Nonetheless, SWOMM is also taking advantage of achievements developed firstly in other non-mountain locations. Opening the mountain territory to innovative contributions coming from the outside is a basic part of this Workshop’s mandate. Therefore it is important having a glimpse on both existing technologies and new paradigms, even though they are not mountain-oriented. In this regard, Mr. Dal Fiore’s contribution explained how advanced technologies may be profitably exploited to collect data for up-to-date policies formulation.

Although the main scope of SWOMM, by now, includes the Alps and the Carpathians, there is a growing interest in widening the range of lessons and contacts to other mountains zones outside Europe. The presentation on the District Roads Support Program (DRSP), carried out in Nepal by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, has shown how concepts already well known in the Alps can be successfully shared with other mountain ranges.
Research and discussions undertaken within SWOMM, aim at assessing the impact of different transport systems and mobility on issues like pollution, biodiversity, human health in mountain areas. One of the SWOMM’s main concerns is to promote the sustainable development of mountain environments and ecosystems. Within this framework, the acceptance of the Side Event at CSD18 shows how SWOMM outcomes are in line with the general policies promoted by the United Nations for sustainable mobility. They are also in line with the policies implemented by the European Commission, as told in other contexts and clarified for instance in the SWOMM 2008 final publication.

Furthermore, SWOMM aims at stressing the role of business for the sustainable development of mountain areas and the implementation of advanced technical solutions in these areas. At the same time, SWOMM is looking for synergies with public administrations as well as decisions makers, who have the possibility to coordinate the design phase of future policies.

Indeed, as the importance of territorial planning has been, by now, generally recognised, the SWOMM Scientific Secretariat and its partners believe that issues regarding both the environment and the economy may be successfully addressed with a multi-sector approach, in order to create a “Win – Win” situation. Hence, many of the initiatives presented at SWOMM fit in the recently developed mainstream named ‘green economy’.

The SWOMM workshop started in 2005 and arrived at his 5th edition in 2009, growing as a network for experts, scholars and civil servants, where more than 100 people and institutions have been involved.

Summing up, SWOMM is intended as a place to gather best practices, outcomes of scientific research and both concrete and viable policies. The general aim for the next years is to strengthen the role of SWOMM as a participative forum for discussion and future policy design. It may help keeping in mind that mobility is a part of an approach that fosters sustainability in mountain areas.

Further information on the Workshop is available on the website www.swomm.info, where all the publications of SWOMM’s previous editions are also stored. Last SWOMM edition was held in Genova in December 2009 and the 2010 edition is likely to be held in Rome, as usual in December – in close cooperation with the Mountain Partnership.

Luca Cetara
Is an economist specialized in environmental policies for mountain areas. He has been involved in the organization of the SWOMM workshops since the 1st edition in 2005. He participated in the preparation of the 1st report on the State of the Alps (2007) and cooperated in several initiatives of the Italian Ministry for the Environment dealing with transport and sustainable mobility.
Recently he has been focusing on the integration of the environmental policies in urban centers, with specific reference to mountain areas.

www.swomm.info/Docs/cetara.ppt

District Roads in Rural Nepal – the Swiss Cooperation’s experience

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:07:19 +0000

Mattia Poretti from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), presented the District Roads Support Program (DRSP), implemented in Nepal and aiming at improving the living conditions of the local population, by facilitating mobility and access.

The Program, made up of an agreement among the Switzerland and Nepal Governments, started in 1999 and is running until June 2013.

Poretti reported the earlier phases’ outcomes, as assessed in a Project External Review focusing on the impact of DRSP activities on the social and economic environment, within the area of the supported roads. A wide range of data was collected (e.g. on the increase of income, trips, shops, agriculture production, school attendance, spread of services such as electricity, piped water, telephone, infrastructures, toilet facilities) to show whether the improved connectivity boosted the poorest and most disadvantaged groups’ conditions. The survey targeted three roads, differing for length and conditions, through the use of different methods (e.g. focus group discussions, household surveys, traffic counts, passenger interviews, origin – destination surveys).

As an example, the survey showed that in the Okhaldhunga road general incomes had a threefold increase in the last 10 years while the travel time to District Headquarter halved. Moreover, in the Sindhuli road the number of shops increased from seven to forty-five. Finally, in the Dolakha road facilities as electricity, piped water and telephone, being totally absent beforehand, rose up respectively to the 35%, the 95% and the 33%.

On the face of it, these increasing trends – according to the assessment – show the overall positive impact of the Project on local economies. Poor and disadvantaged groups benefited from employment and social opportunities, reduced social divisions, improved accessibility. Furthermore, even if the traffic is still low, a substantial increase is foreseen for the future, which will lead to the improvement of local products’ marketing, increased access to employment and economic activities, as well as to local service delivery (e.g. ambulance service).

Lessons have been drawn from the past to prepare recommendations for activities of phase IV, which is due to start next July. One of the issues is the need to stimulate the economy: indeed, the creation of new roads is enabling but not directly causing growth, as it takes some time for improving mobility. To achieve this goal, the involvement of the local community has revealed itself to be really important for the effectiveness of the measures. Another point concerns the reduction of trusts among transport service operators, in order to provide safer as well as more reliable and affordable services.

Mattia Poretti
Programme Manager for the Swiss Confederation Federal Department of Foreign Affairs as well as for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.