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

The General Assembly of United Nations recognised, in the Agenda 21 (Chapter 7 and 9) and in its further implementing sessions, that the issue of transport has been playing a key role in determining the demand for energy.

Transportation, in fact, is expected to grow both in the developed than in the developing countries. In the latter, the construction of proper transport infrastructures is highly recommended, for alleviating poverty by allowing access to basic services, markets, employment, education. At the same time new infrastructures should be compliant with appropriate environmental standards.

In particular, as current patterns of transportation development are not sustainable in the long run, it was generally recognised that more efficient transport systems are needed to mitigate negative externalities to human health and the environment.

Therefore, in the preparatory works to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, as well as in Johannesburg (2002), the General Assembly together with the countries agreed upon the necessity for international co-operation and integrated approaches for policy makers in the fields of land use, infrastructure, public transport systems and freight networks.

Furthermore, they indicated urgent actions as the accelerated phase-out of leaded gasoline, the promotion of voluntary guidelines, the development of national and international partnerships for implementing efficient transport infrastructure, the promotion of non-motorised means of transport, the development of innovative mass transit schemes.

The contribution of SWOMM (Scientific Workshop on Mountain Mobility) to the CSD-18 Transport Session has proved in line with these objectives and the general policy framework. In particular the focus was placed on the peculiar characteristics of mobility and transport in the mountains which have been recognised as having common features, according to the SWOMM’s philosophy.

Related links within the SWOMM Website

• SWOMM Side Event (12th May 2010) at the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in New York
• “Sustainable Mobility in Mountain Areas” – SWOMM Side Event at the CSD18

• Outcomes from the SWOMM Side Event at CSD18 – “Sustainable Mobility in Mountain Areas”
  

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Discussion on mountain mobility to be held at the UN Commission Sustainable Development. SWOMM goes to NYC -12th of May 2010

Mobility takes a specific shape when analysed in a mountain context. The five editions of the SWOMM, Scientific Workshop on Mountain Mobility and transport, have tried to define some of the distinctive characteristics of this type of mobility and presented them to an expert audience on several occasions, both with printed publications and through public events.

The international approach to global mountain territories which has been followed by SWOMM is going to be presented during the 18th Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in New York, on the 12th of May, from 1.15 p.m. to 2.45 p.m as one of the focuses of the Review Session of this year will be the theme of transport.

The event is conceived as an overview of the scientific research and cutting-edge solutions developed to address ways of promoting sustainable mobility in mountain areas. Representatives from different mountain regions worldwide, coming from scientific institutions, governments and the private sector are envisaged to take part in the event.

Main organizers of the SWOMM side event are the Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea (Italy), the Mountain Partnership Secretariat (FAO) with the institutional support of UNEP. The side event will also be supported by representatives of other relevant institutions and organizations.

The CSD is a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), established in 1992 (General Assembly Resolution 47/191). It comprises 53 member States (about one third elected on a yearly basis by the ECOSOC) meeting annually, in two-year cycles, and it is in charge to ensure effective follow-up of the so-called ‘Earth Summit’, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

Other topics of this session are chemicals, waste management (hazardous & solid waste), mining, 10 year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption & production patterns.

More information on the side event will follow soon!

Link to the website

http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/csd/csd_csd18.shtml