SPARE: Strategic Planning for Alpine Riverine Ecosystems – Integrating protection and development

SPARE: Strategic Planning for Alpine Riverine Ecosystems – Integrating protection and development

 

General information about the project

Full project title: Strategic Planning for Alpine Riverine Ecosystems – Integrating protection and development

Project title in Slovenian: Strateško načrtovanje in usklajevanje na področju ohranjanja in obnove alpskih rečnih ekosistemov

Project acronym: SPARE

Project code: ASP170

Programme: Interreg Alpine Space

 

Rivers are the lifelines of sustainable development in the Alps. They provide clean drinking water for human use and irrigation for agriculture, they are home to a myriad of organisms, they provide recreation opportunities, and their power helps us to produce energy. Alpine rivers can only provide these and other services to society if we take care of them, on the basis of comprehensive stream management. The SPARE (Strategic Planning for Alpine River Ecosystems) project aims at contributing to a further harmonization of human use requirements and protection needs. Nine project partners from six Alpine countries show how strategic approaches for the protection and management of rivers can be improved across administrative and disciplinary borders, and promote awareness of the services provided by Alpine rivers, as well as their vulnerability. SPARE lasts from December 2015 to December 2018 and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme.

 

SPARE contributes to a further harmonization of protection needs and human use requirements. The main aims are to:

1. increase the awareness and knowledge level of the functions and services healthy rivers provide
2. improve existing river management practices by integrating ecosystems services and participatory approaches
3. enable decision makers and river managers to select and apply strategic planning approaches according to their needs.

The main activities we are implementing within SPARE are to:

1. provide a pan-Alpine overview of priority rivers with high protection need
2. collect examples of successful river management in the Alps
3. enable river managers in five pilot case study areas to plan, apply and evaluate participatory methods
4. test integrated and participatory river management approaches
5. make the lessons learnt from the collected river management examples and from the case studies available for other Alpine rivers
6. provide an interactive action and policy support platform called “SPARE-LIVE”, including a decision and participation workflow, an e-learning facility on integrative river management practices for stakeholders at all levels, and a database of successful river management examples.

Duration of the project:

16.12.2015 – 15.12.2018

Related content:

1. SPARE
2. Interreg Alpine Space

Project partners:

BOKU – Universität für Bodenkultur Wien (A, vodilni partner), ARPA VDA – Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Valle d’Aosta (I), IzVRS – Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia (SI), IRSTEA – Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l’environnement et l’agriculture (F), ARPAV – Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale del Veneto (I), Water Management Planning upper Austria – Land Oberösterreich (A), SMRD – Syndicat Mixte de la Rivière Drôme et de ses affluents (F), CIPRA – Commission Internationale pour la Protection des Alpes (LI), PTE – Fundaziun Pro Terra Engiadina (CH).

Slovenian associated partners:

Slovenian Environmental Agency, Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia, Soča River Foundation, Soške elektrarne Nova Gorica, Slovenian Water Agency.