Climate change poses major challenges to tourism and mountain regions. It demands comprehensive changes in housing, transport, and the economy. If the necessary transformations are tackled actively and planned jointly, this can open up many great opportunities for regional development.
“Local energy transition experiments for a low-carbon society” is a pilot project for promotion of such joint processes. It aims to develop and implement ideas towards a climate-neutral society in the Swiss Alpine region “Oberland-Ost” (Canton of Bern).
Emphasis is placed on locally adapted energy innovations that are co-initiated and co-developed by local stakeholders. Experiences gained in implementation can also be used to identify and address hurdles in the institutional framework. Lastly, the selected innovations can be evaluated regarding how well they contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
I contributed to this project by co-organizing and leading workshops with local and regional stakeholders to develop different visions for a climate-neutral tourism region and identify possible ways to achieve it.
Link to the project website
Source: CDE, University of Bern