The Alpine Convention, which was adopted in 1991, is often referred to as a «paper tiger». Based on the political processes surrounding the drafting and implementation of the international treaty for the protection of the Alps in Switzerland, the latest article of the journal Saggi di Dodis sheds light on the reasons why the Alpine Convention is denied any impact. An important role is played by the dialogue between researchers and representatives of the administration and authorities, as well as their differing expectations of the document.
In his article «Berge kennen keine Grenzen», historian Romed Aschwanden sheds light on the position of the Alpine Convention in the context of Swiss mountain region policy and, following on from this, the effectiveness of the political representatives of the mountain cantons. The article thus enables a better understanding of the co-operation between the Confederation and the cantons at the interface of regional, environmental and foreign policy.
The article by Romed Aschwanden is available for download at dodis.ch/saggi/4-2 in Open Access.
For more articles from the journal Saggi di Dodis: dodis.ch/saggi
A compilation of the most important documents on the Alpine Convention can be found at dodis.ch/T1926.