The Alpine Convention’s principal concern is to combine measures for the protection of the Alpine region with a sustainable, trend-setting development of the regions themselves. The fact that the Alpine Convention draws on alpine towns in particular for its contents is of key significance given that around two thirds of the population in the Alps live in urbanised regions, which in turn represent only around 40% of the total alpine area. So while the Alps are still clearly rural in terms of surface area, the population and with it the economy is already predominantly urban. Here nature and culture, ecology and economy collide head on, and it is the stated principal objective of the Alpine Town of the Year to communicate these issues to the population at large.
The Alpine Convention is a treaty under international law between Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia, Switzerland, and the European Union. It was signed in 1991. The objective of the Treaty is the protection of the Alps and their sustainable development while taking account of conservation and land use interests.
Implementing Protocols have been set out in twelve areas to lay down the details of the framework convention (framework convention of the Alpine Convention Art. 2, Para. 2):
- population and culture
- spatial planning
- prevention of air pollution
- soil conservation
- water management
- conservation of nature and the countryside
- mountain farming
- mountain forests
- tourism and recreation
- transport
- energy
- waste management
