As a researcher on the community action model, I was invited to the conference titled Mountains and Plains – Environmental and Climatic Entanglements. Past – Present – Future. The community action model is one of the (essential) forms of successful response to environmental change.
In the Climate Goals and Content in Education project, we integrated the Alps into our work as early as in 2022. We have organised the Alpine School twice, selected the CIPRA organisation as an external collaborator, and are disseminating our results at the research level. In 2023, we are maintaining this focus: we are finalising teaching material that will present the Alps comparatively with the sub-Mediterranean part of the Primorska region.
At the conference, I took an active role as a panellist in a round table discussion where, in addition to Swiss representatives, several experts from neighbouring countries (Austria, Italy, Croatia) also took part. I also co-authored a written paper on community practices in the Alpine countries for the conference of IASC, which organised the EDEH Conference.
Both the Climate Goals and Content in Education project and the SIAE are gaining deeper insights into responding to climate change and taking the SDGs into account through this participation. For example, Prof Dr Tobias Haller, a member of the organising committee, is very critical of the 2030 SDGs Agenda, as they do not (yet) take into account the community practices of the Alps. In addition to learning in the broadest sense, involvement in international cooperation also provides an opportunity to strengthen research and promote the SIAE’s work.
Dr Nevenka Bogataj (nevenka.bogataj@acs.si), SIAE