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European Symposium: 'The mid-mountain regions and their people' 9-11 October 2002, Annecy, France.

The European Institute of Rural Resources Management (Lyon 3 University, Savoie University) has the pleasure to call for the submission of papers for a European symposium to be held in Annecy, France from 9-11 October, 2002, about "The mid-mountain regions and their people"

The mid-mountain regions either face a lack of development or are overdeveloped.

Generally speaking, these areas, situated halfway up the slope at the bottom of a mountain range, were hinterlands to large industrial cities forming a cultural and economic entity referred to as a district. The industrial decline, the relocation of production activities as well as the massive development of leisure and sports activities, have induced various stages of development that coexist, ranging from:

• A state of close to complete population drain to a state of intensive sub-urbanisation
• A " localised " attitude to the nuisance of all-out development.

In many cases left behind, the mid-mountain or prized mid-mountain areas have to cope with unacceptable conditions. There are three situations of reference which this Symposium seeks to address:

• Is it possible to determine the various stages of development that should only be cleared once being fully aware of the predictable side effects and consequences inferred by the development?
• Are there indications available to detect and anticipate the stages mentioned above?
• Can we control and manage development through pre-determined, limited stages?

As far as ethical and intellectual preoccupations are concerned, town and country planners as well as developers usually focus on studies and providing financial assistance for deprived areas similarly to the plans and schemes used in international cooperation for developing countries. The following key questions can be raised:

• Can we verify the hypothesis by which the overdeveloped mid-mountain districts are weakened by the nuisance and side effects generated by their hyper activity?
• Should we consider policies involving a mutual and complementary exchange of specific information between and within these mid-mountain districts to obtain general development?
• On a European scale including the European Union and the European continent, are we able to create targeted programmes to establish a policy for the mid-mountain districts?

The main topics of the symposium will be dealing with the mid-mountain regions that either face a lack of development or are overdeveloped. They will be organized on open forum lectures and round tables:

Papers will be accepted in two languages: French or English. The selection process will involved two stages:

• Those interested should first submit an abstract by 5 July 2002. Abstract length should be 500 to 600 words. Complete details of the author(s) must be given at the top of the abstract:
  Last Name, First Name, Institution, Function, Postal address, Tel, Fax, E-mail, Topic.
• After examination, the scientific committee will advise those contributors whose papers have been selected by 29 July 2002. A final paper (maximum 10 pages) will be required by 30 August 2002.
  

All papers accepted will be published in the symposium proceedings or the conference edition of the International Journal of Fieldwork Studies.

For further information, please contact:

Sylvie VULLIET
ESE-IER/BP 9/74370 Poisy/ France
fax: +33 4 50 46 37 85
E-mail: ier74.montagne-europe@wanadoo.fr

For full details visit http://www.virtualmontana.org/conference/

International conference: 'Protected areas of European Mountains place of life/sanctuary, recreation and exchange
Chambéry', France, 13-17 November 2002

In the spirit of the international year of mountains, France is hosting a meeting on protected areas in mountainous regions. From West to East, from North to South, the European continent is marked by numerous mountain ranges. Between the Serra da Estrela and the Caucasus, the Scandinavian Mountains and the Sierra Nevada are situated protected areas and organizations involved with and committed to the conservation and sustainable development of these regions with great natural and cultural value. This conference is addressed to those working in the mountain ranges of Europe and other continents.

The objectives of this international conference on protected areas in European mountains are

• to outline the applied measures of mountains conservation,
• to identify the common issues in the conservation of protected areas,
• and to foster cooperation between protected areas situated in the mountains of Europe.

Papers and posters:
Please send abstracts in English or French (with title and keywords, max. 500 words) to the address below by June 1st. All abstract submissions will be reviewed with respect to the conference themes. Oral presenters of papers will have 20 minutes for their presentation. All papers accepted will be published in the conference proceedings.
We have reserved a session for poster presentations. Poster presenters are asked to communicate the presentation by September 20th. Please produce your poster on A1 (84 x 60 cm) or A2 (60 x 42 cm).

Conference fees:
The conference fees are 80.- € for the three days. These fees cover the participation at the conference, the proceedings and the field trips proposed for Saturday.

Languages:
Languages of the conference: English and French. Translation into other languages during the conference (Russian, Spanish, German) will be considered according to the languages spoken by the participants.

Location:
Chambéry enjoys a remarkable geographical position in the heart of the northern part of the French Alps. It is situated between the Bauges massif and the Chartreuse mountain range surrounded by several large-scale protected areas. To the south the town stretches out to the vineyards on the hillsides of the Combe of Savoy; to the north it almost reaches the shores of Lake Bourget - France's largest natural lake.
For more visitors information contact: Office de Tourisme: www.chambery-tourisme.com

Sponsored by / Avec le concours de:
Région Rhône-Alpes, DATAR, Ministère de l’Aménagement du Territoire et de l’Environnement, Département de la Savoie, Crédit Agricole des Savoies.

Contact:
Conference: Protected areas of European Mountains
Réseau Alpin des Espaces Protégés, Micropolis Isatis, F 05000, Gap
Tel.: +33 / (0)4 92 40 20 00
Fax.: +33 / (0)4 92 40 20 01
Internet: www.alparc.org
E-mail: sylvia.unterreiner@alparc.org

EUROSITE Workshops

EUROSITE, the network of organizations managing Europe's natural heritage, are running a series of workshops bringing together natural site managers to exchange their experience and knowledge on nature conservation management.

For information about the EUROSITE workshops visit the EUROSITE Website at http://www.eurosite-nature.org

alpMedia Newsletter and Internet Site

alpMedia, the new information service for the 'Commission Internationale pour la Protection des Alpes' (CIPRA), has developed a new newsletter and an Internet site about Alpine affairs.

The newsletter will provide information on all the key questions on the Alps, opinions and analyses of CIPRA. The Internet site can be found at http://www.cipra.org and will provide details of the organisation and its work.

Updates on these developments can be found on the alpMedia website http://www.alpmedia.net.

The first edition of the newsletter will contain:
Information without borders on the Alps ...1
A vision of biodiversity of the Alps ...2
The Mont Blanc tunnel opened to lorries again ...2
Alpine Convention: What's new? ...2
RPLP in all Europe? ...3
New transport ministry and Austrian politics ...3
National Parcs: can they be favourable to biodiversity and tourism? ...4

The newsletter will appear in german, french, italian, slovenian and occasionally in english

To receive the alpMedia newsletter send an email to info@alpmedia.net.

Information provided by : CIPRA,
www.cipra.org,
Im Bretscha 22, FL 9494 Schaan,
T 00423 237 40 30, F 00423 237 40 31,
info@alpmedia.net, www.alpmedia.net

New Alpine Cartographic Information

MultiGéo is a geomatics firm which aims at developing the field of mountainous areas cartography. They are making a geographic database mainly dedicated to crossboundaries areas. They propose applications on the Alps range, the Jura Massif and the Vosges, but other mountain ranges will be proposed soon.

They have just launched in their web site a part dedicated to cartography in mountainous areas:

http://www.multigeo.com/gb/montagnes_gb/mont_gb.html

They wish to be helpfull to organisations which work in the fields of transportation, tourism, agriculture, or cultural concerns.

For contact details refer to the following page :

http://www.multigeo.com/gb/contact_gb/contacts_gb.html

'Nature and people: conservation and management in the mountains of Northern Europe' 6-9 November 2002.

This international conference, organised by Scottish Natural Heritage and the Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College/UHI Millennium Institute is a key contribution to the International Year of Mountains 2002 (IYM). Its aim is to meet the IYM goal of "promoting the conservation and sustainable development of mountain regions, thereby ensuring the wellbeing of mountain and lowland communities". Its geographic focus is on the mountains of North Europe, in Faroes, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK.

The conference objectives are to link science and policy developments in the mountains of Northern Europe; to highlight management needs in terms of stimulating and sharing best practice. The conference seeks to make connections between these objectives in order to share ideas and information and inform policy and research agendas.

The target audience includes all with an interest in mountains and their future, including researchers, government and agency advisers, non-governmental organisations, the tourism industry and other land users in the mountains.

The two main days of the conference will be Thursday 7 and Friday 8 November 2002. The six plenary conference sessions will include presentations by authors from across the region, with opportunities for discussion, on the following themes:

• scene setting and context, including statements from Icelandic and Scottish Ministers;
• the mountain environment: perspectives;
• change: land uses and the challenges ahead;
• management: influences and scientific opportunities;
• nature and people: trends and prospects;
• final plenary session.
  

There will also be poster sessions, with specific time set aside for viewing and discussing posters with presenters, and a choice of three field visits on Saturday 9 November.

For more details, see http://www.cms.uhi.ac.uk/Nature&People.pdf
To register, contact Mrs Helen G Forster, Chief Scientist's Unit, Scottish Natural Heritage, 2 Anderson Place, Edinburgh EH6 5NP, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)131-446 2420; Fax: +44 (0)131-446 2406
E-mail: helen.forster@snh.gov.uk

The Future of Europe Conference

Upon invitation from the University College of London (UCL), 245 students from capital cities of 26 European countries participated in "The Future of Europe Conference" on 10th - 13th April 2002. The task of the conference was to define a set of recommendations for the European Union.

There were 10 forums (Civil Society, Constitution, Enlargement, Common Foreign& Security Policy, Regoinal Policy, Justice, Economics, Environment, Social Policy and Culture, Education and Research) at UCL, formulating recommendations on key policy issues for Europe as a whole.

The Regional Policy Forum discussed the budget and how it should be increased and allocated; the eligibility and types of programmes that is the development of new indicators to define eligible areas for Structural assistance; the ways in which the communication between the EU Regional Policy and citizens can be improved; the Common Agricultural Policy budget should be radically decreased and the available funds transferred to rural development programmes; the European Spatial Development Perspective is considered to be a key document in order to improve the coordination between various EU policies and programmes.

Diana Ivancescu, University of Bucharest

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Editorial

So how do our students perceive fieldtrips as part of their academic studies? Whatever level of education, the justification of fieldwork in terms of staff time, costs and resource use is increasingly under scrutiny.

For most geographers it is likely that fieldwork studies provide unique opportunities for experiential study. Immersing students in aspects of study afforded by the location in question is also a great motivator.

The ways our field visits are carried out, in terms of the activities that are undertaken, the location, time spent, assessment requirements, the quality use of time, sources used and safety issues all play a part in the student's perception of their importance. At a time when geography becomes increasingly under threat in the curriculum, fieldwork studies are perhaps the most important trump card that we have to play if we are to ensure the future of the subject.

So, how can we protect the integrity and significance of field studies. VM News would like to hear from you and your students.

Karl Donert, Senior Lecturer and International Fellow,
Liverpool Hope University College.

Using Geography Fieldtrips to aid learning and social development: a lesson learnt.

Taking year 9 students (average age 14) away on a fieldtrip can be a very interesting experience for all parties concerned. For the past three years I have taken groups of year 9 students to the Field Studies Council centre at Castle Head at Grange Over Sands in Cumbria. The aim of their visit is to develop their geographical skills and promote teamwork. We travel from our home town of Cannock to the field centre after school on a Friday night arriving in time for dinner M6 allowing. We then spend the evening orienteering in the dark in the grounds of the centre and then walking up the hill at the side of the centre for some scary stories.

The next day is spent with a clear geographical aim; to investigate the impacts of tourism on Conniston Old Man. Students perform a series of tests including footpath erosion and litter count on the mountain as well as in the village. After a long day the students return to the centre to follow up the work of the day with presentations on how they would manage tourism on the mountain. To reward them for their hard work in the evening we then play team games and have a barbeque. The students are then given the opportunity to camp out in tents or if they want to in the barn on the hay. Most students want to sleep on the hay believe it or not. At about 10.30pm they settle down for a night of creepy crawly spotting and, who is snoring? Competitions.

At 6.30 am the next morning a very jaded bunch start to rise from their sleeping bags like flies from maggot cases. After some hot tea and a morning look around the field we enter the centre for a hot shower and a cooked breakfast. The morning is spent on the climbing wall and climbing tree or building a raft and sailing it down the river next to the centre. All of these activities develop the students as team workers and develop relationships between the students and staff. Coming from a school with just under 2000 students, not all of the students that were on the trip knew each other, what better way to form a friendship than have them on the end of your safety line. One of the most rewarding moments from the foot and mouth troubled trips of 2001 was when a students conquered her fear of heights, I leave Emma aged 13 to explain her feelings:

"I had always known that I had a slight fear of heights, but until I tackled the abseiling tree at Castle Head, I had never realised what a knuckle whitening fear it was. I was one of the first ever people to climb the tree which had been specially developed, and abseil back down to the ground. Although I was attached to a safety harness, I never once felt safe. Each time I glanced a look downwards to the ground, my knees started shaking. I felt I was a tiny ant dangling from a skyscraper, but my friends who did the same said it was not too bad!! From the first six feet off the ground the people at the bottom who were pulling on the rope had hauled me up the tree. Although I was nearly paralysed with fear, I am very pleased I did it and am happy to see the photographs of me swinging from a tree to prove it."

This year will see 80 year 9 students undertaking this weekend at Castle Head, a further 230 year 8 students will travel to Castle Head for a summer camp with some geography activities. Over 80 GCSE students will travel to Blencathra centre in Keswick to complete fieldwork and 100 students will take part in residential visits at sixth form to Malham Tarn field centre and la Clusaz in the French Alps. There is no better way to develop your relationships with your students than to take them away of on a residential fieldtrip.

Jon Clarke, Head of Geography
Cannock Chase High School

The Student Experience

When it comes to field trips the majority of students, including myself, hate to be dragged around in gale force winds and driving rain - which is the weather we have all come to expect on such occasions. Although fieldwork can be considered by many to be an inconvenience, my experiences have all been very positive.

During the first year fieldwork helps us get to grips with the 'tools of the trade', revising the basics for working in the field. By the second year as you undertake more independent study, it is the fieldwork that draws everything together. No amount of lectures, slides or reading can reproduce what is gained by working in the field. It therefore is, as the lecturers all insist, an important component of our study.

For me fieldwork was the thing that gave me added confidence in my subject. Witnessing the physical environment first hand provided me with a comprehensive picture, which brought everything else into focus. Group work is an important aspect of fieldwork, as the saying goes "two heads are better than one" and more people participated in discussions as our understanding of the topics grew. Additionally, the tutors were there to guide our observations and ensure all our questions were answered, so that the maximum benefit was gained from the trip.

By the final year I was looking forward to fieldwork, regardless of the weather, knowing it would help considerably in course work and bring clarity to my reading. Personally I found fieldwork extremely beneficial. It enhanced my course work and exam revision by providing experience and examples to back up my statements. Fieldwork has brought an added confidence to my knowledge and made me a more observant and questioning person. For me it played a major part in my degree course.

Glenda Wall, Final Year Student,
BSc Geography and Environmental Studies , Liverpool Hope.

For the residential fieldwork, a compulsory component of the first year geography course, I went to North Wales. The fieldwork activities that I undertook covered many of the themes taught throughout the level I geography course, for example hill slope processes and mass movement and social and cultural themes.

The first part of the fieldtrip focussed on the subjects and activities which where common to both geography and environmental studies, and acted as an introduction to the area. Thereafter, geography and environmental studies students conducted separate, subject specific activities, such as investigations into the impacts of tourism on rural services, stream ecology and hill slope analyses, although, as I am a studying both geography and environmental studies the structure of the fieldwork activities were divided equally between the two subjects.

Fieldwork has allowed me to gain experience of both past and present landscapes, introducing me to particular geographical processes that are occurring or have occurred within North Wales. The different activities I undertook assisted in furthering my understanding of the processes involved in the formation of landforms and landscapes, as well as the factors and processes that are involved in social and cultural geography. Additionally, fieldwork provided me with opportunities to develop important skills, in particular by bettering my abilities of working within a group.

The Fieldwork activities allowed hands on, practical experience of field techniques, giving a realistic insight into research activities, both of which provide an important foundation needed to progress to levels II and III.

Clare Wallett, Year 2 Student,
BSc Geography and Environmental Studies , Liverpool Hope.

Some fieldwork for schools using the Internet

The World Wide Web cannot replace the excitement of visiting places and doing Geography out of the classroom. However it can enhance and enable these activities and support both the pupils and teachers.

The Internet offers access to places that either cannot be visited or else may not be accessible to all. It offers a multimedia digital alternative that in some cases can be truly 'mind blowing'.

VM News here offers you the following interesting and hopefully useful Web sites to visit to support you 'outside the classroom'.

One for the Teacher - Geography at About.com (http://geography.about.com/science/geography/) provides answers to many current geographical issues, interesting opportunities such as quizzes, clipart and the map section are also useful. Subscribing to newsletters that automatically get sent to your email address each week, are a very useful way of keep up-to-date and receiving valuable information. Matt Rosenberg's Newsletter at About.com is one of these. Subscribing (and unsubscribing) is very easy and you should check this out.

For Pupils (and Parents) - Homework High (http://www.homeworkhigh.com/) provides support for pupils doing homework. There are two live sessions each day, Monday-Thursday, (in the afternoon and evening), and also on Sunday evenings. During a live session, experienced teachers are ready to help pupils with their homework problems. Homework High is easy to use and the questions are often answered the same day.

The Homework High geography section library provides the answers to the questions that had previously been sent in. The search facilities allow the age of the students to be taken into consideration, providing simpler answers for younger pupils. Keyword and phrase searches can also be carried out.

Some examples of interesting virtual fieldtrips are provided. They will allow you to visit some really exciting places without going outside!

Some Virtual trips to take and other interesting 'visit' Web sites

Karl Donert, Senior Lecturer and International Fellow,
Liverpool Hope University College.

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Launch of new look Field Studies Council website

At the beginning of May the Field Studies Council launched their new look website. With improved navigation it's easier for the users to find out about the FSC and the area of their work that is of interest to them.

There is a new 16+ database, improved searching for school and college groups as well as the full Adult Courses 2002. Buying FSC publications is easier too using your own shopping basket. Why not visit the site - same address - www.field-studies-council.org and let them know what you think?

New sections to Mountain Forum Website

Mountain Forum E-Consultations on Thematic Papers for the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit (BGMS) site contains links to BGMS thematic papers: http://www.mtnforum.org/bgms

Carpathian Web Pages now available on the European Mountain Forum website: http://www.mtnforum.org/europe/carpathians

EUROPARC Federation

EUROPARC is the umbrella organisation of Europe's protected areas. It unites national parks, regional parks, nature parks and biosphere reserves in 38 countries, with the common aim of protecting Europe's unique variety of wildlife, habitats and landscapes.

Visit the EUROPARC Federation Website at http://www.europarc.org

International Year of Mountains 2002 in Valais, Switzerland

For information about projects and conferences set up in Valais to commemorate 2002 International Year of Mountains visit http://www.montagne2002.ch (much of this site is in French and German).

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Contributions to future issues

If you would like to contribute to a future issue of the Virtual Montana Newsletter we would be pleased to receive articles, news items, reviews and details of forthcoming events. To send a contribution or for further details please email virtualmontana@hope.ac.uk.
The next issue of the Newsletter is due for publication in August. The theme of the newsletter will be The effects of tourism on the mountain landscape. Please email contributions for this next issue to be received by Friday 19 July.