Acta geographica Slovenica, 55-1, 2015, 161–163 SUSTAINABLE SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE ALPS DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3986/AGS.1969 UDC: 913:711(234.3) 711:502.131(234.3) COBISS: 1.03 GUESt EDItOrS: Janez Nared, Ph.D. Anton Melik Geographical Institute research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Novi trg 2, SI – 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: janez.nared@zrc-sazu.si Nika Razpotnik Viskoviæ, Ph.D. Anton Melik Geographical Institute research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Novi trg 2, SI – 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: nika.razpotnik@zrc-sazu.si Blaž Komac, Ph.D. Anton Melik Geographical Institute research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Novi trg 2, SI – 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: blaz.komac@zrc-sazu.si Janez Nared, Nika razpotnik Viskoviæ, Blaž Komac, Sustainable Spatial Development in the Alps 1 Introduction thisspecialissueofActageographicaSlovenicadiscussesselectedtopicsinspatialdevelopmentintheAlps fromtheperspectiveofspatialplanninglegislation,stakeholderengagementinspatialplanningdecisions, toolsthatenabletheeffectiveflowofexpertiseandexchangeofinstruments,andbestpracticesacrossthe Alps, as well as from the economic perspective using the example of Alpine regions’ reaction to the eco­nomiccrisisthataffectedEuropeandtherestoftheworldattheendofthepastdecade.Byincludingarticles written as part of the WIKIAlps project, which was financed through the EU transnational cooperation programAlpineSpace,thisspecialissueseekstoinvigoratediscussionsonsustainablespatialdevelopment in the Alps and thus contributes to a greater familiarity with this issue and to more prudent decisions. 2 The articles Intheirarticle»transnationalNeedsofSustainableSpatialDevelopmentintheAlps:resultsfromanAnalysis of Policy Documents,« Marzelli and Lintzmeyer present the international needs of Alpine spatial devel­opment, analyzing thirty-two documents (i.e., spatial development strategies, plans, and reports) at the transnational,binational,andnationallevels. theirresearchincludesaquantitativeanalysisofkeywords, in which they draw attention to their interconnections and overlaps, and define the transnational char­acterofindividualcategoriesfromtheviewpointofhowfrequentlyindividualtopicsoccur.theiranalysis continuesbyassessingtheaddedvalueofthedocumentsstudied,theobstaclesthatlimittheirimplementation, andthestakeholdersthedocumentsreferto.theresultsoftheanalysisshowaneedforinternationalcoor­dination of individual policies in formulating strategies and governance processes, managing natural resources, and creating an adequate knowledge base to facilitate international decision-making. Stakeholderengagementintheplanningprocessisoneoftheincreasinglyfrequentlyexpressedassump­tions of sustainable spatial development. In their article »Achieving Sustainable Spatial Development in theAlpsthroughParticipatoryPlanning,«Naredetal.examinespatialplanninglegislationinsevenAlpine countriesandanalyzehowindividualstakeholdersengageinspatialplanningprocesses.theauthorspre-sent the planning systems applied in the countries studied and use twenty-seven pieces of legislation to establish that the participatory process is slowly growing in importance, even though it continues to lag behind expectations; it is often viewed as a necessary evil, while at the same time many otherwise inter­ested groups have inadequate expertise and skills to actively participate in the planning process. In this regard,theyhighlighttheneedformoreactiveuseoftheparticipatoryprocessinformulatingdocuments and the need to train planners in participatory methods and techniques. Engaging actors at the local and regional levels is relatively simple, whereas within a wider context, such as international challenges like spatial development in the Alps, the participatory process is made difficultduetolargespatialdistancesandlanguagebarriers. Inthisconnection,various onlinetoolshave recently become commonplace. they use new information and communication technologies to make it possibleforallinterestedpartiestobecomeinvolvedindiscussionsandshapingpolicies,usingabottom­upapproach.Intheirarticle»Web-BasedInstrumentsforStrengtheningSustainableregionalDevelopment intheAlps,«Borsdorf,Bender,Braun,andHalleranalyzetheapplicationofweb2.0technologiesandpre­sent the key results of various projects from this field (e.g., GALPIS, DIAMONt, mountain.trIP, and WIKIAlps).theyhighlightthefactthat,inadditiontoageneraldiscussion,thesetypesoftoolsalsoenable theparticipationofthegeneralpublic,notonlyintheroleofpassiveobservers,butalsoasactivejointshapers of spatial planning and development policies. the last article on sustainable spatial developmentinthe Alps (Brozzietal. 2015)focusesonthe broader developmental aspect of Alpine regions, examining how the NUtS2 and NUtS3 regions covered in the AlpineSpaceprogramrespondedtotheeconomiccrisisthataffectedEuropeafter2007.theauthors’main attention is directed to regional resilience, examining the reasons for the various reactions of regions in differentsocial,economic,andspatialcircumstances,basedonwhichthecrisisaffectssomemoreandoth­ersless.toillustratetheeffectsofthecrisis,theauthorscompareindicatorsfrombeforeandafterthecrisis. theirfindingsshowdifferencesbetweenthethreegroupsofregionsstudiedaswellasatthenationallevel, whichis reflected inapoorerresponse ofindividualItalianandSlovenianregions, or a greater impacton these regions. 162 Acta geographica Slovenica, 55-1, 2015 3 Conclusion therealizationthatspatialdevelopmentintheAlpsisanextremelycomplexprocessisthecommondenom­inatorofthe contributionsinthis specialissue of ActageographicaSlovenica. It is connectedwith abroad rangeofinstitutionsatvariouslevels,startingwitheightAlpinecountriesontheonehandandmanylocal communitiesandinhabitantsontheother.Dividingtheresponsibilitiesbetweenterritorialunitsandsec­tors when dealing with shared challenges also calls for joint approaches in overcoming these challenges. From this perspective, it is necessary to have good knowledge of spatial processes, differences in spatial planninglegislation,andtheprinciplesofengagingtherelevantstakeholdersinthedecision-makingprocess-es. In addition, it is also vital to seek new forms of cooperation, such as a shared knowledge base like the WIKIAlpsonlineencyclopediaandothercomparableinformationplatforms.thegoalistotranscendbound­aries andovercomebureaucratic obstacles, and to build on the shared potentialand wealth of knowledge that people living in the Alps have acquired through life experience. 163 164