Spotlight on...Rhin Vivant!

At this year's Reisepavillion in Munich (DE) EUROPARC shared its stand with European Charter holder 'Rhin Vivant', a transboundary (DE - FR) association promoting sustainable tourism through the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism. We talked to Elisabeth Muhringer and Jeanne Barseghian about Rhin Vivant...

1.Elisabeth and Jeanne thank you for agreeing to do this interview with us. Maybe you could start by giving us a few details about the association Rhin Vivant.

The transboundary Association is based in Strasbourg and was created in 2005, thanks to the initiative of the Region of Alsace, to promote the development of sustainable tourism by applying the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism. Today Rhin Vivant works with every protected area and municipality along both sides of the Rhine in an area of about 45 000 hectares between Basel (CH) and Karlsruhe (DE). Our members are divided into four boards: 1) Regions, Provinces and Municipalities; 2) Protected areas; 3) Tourism offices; 4) Environmental and sport organisations.

2.What makes the Rhine Valley such a good sustainable tourism destination?

The Rhine environment is an incredible destination in itself: land and water merge creating extraordinary rich vegetation in every season, which attracts around 60 000 birds in the winter. We started by promoting sustainable tourism activities, together with local scientific organisations, for example guided bird-watching tours, walks through natural areas and canoeing tours along the river.

To verify the pressures of tourism on the environment a new project was started which quantified the presence of tourists by evaluating the state of the environment with the use of specific environmental indicators and studying the connections between tourism and changes in biodiversity.

3.What opportunities and challenges do you come across as a transboundary organisation?

As a transboundary association, opportunities and challenges are mixed and frequently overlap.

We are a great tourist destination, which creates a high level of exchange between France and Germany, but the cooperation between the two countries at a local level is still difficult. Some positive examples are now being seen in the form of our local transboundary markets. Here local farmers have the opportunity to sell their products to new customers and by doing so are bridging borders.

Rhin Vivant also promotes new partnerships between the municipalities of France and Germany in the field of sustainable tourism development. We are trying to start a process which will encourage wider and longer collaboration in a region which was an area of conflict for centuries.

Languages and legislations are probably our main current challenges: our experience is quite innovative in Europe and, in some ways, experimental.

4.Rhin Vivant works with a large number of partner organisations and communities; what structures and processes do you have in place to ensure that everyone participates as much as possible?

The active involvement of all partners is mainly guaranteed thanks to the democratic structure of Rhin Vivant. The four boards are represented in all the administrative bodies and have the same power regarding decision-making within the Association.

Furthermore, communication is very important and we make a big effort to inform the whole area about initiatives, projects and local activities through publications, the new website and our newsletter.

5.The association is an active member of the Charter network and of the EUROPARC Federation, what benefits have this brought for you?

Actually the whole Association is focused on the principles of the Charter and on its application: Rhin Vivant was actually created with that specific mission! That's why all of our projects and initiatives are strongly related to sustainable tourism and to the Charter priorities.

Being part of the Charter network gives us the opportunity to be in touch with other protected areas working in the same field; to exchange experiences and good practices across France and Europe; and for easier access to European funding.

6.The Rhine Valley has recently been designated as a Ramsar site; what will the role of Rhin Vivant be in co-ordinating the aims of biodiversity management and sustainable tourism?

The area was only designated as a Ramsar site last November and so who is responsible for its management has not yet been decided. A new Interreg IVA project 'RheNaTur' has, however, just started to conciliate sport and nature activities with environmental protection within the Ramsar Convention.

7.What development and changes would you like to see in the EUROPARC Federation, which would support and benefit you more as a member?

For the future we hope to have the opportunity to strengthen our communication and to find a way to reach a wider tourism market. We also look forward to a French Section, which would enable us to work more closely with French protected areas.