New Ways through the Alps The New Gotthard Base Tunnel - Impact of a Big Construction Site on a Small Mountain Village

For Switzerland as located in the heart of Europe transport policy is a matter of particular importance. Especially transports between Italy and Germany use the Swiss corridors through the Alps. Therefore Switzerland realised a most ambitious construction project called NEAT (Neue Alpen Transversale) to improve the European train connections especially for freight transports. One part of the project is the new Gotthard base tunnel, the longest railway tunnel of the world and the most impressive element of the new transalpine railway line through the Alps. In view of the difficult accessibility and extreme climatic conditions, ensuring the fast and reliable transit of more than 300 trains per day through the two 57 km long single-track galleries represents a considerable technical challenge. The Gotthard base line directly links the northern and southern sides of the Alps and the project of building a new line should achieve the following goals: Massive increase in goods capacity (twice as much as today) Much shorter North-South transit time for passengers and freight Reduced traction power requirements, per weight unit of transported goods, as a result of the elimination of steep slopes. The construction work started in 1996 and will be probably finished by 2013. Because of the length of the tunnel five points were chosen, from which the drilling started. The shortest but technical most challenging phase of construction is located under the small village of “Sedrun” in the canton of “Graubünden”. Sedrun is a tourism destination for skiing, 1335 m above sea level with about 1.500 inhabitants. Here a gallery leads to a mine shaft with a depth of 800 m, ending at 550 m above sea level. At the intermediate access of Sedrun a multifunctional station is located which also is used for crossover, air ventilation, technical infrastructure and in case of emergency. The construction site with its enormous needs on resources, infrastructure, workforces - for example at the beginning a lot of specialists from South African mining branch came to Sedrun – may be a big challenge for the small village. In 2004 during the peak period up to 400 workers have been employed. Also logistical solutions for the transport of machines and material to the construction side and the carrying of stone to the deposits have to be developed. An ongoing long-term accompanying research (2000 – 2013) is analysing the ecological, economic and social impact on the construction site for the village and the region. The research project wants to assess the sustainability of such a long-term construction process. The contracting body is an advisory group of public institutions including the community of Sedrun, the region ‘Obere Surselva’, the canton Graubünden and the Swiss Federal Office of Transport. Within the long-term research a set of indicators will be collected every year furthermore an every third year deep-rooted analysis on different topics will be done. The project also has the function of an early-warning system to anticipate unexpected stresses and strains. The results of the research will be visualised from a documentary film team. Besides the annual research we tried to answer the following question: Which are the economic impacts of the construction site for the region of Sedrun? The decision to choose Sedrun as one of the five construction sites for the Gotthard base tunnel did not only change the ecological and social situation in the region but also has economic effects on the community. Especially the local building sector but also hotels, restaurants and local industry are benefiting from the construction site. To calculate these economic effects for the region of Sedrun we used the method of the incidence analysis. The incidence analysis is a kind of cost-benefit analysis which is especially suited to assess the spatial effects of infrastructural facilities or the service of these facilities. Considering the direct effects we focus on the receipts and expenditures which are directly connected with the realisation of the project. The economic effects could be divided into the so called tangible and intangible effects. Tangible effects are measurable as indirect economic effects (spill-over effects). To measure the indirect economic effects we carry out an interview survey among the workers to calculate the additional economic impacts caused by the expenditures of the workers in the region. The intangible effects could be explained as soft and mostly not quantifiable effects. To acquire the intangible effects we carry out an image analysis based on national newspaper articles about the construction site in Sedrun. In our paper we present the structure and main indicators of the long-term accompanying research and the results of the incidence analysis to calculate the economic effects for the region.

Quo vadis? How to measure the quality of local and regional development processes?

Today most activities which seem to be sound, cosy and helpful - or sometimes simply useful - are called ?sustainable'. Of course the requirements for measuring sustainability increased rapidly. Many different systems of indicators and conflicting opinions about the adequate approach characterise the present situation. Nevertheless we add another system with an specific approach to evaluate processes of local and regional development. In our opinion it is able notably to refer to the quality of the concept of sustainability. The basic system is threefold and bears analogy to the model of total quality management. We distinguish between: · The assessment of projects with respect to material, procedural and ethical implications. The conceptual framework is translated into an evaluation checklist to systematise the discussion of the character and general impact of a given project or programme. The methodology of this section has been presented at the 39th ERSA Congress 1999 in Dublin even and until now has been applied in different fields. · The assessment of development processes in terms of organisation, methodology, contents and legal demands. This section will be the main part of our presentation. · And the assessment of the state of the region which actually is a 'work in progress'. It will combine elements of 'top-down indicators, deduced from the international and national discussion of the CSD-scheme, with elements of regional specific indicators based on a bottom-up approach which defines regional specific goals of development according to a transdisciplinary approach of how to experience the local and regional space. Our methodology is based on self-evaluation and it can come into operation at an early stage accompanying the activities over the whole life cycle. The assessment of development processes is to be done from the local and regional actors for themselves, accompanied by scientific experts. It depends on four principles: · The people concerned are the experts. They get involved in learning processes. · The focus of the assessment is on credibility and transparency. · Development processes need a minimum of quality. The standard is fixed. · The quality management can be used in a flexible way to allow the assessment of different processes according to the communities main focus. The whole project of quality management is closely coupled with the regional Agenda 21 in the Lake of Constance- region as it has been shown eat the 40th ERSA Congress 2000 in Barcelona. Together with the network of 13 regional contact points in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the Principality of Liechtenstein the different sections has been discussed and field-tested. 437 words Key words: sustainability, Agenda 21, quality management, development processes, transdisciplinarity

Quo vadis' How to measure the quality of local and regional development processes'

Today most activities which seem to be sound, cosy and helpful - or sometimes simply useful - are called 'sustainable'. Of course the requirements for measuring sustainability increased rapidly. Many different systems of indicators and conflicting opinions about the adequate approach characterise the present situation. Nevertheless we add another system with an specific approach to evaluate processes of local and regional development. In our opinion it is able notably to refer to the quality of the concept of sustainability. The basic system is threefold and bears analogy to the model of total quality management. We distinguish between: · The assessment of projects with respect to material, procedural and ethical implications. The conceptual framework is translated into an evaluation checklist to systematise the discussion of the character and general impact of a given project or programme. The methodology of this section has been presented at the 39th ERSA Congress 1999 in Dublin even and until now has been applied in different fields. · The assessment of development processes in terms of organisation, methodology, contents and legal demands. This section will be the main part of our presentation. · And the assessment of the state of the region which actually is a 'work in progress'. It will combine elements of 'top-down indicators, deduced from the international and national discussion of the CSD-scheme, with elements of regional specific indicators based on a bottom-up approach which defines regional specific goals of development according to a transdisciplinary approach of how to experience the local and regional space. Our methodology is based on self-evaluation and it can come into operation at an early stage accompanying the activities over the whole life cycle. The assessment of development processes is to be done from the local and regional actors for themselves, accompanied by scientific experts. It depends on four principles: · The people concerned are the experts. They get involved in learning processes. · The focus of the assessment is on credibility and transparency. · Development processes need a minimum of quality. The standard is fixed. · The quality management can be used in a flexible way to allow the assessment of different processes according to the communities main focus. The whole project of quality management is closely coupled with the regional Agenda 21 in the Lake of Constance- region as it has been shown eat the 40th ERSA Congress 2000 in Barcelona. Together with the network of 13 regional contact points in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the Principality of Liechtenstein the different sections has been discussed and field-tested. 437 words Key words: sustainability, Agenda 21, quality management, development processes, transdisciplinarit

The "Crystal Growth" of sustainable regional development - The example of the Lake Constance Agenda 21

Implementing sustainable regional development by institutionalising a structure of responsibility can be compared with originating the growth of a crystal by introducing a nucleus in a chemical solution. This is the result of a top down initiated regional Agenda 21-process in the international Lake of Constance- region. The interplay between top down and bottom up activities as a precondition of success of regional development is part of the theoretical mainstream. But how the interplay will work en detail often can be supposed as the 'black hole' of the theory. In most cases the interplay is described as a kind of public and private - partnership. The public activities are referred to as the 'top down' -part of the co-operation and the social activities are seen as the bottom up- level of the partnership. But much more than the dualism between private and public activities the principle of subsidiarity determines the regional networking as the bottom up- level has to be seen as a conglomerate of public and private activities. There are no simple explanations of how the different levels within the public administration work together. In our case the actors on a higher political level started a process of diffusion of tasks and responsibilities: 1. The International Conference of the heads of government of the Lake of Constance -Region (IBK) started the regional Agenda 21 with a preliminary survey on the adequate topics and procedures. 2. As a second step the main focus was on networking also initiated from top down. Within this first annual focus the responsible 'group of governance' of the process of sustainable regional development realised the necessity of a regional based working structure. 3. In a third step they introduced a network of responsible actors within the public administration by sponsoring the subregions with complementary resources out of the EU's INTERREG III- Programme of transborder cooperation. This kind of 'institutionalizing from top down' was authorized by the subregional heads of government. And now the growing of the crystals has started. Originally the responsibility for the new task was dedicated to the executives of the respective departement of environment in each subregion. During one year the task trickled through institutions and instances, until the responsibility met the adequate actor. The term 'adequate' in this case means a combination between institutional setting, personal qualification and commitments as well as the dominating political bias within the subregion. The paper shows the different solutions found in the thirteen subregions of the Lake of Constance -region according to the respective situation. Further on it describes the different self-images and modes of performing the tasks. Based on the results of the empirical observation personal and institutional requirements on a network of actors for sustainable regional development can be formulated

New Ways through the Alps The New Gotthard Base Tunnel - Impact of a Big Construction Site on a Small Mountain Village

For Switzerland as located in the heart of Europe transport policy is a matter of particular importance. Especially transports between Italy and Germany use the Swiss corridors through the Alps. Therefore Switzerland realised a most ambitious construction project called NEAT (Neue Alpen Transversale) to improve the European train connections especially for freight transports. One part of the project is the new Gotthard base tunnel, the longest railway tunnel of the world and the most impressive element of the new transalpine railway line through the Alps. In view of the difficult accessibility and extreme climatic conditions, ensuring the fast and reliable transit of more than 300 trains per day through the two 57 km long single-track galleries represents a considerable technical challenge. The Gotthard base line directly links the northern and southern sides of the Alps and the project of building a new line should achieve the following goals: Massive increase in goods capacity (twice as much as today) Much shorter North-South transit time for passengers and freight Reduced traction power requirements, per weight unit of transported goods, as a result of the elimination of steep slopes. The construction work started in 1996 and will be probably finished by 2013. Because of the length of the tunnel five points were chosen, from which the drilling started. The shortest but technical most challenging phase of construction is located under the small village of "Sedrun” in the canton of "Graubünden”. Sedrun is a tourism destination for skiing, 1335 m above sea level with about 1.500 inhabitants. Here a gallery leads to a mine shaft with a depth of 800 m, ending at 550 m above sea level. At the intermediate access of Sedrun a multifunctional station is located which also is used for crossover, air ventilation, technical infrastructure and in case of emergency. The construction site with its enormous needs on resources, infrastructure, workforces - for example at the beginning a lot of specialists from South African mining branch came to Sedrun – may be a big challenge for the small village. In 2004 during the peak period up to 400 workers have been employed. Also logistical solutions for the transport of machines and material to the construction side and the carrying of stone to the deposits have to be developed. An ongoing long-term accompanying research (2000 – 2013) is analysing the ecological, economic and social impact on the construction site for the village and the region. The research project wants to assess the sustainability of such a long-term construction process. The contracting body is an advisory group of public institutions including the community of Sedrun, the region 'Obere Surselva', the canton Graubünden and the Swiss Federal Office of Transport. Within the long-term research a set of indicators will be collected every year furthermore an every third year deep-rooted analysis on different topics will be done. The project also has the function of an early-warning system to anticipate unexpected stresses and strains. The results of the research will be visualised from a documentary film team. Besides the annual research we tried to answer the following question: Which are the economic impacts of the construction site for the region of Sedrun? The decision to choose Sedrun as one of the five construction sites for the Gotthard base tunnel did not only change the ecological and social situation in the region but also has economic effects on the community. Especially the local building sector but also hotels, restaurants and local industry are benefiting from the construction site. To calculate these economic effects for the region of Sedrun we used the method of the incidence analysis. The incidence analysis is a kind of cost-benefit analysis which is especially suited to assess the spatial effects of infrastructural facilities or the service of these facilities. Considering the direct effects we focus on the receipts and expenditures which are directly connected with the realisation of the project. The economic effects could be divided into the so called tangible and intangible effects. Tangible effects are measurable as indirect economic effects (spill-over effects). To measure the indirect economic effects we carry out an interview survey among the workers to calculate the additional economic impacts caused by the expenditures of the workers in the region. The intangible effects could be explained as soft and mostly not quantifiable effects. To acquire the intangible effects we carry out an image analysis based on national newspaper articles about the construction site in Sedrun. In our paper we present the structure and main indicators of the long-term accompanying research and the results of the incidence analysis to calculate the economic effects for the region

Regional Development And Web 2.0- Applications

The region Walgau is located in the Austrian Federal State of Vorarlberg. The 21 municipalities started a three years development programme to develop common goals and to enhance the intercommunal cooperation. The region is characterized by a dispersed structure of settlement and differences between the more agricultural oriented mountainside and the more industrialized bottom of the valley. For this one of the main goals of process is to establish a regional learning process about different requirements and living conditions. The increasing meaning of the Web 2.0 (social web) is discussed in different fields of politics and society but less in regional development activities. The Web 2.0 means the interactive part of the Internet in which users generate their own environments and issues by communicating, sharing, collecting and co-working. User analyses show that users of different social networks have an average age between 25 and 35 years and represent a generation which weekly is represented in local and regional participation processes. At a first glance it seems promising to use such platforms to enhance the group of activists and to promote the issues of a regional development process. But the experiment also can fail if the target group of such kind of web activities strongly differ from the actors interested in such processes. In this case we have to state that the instrument and the issue fall apart. In the regional development process 'Im Walgau' a regional Wiki starts in January 2010 as an important element of a public discourse on regional development issues. At the ERSA Conference the methodological design of the development process and the concept of communication including the web 2.0- application will be presented and first empirical results of internet participation can be shown