The Nature of Rural Development:

Towards a Sustainable Integrated Rural Policy in Europe

Raimund Rodewald in collaboration wth Peter Knoepfel

Actors, Institutions and Attitudes to Rural Development: The Swiss National Report Research Report to the World-Wide Fund for Nature and Statutory Countryside Agencies of Great Britain

Institut de Hautes Etudes en Administration Publique (idheap) December 2000 Contents

Introduction 2 1. Rural Switzerland 5 1.1. How land use in Switzerland has changed 5 1.2. Definition of Rural Areas 7 2. The Institutional and Political Environment 9 2.1. The main actors and their role in the rural areas 9 2.1.1. Federal authorities 9 2.1.2. National public-law institutions 10 2.1.3. Independent state companies and federal public limited companies 10 2.1.4. National private-law institutions 10 2.1.5. Cantonal, regional and local authority bodies and institutions 10 2.2. The main programmes and policies for rural areas 11 2.2.1. Regional policy in the strict sense 11 2.2.2. Federal agricultural policy 17 2.2.3. Other federal laws and policies with implications for rural areas 17 2.2.4. The inter-policy problems 19 3. Overview of the Actors and their Relationships in Rural Areas 21 4. Analysis of the Current Situation in Rural Areas 22 4.1. Methods and approach 22 4.2. Rural areas - more than a question of definition 22 4.3. The difficulties facing rural areas and actor constellations 23 4.4. Who decides what happens in rural areas? 29 5. The Challenges Facing Sustainable Rural Development 33 5.1. The main challenges facing rural areas in the present and future 33 5.2. The concept and aims of sustainable rural development 35 6. On the Road to Sustainable Rural Development 38 6.1. Summary of the strengths and weaknesses of Swiss regional policy 38 6.2. Regional policy in Switzerland today and potential improvements with respect to sustainability 40 6.3. From the mountain regions policy to a comprehensive regional policy 44 7. Results of the Workshop of 19 September 2000 46 References 48 Annex 1: The Main Actors and their Roles in Rural Areas 50 Annex 2: Other Federal Laws with Implications for Rural Areas (from Chapter 2) 62 Annex 3: List of interviewees 67 Annex 4: Questionnaire 68 Annex 5: Translations of the Names of the Authorities, Organisations, Laws and Acronyms referred to in the Text 70 Professor Peter Knoepfel IDHEAP Route de la Maladiere 21 1022 Chavannes-pres-Renens University of Lausanne Switzerland

Tel: (+41) 21 694 06 40 Fax: (+41) 21 694 0609 E-mail: [email protected]

Raimund Rodewald Swiss Foundation for Protection of the Landscape Hirschengraben 11 CH-3011 Bern Switzerland

Tel. (+41) 31 312 20 01 Fax (+41) 31 312 57 81 E-mail: [email protected]

1 Introduction Against the background of the new European Union policy in the area of rural development, in spring 2000, the WWF International launched a research project involving ten countries and aimed at defining principles for sustainable development policy for rural areas. WWF International describes the background, object and method of this project “The nature of rural development: towards a sustainable integrated rural policy in Europe – a collaborative action-research project for the Worldwilde Fund for Nature (WWF)” as follows:

Background The 1990s saw a series of incremental steps to reform rural and agricultural policies in Europe, including changes to the Common Agricultural Policy and the Structural Funds of the European Union (EU). However, there remain widespread concerns about the limited scope of policy reform and the continued difficulties in resolving the serious economic, social and environmental problems experienced in Europe’s rural areas. Further reforms are inevitable in the coming years, particularly given pressures from world trade negotiations and from the changing relationships between Central and Eastern European countries and the EU. There is therefore an urgent need to develop new ways of promoting sustainable rural development in Europe that meets social, economic and environmental objectives in an integrated way.

The Research Project To meet this challenge, WWF has commissioned a major research project called ‘The Nature of Rural Development’ to run over a 3-year period. The Project is organised in three parts. First, a Scoping Phase (‘Actors and Institutions’) is underway from May – December 2000 to map and analyse the institutional structures and different understandings of rural development issues. Second, Phase I (‘Learning from Examples’) will be carried out during 2001 to develop detailed local case studies of rural development in order to identify the ingredients of, and constraints upon, success. Finally, Phase II (‘Shaping Future Policies Together’) will develop working recommendations for the promotion of sustainable rural development in Europe.

The Scoping Phase of the project involves a consortium of researchers in 10 participating countries. These are: Austria; France; Germany; Hungary; Latvia; Poland; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; UK. The Scoping Phase is being co-ordinated by David Baldock and Janet Dwyer (Institute for European Environmental Policy [IEEP], London) with Philip Lowe and Neil Ward, Centre for Rural Economy [CRE], University of Newcastle upon Tyne).

Methodology In each participating country, a national researcher is working with a WWF national officer to identify the main organisations and institutions with an interest in rural development issues. Key actors are being interviewed using semi-structured personal interviews and telephone interviews during May, June & July 2000.

A national workshop will be held in each participating country in September 2000. At the workshops, a draft national report of research findings will be discussed 2 amongst a grouping of the key national actors involved in rural development issues.

IEEP and CRE will produce a comparative report, which analyses the over-arching findings from the 10 participating countries, and compares and contrasts the various institutional structures and attitudes towards rural development issues. The comparative report will form the basis of a major seminar in Brussels in November 2000.”

In Switzerland, this project is being carried out by the Research and Instruction Unit: Public Policy/Environment at the IDHEAP (Director: Professor Dr Peter Knoepfel). Our country represents something of an exception in that it has never had a specific policy for rural areas and will not be obliged to develop one in the future under the new EU policy. The IDHEAP made the following observations on this in an introductory text:

The term “rural development” does not really exist in Swiss federal and cantonal policies. Normally, we use the term of “regional economic development policies” (“regionale Wirtschaftspolitik”, Regionalpolitik). Under this (rather narrow) policy we find all kinds of federal and cantonal grants/subsidies for State run public infrastructure and private economic activities (in the field of agriculture, forestry, tourism, the foundation of new small enterprises, etc.). But this is rather an economic development policy which certainly has environmental impacts which are studied, today, mainly within the frame of local agenda programs (slightly granted by the federal office of the environment, forests and landscape). When enlarging the scope of observation into the direction of policies which in some way affect the rural environmental quality we certainly must add the following public policies run by the federal State: • agriculture policy (direct payments limited to ecologically sound agriculture like integrated production or biological production in the field of animal and vegetal agriculture); • forestry policies (recently reoriented towards ecologically sound forestry); • all kinds of infrastructural supply policies, such as national highway construction, high voltage electricity lines, airports, hydroelectric power plants, railways, large touristic infrastructural facilities, such as golf-links, skiing equipment, open air sports activities, etc.); • transportation policies; • tourism policies (mainly mountainous tourism, especially winter tourism, golf); • landuse policies (especially: urbanisation, transformation of the agricultural soil by its opening-up to constructions for small enterprises); • federal national nature protection policies; • general environmental policies.

Despite this, the IDHEAP elected to carry out this study because its directors firmly believe that rural areas in Switzerland will need integrated regional policies in future. Due to the existing combination of policies, references to rural areas in this report very often concern mountain regions. This should not conceal the fact that the sustainability

3 postulate is relevant not only to mountain regions but also, in particular, to the peri-urban areas in Central Switzerland which are at risk from expansive urbanisation processes, and for which few special policies have been developed to date. Hence, in accordance with the instructions given, the report reflects the current status of public policies in rural Switzerland and also suggests that the (remaining) rural areas in Central Switzerland be taken into account by these policies in the future. The IDHEAP commissioned Dr. phil. Biol. Raimund Rodewald to carry out this study. Dr Rodewald is well known as the director of the Swiss Foundation for the Protection of the Landscape (Stiftung Landschaftsschutz Schweiz), an organisation established for the protection of rural areas. Thus, he has proven expertise in the relevant policy fields and has experience in the relevant area (as an actor). For this reason, the project management stressed the importance of adhering to the requirements prescribed by WWF International (specifically: the holding of interviews with 15-20 persons from the widest possible variety of backgrounds). The questions adapted to the specific situation in Switzerland and posed during the interview are contained in the Annex 4 of this report. The questions focus on the various definitions of the content of policies for rural areas, the role of the political, economic and social actors who are active in these areas, the factors perceived by the actors as exercising the most significant influence in terms of the development of these areas and their perception of the most important challenges they face. The appointment of Dr Rodewald to this task was well received on all sides and he was able to produce a finely-tuned view of the opinions held by the central actors. The restricted schedule did not permit the inclusion of local and regional actors. This may explain why an astonishingly high degree of consensus emerged here among actors whose opinions would differ significantly with respect to other policy areas . Observers familiar with the area will know that in every-day political reality, this consensual image is often tarnished by bitter struggles concerning the construction of buildings which impair the landscape or local agricultural cultivation practices. For the above-mentioned reasons and from the perspective of the development of a truly sustainable policy, we also specifically concentrated on identifying controversial opinions and measures. Familiarity with these contradictory actor positions will be essential to the development of a realistic strategy for sustainable development in the future. In accordance with the requirements of WWF International, the report is divided into six chapters which focus on (1) the definition of rural areas, (2) the institutional and political environment, (3 + Annex 1) the actors, (4) the actors’ opinions and strategies, (5) the challenges and (6) the options for sustainable development in rural areas. The final chapter (7) is devoted to the opinions of the actors who participated in the compilation of the report as recorded at a workshop held on 19 September 2000 in Berne.

4 1. Rural Switzerland

1.1. How land use in Switzerland has changed The agricultural use of land has been a key element in the characteristic image of the landscape in Switzerland for centuries. Since the late 1950s, however, this rural character has undergone a significant transformation in both qualitative and quantitative terms (Table 1). The key quantitative developments include: the expansion of settlement areas, the development of transport routes, the construction of buildings outside the designated construction areas, the rationalisation and mechanisation of agriculture, construction measures affecting the water system, the expansion of tourism infrastructure and supply/ disposal facilities. The changes in these sectors were and are accompanied by the corresponding federal and cantonal sectoral support policies. Table 1: Land use in Switzerland and how it has changed (data from Arealstatistik 1979/85 and 1992/97, Bundesamt für Statistik, 1992ff and Bundesamt für Raumplanung, 2000) Land Use % of Total Area of the Changes (in %) and Trends (period) Country Settlement 8%**, of which approximately + 15% (since the early 1980s, rate of 30% built outside of construction since the 1960s designated construction 1m2/second (or 3150 ha/year)) areas (not including traffic routes) Agricultural land 24%* - 3% (within the last 12 years. No data available for the cantons of Graubünden and Tessin) Alpine meadows/ 13%* ? (Currently being surveyed) pastures Forests, woods 30%* + 4% (between 1985 and 1995) Water bodies 4%* The natural state of 90% of water bodies has been altered (slight reversal of this trend from 1991). Other 21%* Stable unproductive areas Total area 100% (41,285 km2) Figures for survey periods: 1979-85* and 1992-97** In political terms, the aims of an economical use of land and the protection of the landscape which are enshrined in Switzerland’s regional planning legislation (Raumplanungsgesetz - RPG) clash with this increasing urbanisation of rural areas. Despite the implementation of numerous programmes by the Federal Office for Regional Planning, the resources made available to achieve these aims have proven inadequate. Since the 1960s, land use has been increasing at a rate of 1 m2/second. Thus, the areas of soil, nature and landscape are relegated to the bottom of the overall 5 expenditure/revenue balance sheet for Swiss environmental policy (Knoepfel 1997). Switzerland also received very low grades for the maintenance of biodiversity (red lists) and habitats in the OECD Environmental Test Report (1998). Rural areas have undergone significant changes with respect to quality in recent decades. The rationalisation of primary production has resulted in a decline in various activities which help to preserve the landscape (e.g. the cultivation of fruit on tall trees, the mowing of wild hay, construction of dry stone walls, terraced cultivation and cultivation of chestnut trees, maintenance of field boundaries and hedges, irrigation water cultivation, wicker cultivation etc.) and consequently also to the homogenisation of land-use forms. This has resulted in a loss in the diversity of our traditional agricultural landscapes. The structural change in agricultural policy, which was intensified from the completion of the GATT Uruguay Round in 1993 and the foundation of the WTO in 1995 (dismantling of the protected internal market, guaranteed purchasing and state support), increased the pressure on the traditional production-oriented forms of agriculture. This gave rise to a decrease in the number of farms, a slight increase in the average farm size and a decline in the numbers employed in agriculture of 6.7% for men and 19.1% for women between 1990 and 1996 (Table 2) - against the background of low unemployment in Switzerland (1.8% in June 2000). Table 2: Changes in the structure of agriculture in Switzerland (Sources: Bundesamt für Statistik (employment statistics), Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft (numbers of farm holdings in Switzerland and report on agriculture 2000) and Atlas der Schweiz, Bundesamt für Landestopographie, 2000). These surveys are not statistically uniform. Parameters of agricultural structural 1990 1999 Difference change (in %) Number of farms 92.800 73,500 - 21 Average size of farms 11.5 ha 14.6 ha + 27 Number of employees 241,000 225,000 (1996) - 7 Agricultural employees as a % of all 5,5% 4.3% (1998) - 22 employees Agricultural employees as a % of the 3.5% 3.2% (1996) - 8 population

The extent to which the agricultural sector is economically marginalised is also demonstrated by the fact that in 1990 only 14 agricultural communities (i.e. communities in which at least 30% or more of the workforce is employed in the primary economic sector) still existed in Swiss mountain regions (mainly Upper Emmental, Entlebuch) (Bätzing et al. 1995).

1.2. Definition of Rural Areas It is difficult to define the concept of rural areas against the background of these developments. In the Federal Council’s report “The Principles of Regional Development in Switzerland” (Grundzüge der Raumordnung Schweiz, Bundesamt für Raumplanung, 1996), areas which provide space for living, economic activity and leisure and which play a central role in maintaining ecological equilibrium and protecting resources are defined as “non-urban areas”. Given the opposing aims of the “enhancement of economic viability”

6 and the “protection of natural and cultural resources”, the resulting concrete conflicts are predictable. (For example, skiing tourism access projects in the unspoiled Fondeital/Lanwies in the canton of Grisons, the Val de Morgins valley in Valais and Bosco Gurin in Ticino, extension of the airport in Samedan, Grisons). The Federal Council’s memo on the New Direction in Regional Policy (Bundesrat 1996) adopts the OECD indicators for the definition of rurality and hence uses the following terms: rural regions (fewer than 50% of inhabitants living in communities with over 150 inhabitants/km2), semi-rural regions (between 50 and 85%) and urban regions (more than 85%). The first two categories are classified as rural areas. The MS regions (mobilité spaciale = spatial mobility) are used to delimit the regions. Thus, the rural areas include the 54 mountain regions (which overlap with the corresponding rural MS regions) as defined in accordance with the IHG, the legislation governing the allocation of aid for mountain regions, and a further 27 non-mountain regions. In 1990, a total of 2.63 million people (38%) were living on 80% of the land in these regions or, conversely, 62% of the population was living on 20% of the land (density 450 persons/km2 as opposed to the national average of 173 person/km2 ), mainly in the central regions where again the land use rate is highest (2 m2/second)! Table 3: Rural areas in Switzerland (based on OECD criteria); data from the memo on the New Direction in Regional Policy (Bundesrat 1996) Population and size of rural and semi-rural regions Percentage of total for the (“rural areas”) country Population 38% Size 80%

Another option for defining rural areas is based on the concept of the Kulturlandschaft or traditional agricultural landscape. These landscapes represent the physical outcome of certain modes of settlement and agricultural techniques which emerged in the process of direct adaptation to local (relatively immobile and not easily substituted) natural and socio- cultural resources and are still relatively identifiable in rural areas today. Nowadays, agriculture is the main factor influencing their formation, at least with respect to land use. As opposed to this, in the towns, cities and urban agglomerations an urban landscape has emerged which is no longer dictated by land use and is largely dependent on other economic and socio-cultural functions which have nothing to do with the land. Hence, rural areas could be described as those areas located outside the towns, cities and agglomerations. In general, these areas coincide fully with the above-mentioned rural areas but only partly with the semi-rural areas. A third approach to the description of the concept of rural areas is based on the principle of “variable geometry” (Messerli 1999). According to this principle, the regions should be considered from a functional rather than territorial perspective because the interactions between urban centres, agglomerations and surrounding areas (i.e. rural areas) are extremely diverse. The resolution of problems in the individual sectors (transport, economic development, leisure use, environmental protection) necessitates the establishment of new institutional bodies (corporations) within changing territorial boundaries. In particular, a greater balance between urban and rural areas is needed with respect to the flow of finance and distribution of the costs and benefits of public infrastructure. The regions of the future should not, therefore, be territorially delimited from

7 urban areas but integrated into them. From this perspective, an effective regional policy must extend beyond the borders of actual rural areas (and national borders). This would represent the fulfilment of the vision of an ideal urban-rural relationship as portrayed by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in his fresco of the Allegory of Good and Bad Government painted in 1338 in Siena (Rodewald 1999). This urban-rural solidarity can be built up through relevant actor communities, as is already happening with the eco-sponsoring of concrete action projects (e.g. between WWF Switzerland (headquarters in Zurich) and Lugnez in Grisons, the Swiss Foundation for the Protection of the Landscape (SL) whose headquarters are in Berne and Ennenda in the canton of Glarus and the numerous sponsorships that exist between the central and mountain communities, such as Zofingen in Aargovia and Baltschieder in Valais).

8 2. The Institutional and Political Environment This chapter presents the main actors involved in rural development in Switzerland as well as the corresponding programmes and policies.

2.1. The main actors and their role in the rural areas The following list of actors (list in Annex 1) and policies is based on the perceived strength of their influence. It goes without saying that numerous other policy areas and laws have an influence on rural areas. However, we would like to concentrate on the main areas here. Unexpected coalitions between the individual actor groups are not unusual, e.g. (a) agreements about the Alpine Initiative (environmental associations and the governments of individual alpine cantons); (b) agreements concerning the New Transalpine Rail Road (NEAT), performance dependent lorry tax (LSVA), FinÖV (environmental associations, LITRA, SBB, federal government, cantonal governments); (c) latest phase of the Alpine Convention (environmental associations, SAB, mountain cantons, federal government); (d) agreement about energy taxes (environmental associations, individual commercial associations, SAB, SBV, trade unions, mountain cantons).

2.1.1. Federal authorities (The German titles of the various departments, bodies and organisations and translations of acronyms can be found in Annex 6) · Federal Office for Regional Development (ARE) (Up to 1.7.2000 known as the Federal Office for Regional Planning; the sustainability group and Alpine Convention, previously BUWAL, were integrated into the new organisation as well as the service for general transport questions), Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (UVEK) · Federal Office for Agriculture (BLW), Federal Department of National Economy (EVD) · State Secretariat for Economics (SECO), Department of Locational Support, (a) Department for Regional Development Policy (RESF), (b) Department for Switzerland as a Business Location (WSSF), (c) Tourism Department (TOSF), Federal Department of National Economy (EVD) · Federal Office for Housing (BWO), Federal Office for Emergency Supplies (BWL), Federal Department of National Economy (EVD) · Federal Department of Financial Administration (EFV), Department of Financial Planning, Budget, Accounting, Fiscal Equalisation, Federal Department of Finance (EFD) · Federal Department of Tax Administration (ESV), Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (BBL) and other authorities, Federal Department of Finance (EFD) · Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (BUWAL), Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (UVEK) · Federal Office for Roads (ASTRA), Federal Office for Transport (BAV), Federal Office for Civil Aviation (BAZL), Federal Office for Energy (BFE), Federal Office for Water and Geology (BWG), Federal Office for Communication (BAKOM), Federal

9 Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (UVEK) · Federal Department of Defence, Protection of the Population and Sport (VBS) · Federal Council (i.e. Swiss government) and Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA) · Federal Office for Culture (BAK), Federal Department of the Interior (EDI)

2.1.2. National public-law institutions · Swiss Landscape Fund (FLS)

2.1.3. Independent state companies and federal public limited companies · Swisscom AG, Post, SBB AG

2.1.4. National private-law institutions · Swiss Working Group for the Mountain Regions (SAB) · Swiss Farmers’ Association (SBV), Union of Swiss Producers (UPS), Association of Small and Medium Farmers (VKMB), Bio-Suisse · WWF Switzerland, Pro Natura Schweiz, Swiss Foundation for the Protection of hte Landscape (SL), CIPRA Schweiz, Alpine Initiative, Transport Club of Switzerland (VCS) · LITRA - Public Transport Information Service · Swiss Sponsorship for Mountain Regions · Swiss Mountain Aid (SBH) · Swiss Chamber of Industry and Commerce (local), Touring Club of Switzerland (TCS), Swiss Trades Association · Swiss Tourism Association (STV), Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) · Swiss Consultancy Group for the Regions and Local Authorities (SEREC/BEREG)

2.1.5. Cantonal, regional and local authority bodies and institutions · Committee of the governments of mountain cantons, etc. · Regional development associations and regional planning associations

2.2. The main programmes and policies for rural areas For more than twenty years Swiss rural areas are affected by numerous public policies. To the opposite of other European countries agricultural policies do not play the most important role amongst these public activities. The official regional policy is only in a few areas directly linked with agricultural policies (example: federal law on investment aid for mountain regions – IHG).

10 The federal state’s regional policy programmes are based on Article 103 of the new Federal Swiss Constitution (structural policy) and their implementation is distributed among various laws and authorities. For many years, regional policy in the strict sense mainly took the form of a regional economic development policy. It was created in the early 1970s as an acknowledgement of the problem of disparity arising from the economic boom. Regional policy initially came to prominence as a policy for the support of mountain regions. From 1974, economic areas which were dominated by a single sector, i.e. the mono-structural areas, and mainly, for example, clock-making, textile and tourist regions, emerged as being under threat. Nowadays, the emphasis in regional policy is increasingly focused on attenuating the effects of liberalisation (as a result of the restructuring of Swisscom (telecommunications), SBB (railways) and Post (post office), cf. Chapters 2.2.3 and 4 ff.). It was against this background that on 23 August 2000 the Federal Council sought parliamentary approval for a special loan of CHF 80 million valid up to 2004 for the purpose of topping up the IHG, the “Bonny” and the “Innotour” resolutions. 1996 saw the publishing of the memo on the New Direction in Regional Policy and the introduction of Regio Plus, a support instrument which is not infrastructure oriented. The associated revision of the IHG also set a new emphasis in the area of socio-cultural and ecological development programmes. It should be stressed that major aspects of regional policy were also incorporated into social policy, for example through the instrument of family supplements in agriculture which provides higher rates for recipients in mountain regions. However, the fact that old-age, survivor’s and invalidity insurance does not make any distinction on the basis of regions (urban and rural) is also significant with respect to regional policy. The following overview is limited to the central instruments of regional policy which relate to specific areas and the environment.

2.2.1. Regional policy in the strict sense Officially, the heading “regional policy in the strict sense” would only refer to the instruments of SECO, Department of Spatial and Regional Development Policy (i.e. IHG, Regio Plus, Interreg, Loan Guarantees Law, Law on Hotel Loans and Bonny Resolution). However, a broader definition proves more suited to our purpose as outlined below.

Federal Law on Investment Aid for Mountain Regions (IHG) of 28 June 1974, fully revised version of 21 March 1997 (SR 901.1) The aim of this law is to: – improve the preconditions for economic development and competition in mountain regions; – promote the realisation of regional potential; – preserve decentralised settlement and the socio-cultural independence of the mountain regions; – support the sustainable development of the mountain regions; – promote co-operation between local authorities, sub-regions and regions. The fulfilment of these aims should bridge economic and social disparities. With respect to the use of resources, the concept of decentralised concentration (i.e. the establishment of regional centres) was the primary focus of the IHG and of all other policies. As early as the1970s, the Swiss mountain regions were divided into 54 IHG regions where this law was implemented. Each region was obliged to create a development concept (the 11 2nd generation is already available) and a multi-year programme. Based on the IHG, investment aid credits are made available to the regions, local authorities, public law, private law and private bodies for the following purposes: – infrastructure programmes which promote the business location and improve competitive conditions for industry, commerce, tourism and services; – measures which upgrade residences and lebensraum and promote socio-cultural independence; – measures for the exploitation of regional potential and comparative advantages; – the maintenance, upgrading and development of basic infrastructure. Regions may receive one-off contributions for the drawing up of development concepts, for annual training and further training programmes and for special forms of inter-regional co-operation.

Finance The investment aid loans are promised to the cantons as global for four years. They are interest free or low-interest and must be repaid within a maximum of 30 years. The regional secretariats receive a maximum 50% contribution towards ongoing costs from the federal government. Since 1975 a total of CHF 2.53 thousand million of IHG money has been invested. A total of CHF 91.2 million CHF was pledged in 1999. The cantons also provide adequate additional resources. The impact of the infrastructural investments was examined as part of the national research programme “Regional Problems”. Despite the undisputed successes, the final report (Hanser et al. 1985) identified numerous inadequacies in the traditional support strategies. While the support of industry and commerce was shown to have been quite successful, in other areas, e.g. tourism support, numerous instances of so-called “selective effects” (quality deficits) were identified. In the tourism sector, the dominance of budget accommodation had increased and few qualified jobs were supported which, moreover, still varied considerably on a seasonal basis. The environmental problems arising from the quantitative development of tourist infrastructure were also uncovered. The development of tourism also represented a threat to the economy in the mountain regions (areal competition). The improvement in educational opportunities did not succeed in preventing migration as the corresponding employment opportunities were often lacking in the regions. Finally, the fact that the projects often lacked a regional or inter-regional dimension and that the resources tended to be distributed indiscriminately also came in for criticism. A current evaluation of the revised version of the IHG is not yet available. Environmentally questionable tourism projects continue to receive support (chair lifts in Bosco Gurin, snow canons in Unterengadin, golf courses etc.). In the 1990s, the IHG did little to counteract the increasing de-ecologisation in tourism (Clivaz 2000). The IHG and new Regio Plus programme were evaluated by the OECD in 1994 and the latter emerged in a particularly positive light (Bundesrat 1996).

Federal Resolution on the Support of Structural Change in Rural Areas (Regio Plus) of 21 March 1997 (SR 901.3) The aim of this law was to provide support for structural change in rural areas (in accordance with OECD criteria, i.e. not only mountain regions). Regio Plus does not 12 provide support for construction projects but for co-operative endeavours between natural and legal private law and public law entities which fulfil the following criteria: – model character for a region; – creation of employment opportunities in a region; – use of regional and local potential; – compliance with the aims of the regional development concepts; – observation of the aims of landscape and environment protection. Finance The state will finance a maximum of 50% of the project costs and this support is provided for a maximum of five years. CHF 70 million has been made available for a period of 10 years, of which CHF 5 million is reserved for evaluation and exchange of experience. The loans available on an annual basis are not fully exhausted.

Federal Law Interreg III (2000-2006) of 8. October 1999 (SR 616.9) Through the renewal of the Interreg II Programme (1994-99, CHF 24 million), Switzerland supports cross-border co-operation and the newly planned transnational co-operation. Five Swiss regions are involved in the former: Regio Basiliensis (Oberrhein Centre-South), North-East Switzerland (Alpine-Rhine-Lake Constance-Hochrhein), the Communauté de travail du Jura [Jura working community] (Franche-Comté/Switzerland), Vaud and Geneva (Rhône-Alpes) and Tessin, Graubünden and Valais (Switzerland/Italy). The projects are selected by the regions themselves, the state merely assumes co-ordination tasks. The principle of subsidiarity is applied. The task of allocating loans is assigned to the cantons. The state is also represented in the Interreg III committees. Economic development projects, cultural and environmental protection projects are entitled to support under this programme. In the case of the transnational co-operation, the project involved was developed by the European Commission and is entitled “Alpenraum” [Alpine Region]. The Federal Office for Regional Development (ARE) is in charge here.

Finance Parliament authorised a framework credit for the Interreg III programme of CHF 39 million. Experience with Interreg II revealed excessive administrative emphasis and an (excessively) broad range of projects which, in some cases, were not compatible with the aims of sustainability.

Federal Law on the Awarding of Loan Guarantees and Interest Cost Contributions in Mountain Regions (Bürgschaftsgesetz) of 25 June 1976 (SR 901.2) The loan guarantee law aims to help small and medium-sized businesses in mountain regions (IHG regions) to obtain short and medium term loans. The Swiss Loan Guarantee Co-operative (Schweizerische Bürgschaftsgenossenschaft) was created for this purpose. This organisation can guarantee loans of up to CHF 500,000 for individual small and

13 medium-sized businesses. It can also award interest cost contributions (40 % of standard bank interest rate on a maximum of CHF 500,000 for a maximum of six years). The state refunds the interest contributions to the Loan Guarantee Co-operative and in the event of loss will repay 90% of the guaranteed loan. Loan guarantees and interest cost contributions are only awarded if the project is part of a regional development concept in accordance with the IHG.

Finance Since 1977, the state has guaranteed CHF 0.35 thousand million. In 1999, 29 projects (small and medium-sized businesses) were allocated support in the form of guarantees totalling CHF 10.9 million while 19 projects (small and medium-sized businesses) received support in the form of interest cost contributions. The effective subsidy provided by the state totalled CHF 4 million (1999: CHF 3.5 million).

Federal Law on Loans for Hotels and Health Resorts (Hotelkreditgesetz) of 1 July 1966 (SR 935.12) The hotel loans law promotes the upgrading of hotels and health spas by means of loans. To this end, the state supports the Swiss Association for Hotel Loans (SGH) in Zurich. This law is applied in tourist areas, IHG regions whose development concepts include tourism projects, and in spas or health resorts. The law contains a list of all local authority areas in which the law is applicable. The SGH guarantees loans and issues loans for the upgrading of existing hotels, the construction of replacement buildings, sales and shared facilities for the hotel sector. Loan guarantees are also provided for educational institutions and hostels for foreign students. Interest contributions can be provided for health resort facilities and projects in the development concepts.

Finance The state provides interest-free capital to the SGH (up to 31.12.1997: CHF 135 million) and covers 75 % of any losses accrued on guarantees. In 1997, the loans allocated amounted to CHF 21.7 million, guarantees amounted to CHF 12.2 million and the interest contributions to CHF 2.35 million. In 1998, the federal contributions were frozen. The state will decide on new measures to support the hotel sector in the Tourism Report of 2001.

Federal Resolution in Favour of Areas of Economic Renewal (BBWEG) of 6 October 1995 (the first federal resolution of 1978 “Bonny Resolution” is currently being revised) (SR 951.93) The state supports the creation of employment in areas of economic renewal. Areas of economic renewal are groups of neighbouring local authority areas with high rates of unemployment (significantly higher than the national average), or with previous or forecast heavy job losses. The state provides industrial companies and production-oriented service companies located in areas of economic renewal support in the development of their products, in adapting to market demands and in the creation of new products or production centres which are not already available in the region. The state guarantees loans for up to one third of the total cost or investment to these companies for a maximum of eight years, interest contributions of up to 25% of standard bank interest rate for a maximum of one third of the total investment or relief in the payment of direct federal taxes if this is also provided by the canton. The state defines the physical boundaries of the areas of economic renewal (currently 28 areas in 15 cantons, including not only mountain

14 regions but also urban areas).

Finance In 1999, 45 projects were supported which created 2035 new jobs based on a guaranteed sum of CHF 36 million; the direct cost to the state came to a total of CHF 2.5 million (CHF 81 million for the period 1979-99). The state intends to renew this Federal Resolution which expires in 2001 for a further 5 years with an additional credit sum of CHF 10 million for umbrella projects (it is intended to cease the interest contributions).

Federal Law on the Improvement of Living Conditions in Mountain Regions (WS) of 20 March 1970 (9 December 1940) (SR 844) The aim of this law is to create healthier living conditions for families with modest incomes in mountain regions. Support is provided for improvements to housing (extensions, installation of running water, electricity, bathrooms etc.), conversion of empty buildings into flats and houses, construction of new buildings to replace old flats and houses, construction of a second flat, acquisition of a flat/house. The state pays 10-30% of the creditable costs if the canton (and the public-law bodies) makes a contribution which together with the state aid covers 50-65% of the creditable costs. Only families with a taxable income (direct federal tax) of less than CHF 42,700 are eligible for this aid. A supplement of CHF 2,200 is added per child.

Finance In 1997, 504 projects/flats/houses were supported for a total state contribution of CHF 15.5 million, cantonal contributions of CHF 7.9 million, local authority contributions of CHF 1.8 million and third-party contributions (districts, corporations) CHF 1.2 million. The state contributed CHF 6.6 million to such projects in 1999. This law expires in 2000 and in December 2000 it has been renewed. It is intended to transfer full responsibility for this law to the cantons as part of the new fiscal equalisation. It is still unclear, however, whether the cantons are prepared to continue to support the upgrading of residential buildings in mountain regions at their own cost. The Law on Home Construction and Promotion of Home Ownership (WEG) also exists for the mountain regions. It is intended, however, to transfer responsibility for this law also to the cantons.

Federal Resolution on the Promotion of Outwork of 12 February 1949 (SR 822.32) This support – provided it is deemed appropriate from a national policy and social perspective – is granted as part of the effort to preserve the existence of the mountain population. Finance: The state allocated CHF 377,000 in 1999.

Federal Resolution on the Promotion of Innovation and Co-operation in Tourism (Innotour) of 10 October 1997 (SR 935.22) This legislation supports the development and introduction of new products, equipment and sales channels for existing services, the creation of structures which enable increased efficiency and the improvement of training and further training. The state may award financial aid of up to 50% for such projects. Eligible recipients do not include individual 15 businesses but umbrella organisations (transport associations, organisations, research institutes). SECO decides on the allocation of grants following co-ordination with other federal offices. The “Veloland Schweiz” [“Switzerland Bike Country”] project is regarded as a showpiece for the Innotour programme.

Finance The programme will run until 2001 and funding of CHF 18 million has been allocated. Discussions as to whether it should be renewed and refinanced are currently under way.

Federal Resolution on Financial Aid for the Conservation and Maintenance of Near- Natural Agricultural Landscapes of 3 May 1991 (SR 451.51) On the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the foundation of the Swiss Confederation, the state allocated finance for measures to conserve and maintain near natural agricultural landscapes from the available budgetary resources. To this end, a special fund was established which is managed by the Swiss Landscape Fund (FLS), the organisation founded for this purpose. Projects for the conservation, maintenance, upkeep and restoration of near-natural agricultural landscapes are supported by the fund in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity (following exhaustion of regular state and cantonal subsidy resources). The cantons, local authorities, other public-law bodies, individuals and private agencies may qualify as recipients of this aid. Up to 1999, over 700 projects throughout Switzerland had received support as part of this programme.

Finance CHF 50 million was allocated to the fund for a ten-year period. In 1999, parliament approved a ten-year renewal of the fund and the allocation of a further CHF 50 million.

2.2.2. Federal agricultural policy

Agricultural Reform (Agricultural Policy 2002 “AP2002”), Federal Law on Agriculture of 29 April 1998 (SR 901.1) The new constitutional mandate (based on the referendum of 9 June 1996), the GATT/WTO negotiations and market pressure resulted in the comprehensive reform of agricultural policy by the Federal Council and parliament. The new AP2000 contains the following agricultural policy instruments: a) Sales promotion: the adaptation of production to sales potential is now the task of the agricultural organisations (previously the state). Should difficulties arise, i.e. the self- help measures are put into question, the federation may implement short-term market intervention through the industrial organisations. The state (federation and cantons) can set quality standards and pay contributions to the industrial organisations for sales promotion. In the event of price collapses, which are not due to structural factors, the state and organisations may implement measures to assist the market. Of particular importance with respect to regional policy is the Sales Promotion Decree of 1999 which provides ca. CHF 5-6 million for regional marketing (e.g. Tête de Moine cheese ). b) Direct payments: price policy is no longer linked with incomes policy. Direct payments with the following categories now constitute a new incomes element:

16 General direct payments (contributions to aid in the maintenance of farming throughout Switzerland) and ecological direct payments (promotion of particularly nature-oriented, environment-friendly and animal-friendly forms of production, such as organic farming and controlled free-range/outdoor husbandry and the payment of summer grazing fees). In order to obtain direct payments, recipients must have an ecological service certificate (minimum requirements: integrated production (IP) throughout the holding, regulated crop rotation, suitable soil protection index, targeted selection and application of plant treatment agents, observation of the animal protection decree and the allocation of 7% ecological compensation areas within the agricultural land). This meant that the general direct payments, which from 1993 to 1997 were defined exclusively as farm and land contributions (with the additional condition of 5% (7% from 1997) ecological compensation area) are now linked with a minimum organic requirement (IP standard). c) Attendant social measures: the farm aid described in this chapter is allocated in the form of interest-free loans which are granted for a maximum period of 20 years. They are intended to reduce families’ interest payments (debt restructuring) or provide relief in times of financial difficulty. d) Structural improvements: the aims of these measures include the improvement of living and economic conditions in rural areas, the protection of agricultural land and buildings against natural hazards, the improvement of operating basics to reduce production cost and the fulfilment of ecological and regional development aims. Support is provided for agricultural buildings, (Alpine buildings, co-operative processing and storage buildings in mountain regions and civil engineering structures, land reform). One-off contributions for agricultural buildings are only allocated in mountain regions while they are available for land improvements in both mountain and valley regions. The one-off grants are complemented by investment loans (interest- free or low-interest). Both investment loans and grants for structural improvements take the form of one-off payments (i.e. the farmer knows how many grants and loans will be paid before construction begins). e) Support for training, consultancy and agricultural research.

Finance The framework for the funding allocated to agriculture by the Federal Council is divided into four three-year phases. The first phase, 2000-2003, requires CHF 14 thousand million (CHF 3.5 thousand million per year, of which ca. CHF 2.4 thousand million is for direct payments), with CHF 3.49 thousand million allocated for production and sales and CHF 9.5 thousand million for direct payments. The effective market support measures must be reduced by CHF 400 million within five years. Initial preparation for the budget framework for 2004-2007 are under way. The proportion of direct payments from the overall farmers' income (average 1999: CHF 53'789.- per farm) was in 1999 50% (plain), 23% (foothills of the Alps) and 39% mountainous areas) (Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft 2000a)

2.2.3. Other federal laws and policies with implications for rural areas (Description in Annex 2) Reorganisation of Post (postal service), SBB (railways) and Swisscom (telecommunications) Army reform 17 Energy policy/Electricity Market Law (Elektrizitätsmarktgesetz) The New Fiscal Equalisation (Neue Finanzausgleich - NFA) Engine-Power-Based Heavy Vehicle Levy Licensing policy for public transport and cable railways Federal and cantonal subsidy and tax policy Tourism policy Federal Law on the Use of Hydroelectric Power (WRG) of 22 December 1916 (SR 721.80) Federal Law on Regional Planning (RPG) of 22 June 1979 (revision of 20 March 1998) (SR 700) Federal Law on Nature Conservation and Habitat Protection of 1965 (NHG) (SR 451) Federal Law on Environmental Protection of 1983 (USG) (SR 814.01) Federal Law on Water Protection of 1991 (GSchG) (SR 814.20) Federal Law on Forests (WaG) of 4 October 1991 (1902) (SR 921.0)

2.2.4. The inter-policy problems The above-listed federal laws form the basis for the corresponding federal policies whose official actors at federal, cantonal and (where applicable) local authority level had few systematic exchange and consensual relationships until well into the 1990s. Hence, at project level, conflicts regularly emerged between the major infrastructure policies (road construction, energy production and electricity transport, railway construction, river works, tourism installations etc.), between agricultural structural and incomes policies and all kinds of protection and conservation policies, particularly in peri-urban rural areas. Although the environmental impact assessment introduced under the environmental protection legislation of 1983 (1985) contributed significantly to the exposure of these contradictions - at least at project level - and their resolution, in part, selectively and in the context of the audited projects. With a large number of smaller projects (which are not subject to an environmental impact assessment) and at the planning level of the global systems, of which such projects are constituent, these contradictions continue to exist due to the continuing isolation of actor networks and action philosophies even if co-operation and co-ordination are prescribed under the legislation. This absence of inter-policy co-operation and co-ordination was particularly noticeable in those areas in which movement was triggered by a new economic dynamism. This is particularly true of the peri-urban (still) rural central region and in some tourist centres in mountain regions (which are still growing). The (regionally relevant) federal and cantonal policies which are still rattling around in these “policy-empty” areas today are not sufficiently integrated, either on the level of their conceptualisation or on the level of the action plans for their implementation, to prevent contradictory state action at output level. The responsibility here lies with the cantonal and regional direction planning which may have recorded possible conflicts between various land use types in its “co-ordination notes” but was unable to find the strength to eliminate the contradictions arising from the wide-ranging aims of the relevant policies. These first-generation cantonal direction plans, 18 which with few exceptions remain in force in most cantons, make little contribution to active inter-policy co-ordination between the various regionally relevant policies. They fail to go beyond the recording of contradictions and to include a positive formulation of targets with respect to the desired future regional development to be achieved jointly through the implementation of these policies (cf. Knoepfel, Varone 2000). Efforts to formulate positive aims in the spirit of “sustainable development” undertaken as part of the second generation of cantonal direction planning (which would actually influence the design of all public policies affecting these areas) appear to have failed up to now when faced with the difficulty of finding a sufficiently concrete formulation for the model of sustainable development (particularly also in the peri-urban rural areas) for all regionally- relevant sectoral policies. It should however be noted that a decree governing the co-ordination of federal tasks in the area of regional development policy has existed at federal level for some years now (Federal Decree of 22 October 1997). This defines the tasks of the Council for Regional Development (Rat für Raumordnung), which is supposed, firstly, to ensure the co- ordination between authorities in the area of regional policy and, secondly, to promote sustainable regional development. A federal regional development committee also exists. Despite the fact that greater attention has been paid to co-ordination principles in recent years, these committees have achieved little in terms of concrete results in the area of sustainable development. Tellingly, there is no general sustainability assessment of legislation or the activities of the federal authorities. A sustainability strategy, which is also based on the principle of co-ordination, has at least been produced in the year 2000 by the Swiss Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication.

19

3. Overview of the Actors and their Relationships in Rural Areas

Environmental protection Economic development organizations organizations •WWF, Pro Natura•CIPRA •mountain areas (SAB)•agriculture (international Alps protection (UPS, SBV, VKMB)•regional Swisseconomy (Vorort), Swiss trade association), Swiss Alps initiative development (SEREC)•Swiss and business organization •landscape protection (FSL, FLS) Alpine Club (SAC) (Gewerbeverband), tourism, energy procedures, agro-alimentary sector

Economic processes Environmental protection and regional (liberalization, concentration) development

Swisscom, Post, Swiss rail (SBB) Public (federal) enterprises (partially privatized) Communal and sectorial interests

Interests of big Local government cities and urban •public authorities Local economy agglomerations Governmental actors •public landowners •(e.g.building industry)

Local population Federal offices of • agriculture (BLW) • landuse planning and regional development (ARE) •environment, landscape and forests

21 4. Analysis of the Current Situation in Rural Areas This chapter presents a comprehensive view of the current situation in rural Switzerland based on the opinions and perceptions of the 19 interviewees (listed in Annex 3), research and personal experience. The information presented encompasses both the current problems and the prevailing influences.

4.1. Methods and approach The data was mainly collected from the literature (listed in Annex 4) and the Internet while the actor opinions, perceptions and options were mainly obtained by means of qualitative controlled interviews based on the topics prescribed by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP, London) and the Centre for Rural Economy (CRE; Newcastle-o-T.). The questions concerned the understanding of the term “rural areas”, the role and contribution of the relevant actor, the institutional framework for regional development, the estimation of actors’ influence, the challenges facing rural areas and the need for political action, the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of current regional policy, effects on the environment, the links between sustainable development and rural development and cultural influences. The interviewees were selected on the basis of the actor analysis (Chapter 2); all 19 persons were interviewed as part of a direct discussion lasting one to two hours which was recorded electronically or manually in the form of minutes.

4.2. Rural areas - more than a question of definition The term “rural areas” conjures up a popular image of a lifestyle that is based on farming and still physically dominated by a predominantly agricultural traditional landscape. In many places, this view is now almost mythical because, on the one hand, the traditional landscape which was formed by centuries of farming activity is now dominated by non- agricultural structures (motorways, urban settlements, electricity cables, tourism structures etc.), while, on the other hand, the lifestyle of a large section of the population in rural areas differs very little from that of the urban population. There has been a sharp decline in traditional local employment activities (agriculture and forestry) as well as regional trades, commerce and industry. Thus, the number of agricultural and industrial communities in mountain regions (communities whose economic activities are dominated by the primary or secondary sectors) has decreased by 75% and 82% respectively. In contrast, a significant growth has been observed in the service and commuter communities (Bätzing et al. 1995). Thus, for example, in the IHG region Vallée de Joux in the canton of Vaud, only 3% of employees are still involved in primary production. This means that it is impossible to fully understand the socio-economic structural change in rural areas without also considering developments in urban and agglomeration areas. The rural world is not, therefore, a hermetically sealed agricultural realm, it is significantly influenced by near or distant urban economic centres. Nevertheless, it emerges that it is in fact useful to make a spatial distinction between rural and urban areas insofar as, on the one hand, a completely related set of problems (disparities in the economic sector, public service, equal opportunities, international competitiveness, quality of life and landscape) and, on the other, global constitutionally-based targets exist which place a specific focus on rural areas. Thus, in the opinion of some of our interviewees, the rural regions as defined in Switzerland today (80% of the area of the country) should be defined more narrowly. Due to the internal diversity of rural areas it seems to be necessary to review the

22 different typologies for these areas. The myth that rural areas provide a farming existence which contrasts with urban lifestyles must also be critically examined. Thus, our attention must focus on the values and functions associated with these sparsely populated traditional agricultural landscapes, which (must) pursue a diverging path of familiarity, relative smallness and the forging of socio-cultural identity in the midst of a globalised homogenising world characterised by processes of growth.

4.3. The difficulties facing rural areas and actor constellations The relatively advanced level of Swiss regional policy reflects the population’s high level of sensitivity for the concerns of decentrally located areas. These aspects of federalism reflect the history of the federal state of Switzerland which grew together from individual regions. Regional policy has always been acknowledged within Swiss domestic policy as an important national policy task of decentralisation (Lendi 1983). This relates not only to the allocation of competencies and the subsidiarity requirement but also to the aims of the elimination of welfare disparities. Hence, aid for mountain regions was developed as early as the 1930s. The corresponding regional economic policy instruments were created in the 1970s and remain, for the most part, in use today. This long tradition of support for the regions is evidenced in the rather positive situation to be found in Switzerland’s rural regions as compared, for example, with Italy and France where the migration rates from peripheral mountain areas are significantly higher. Nonetheless, certain striking features emerge from the socio-economic data from the mountain regions (IHG communities) for the period 1980-1990 (Table 4). Table 4: Structural Change within IHG Communities (a) and IHG Regions (b) between 1980 and 1990 (based on Bätzing et al. 1995) (a) Population trends within the Number of communities % of all IHG communities communities Decline 313 (every second one is 25% a small community (<300 inhabitants) Stagnation or increase 919 75%

(b) Structure of development Number of regions 1990 Change (in %) types (change) Non-centre-dominated regions 22 (-10) -31% Centre-dominated regions 20 (+5) +25% Commuter regions 12 (+5) +42%

Deindustrialisation and depopulation (many small communities are losing inhabitants) are the main causes behind the decline in population. The decline in agriculture started at a much earlier stage and is evidenced by the fact that in Switzerland very few communities could still be described as agricultural communities (i.e. communities in which the primary sector is dominant). However, a physical withdrawal from the area has not occurred in

23 agriculture. Between 1980 and 1990, the rate of population increase in Swiss mountain regions was higher than the national average (8.4% as opposed to 8%). The same applies for the rural MS regions (10.1% as opposed to 8%). This can mainly be observed within the agglomerisation process, i.e. predominantly in the semi-rural regions and the hinterlands of the major centres (Bundesrat 1996). The external economic orientation of the mountain regions also intensified in the 1980s with an increasing number of regions providing homes for people working etc. in the urban centres. This increase in the number of commuters not only had a negative impact on the environment (soil and air pollution, settlement activity) but also on the functioning of the mountain regions as a part of a multi- functional living area. The economic costs of this agglomerisation are primarily carried by the mountain regions. The key regional development processes involved the increasing decline in agriculture, increasing urbanisation (particularly in the context of monostructural tourism development) and in an increase in the number of commuter regions. In contrast to other European mountain areas, the Swiss mountain regions do not include any areas of regional economic relevance which are threatened by a complete decline in use and depopulation. Depopulation mainly affects small areas (e.g. in Tessin). More recent data from the Federal Statistics Office for the 1990-95 period show an annual increase in population of over 1% in Swiss mountain regions. With respect to the economic structure of the IHG regions, approximately 1/3 of them can be classified as good, average or weak (Bätzing et al. 1995). The regions with below- average development account for 37% of the area but only 22% of the population. The fact that the absence of a dominant centre or proximity to a centre does not necessarily result in negative development (e.g. some regions in the canton of Graubünden) should be stressed. On the other hand, the traditional nucleated settlement areas which do not have dominant centres are often structurally weak due to their settlement structure. It can be assumed that another major transformation took place in rural areas between 1990 and 2000 (Table 5). With respect to the current influences on rural areas, there was a (surprising) consensus among the surveyed actors to the effect that, on the one hand, the representatives of conservation-oriented associations acknowledged the importance of economic factors while, on the other, the economy-oriented or state actors also emphasised the environmental sensitivity of rural areas.

Table 5: Influences on rural areas in the period from 1990 to 2000 based on the analysis for the New Direction in Regional Policy (Bundesrat 1996) and the opinions of the interviewees (list of all comments)

Some socio-economically relevant trends with Effect on the economic, ecological and implications for rural areas socio-cultural structure of rural areas

24 Agricultural policy reform, elimination of trade barriers and Increasing opening of markets (EU/WTO)

Further decline in agriculture (estimated fall of ca. 30%-40% in Increasing number of operations over the next few years)

Privatisation and liberalisation of the public service, electricity Increasing market etc.

Concentration processes in the economy and shift to higher Increasing value-added sectors in the centres

Productivity problems in the construction industry, retail trade, Increasing trades, textiles industry etc.

Concentration and squeezing processes in the classical Increasing tourism sector (e.g. skiing tourism)

Increasing political pressure on the protective regulations Increasing (deregulation) and federal regional policy

Climate change Increasing

Extended construction and use options in agricultural zones Increasing, as this triggers further (revision of the RPG) uncontrolled development, is a threat to the value of the traditional agricultural landscape and increases economic costs

Increasing influence of foreign investors Increasing, as it is more difficult to involve them in regional policy aims

Promotion of decentralised third-level institutions and training Decreasing facilities

Doubling of the IHG fund to CHF 1.6 thousand million (up to Decreasing 2003), of which CHF 70 million is intended for Regio Plus

Agricultural policy reform: shift from market support policy to Decreasing direct payments system, budget of CHF 4 thousand million (approximately 1/12 of federal expenditure)

Regional marketing/direct marketing Decreasing

Development of rural tourism with increasing added value Decreasing (“Holidays on the farm”, “Switzerland Bike Country” etc.)

Introduction of the Swiss Landscape Fund (FLS), extension of Decreasing mountain-aid activities, “discovery” of traditional agricultural landscape as added value

The significance of the listed trends not only varies in the individual regions, other specific factors are also decisive. Thus, some interviewees (from both business-oriented, official, conservation and structure-oriented camps, see Chapter 3) referred to cultural and social issues. The traditional population in rural areas often has problems with the integration of newcomers and acceptance of ideas from outsiders. Many political popular slogans, such as “Engadin den Engadinern” [“Engading for the people of Engadin”] do little to promote inter-regional and cross-sectoral co-operation. On the other hand, the newcomers often have a quite different attachment to the area than the original inhabitants. Cultural debate is rare. Ultimately the ability to motivate people to work on a district council or development agency is crucial to the success of the establishment of regional identity and responsibility. The study “Skitourismus – Von der Vergangenheit zum Potential der 25 Zukunft” [“Skiing tourism - from the past to the potential of the future] (Brandner et al. 1995) reveals deficits in the distribution of decision-making powers and a simultaneous loss of trust on the part of the population in eight out of ten of the tourism areas surveyed. The question of the quality of the training available to the population in the regions also lies behind the call for increased innovation. The fact that it is the structurally weak areas which are most affected by the migration of young persons in search of education and further training is proof of the need for a proper educational offensive in rural areas. The effect of the trends outlined above on the ecological sector should not be underestimated (Table 6). An astonishing degree of consensus exists among the surveyed actors with respect to these effects and the analysis of influences. However, the extent of the dissent that exists with respect to the estimation of the ecological consequences of infrastructure policy (which actors from the subsidy authority and recipients “naturally” believe to be less negative) and the consequences of the decline in agriculture should not be underestimated. The farming representatives see the decline in widespread agriculture as a primarily or exclusively negative development and the ecologically positive aspects of this trend, for example the promotion of wilderness areas, are mostly only mentioned by conservation-oriented actors.

Table 6: Influences on rural areas with ecological implications (based on the reports “Auswirkungen von Infrastrukturinvestitionen” (Hanser et. al. 1985) [“Effects of infrastructure investments”] and “Neuorientierung der Regionalpolitik” (Bundesrat 1996) [“New Direction in Regional Policy”] and the opinions of the interviewees (C = consensus with respect to the estimation of ecological consequences, D = dissent among the interviewees)

Current and future influences on rural areas Ecological effects (C = consensus and D = dissent among interviewees)

Concentration processes in the economy, Increase in freight traffic, expansion of settlements metropolisation, peri-urbanisation (C)

General political developments (general Ambivalent developments (C) deregulation, privatisation and liberalisation), in particular in transport and energy policy

Increased competition in tourism sector, Ambivalent, possible relief for areas which have concentration processes become non-viable, increased pollution in tourism regions arising from development plans (C)

Population increase in rural areas close to urban Pressure on land which has not yet been built on, centres (agglomerisation) uncontrolled development, traffic problems, impairment of location image (C)

Increased leisure traffic Increase in traffic, road-building, air, noise and soil pollution (C)

Decline in agriculture Negative for valuable cultivation landscape areas, positive for the protection of wilderness areas (D)

Expansion and rationalisation of agricultural holdings Large new barns/stables required, new Alpine roads, but more efficient landscape maintenance possible. Reckoning abandon and destruction of the traditional buildings (D)

26 Regional marketing, direct marketing Positive (C), particularly in association with an eco- label

Regional policy with efficiency as priority Ambivalent, but structurally weak areas could be subject to depopulation and landscape maintenance be neglected (regional responsibility) (C)

IHG infrastructure support, improvement of Subsidy policy can contradict environmental aims, agricultural and forest structures (subsidy system) particularly in the area of road-building, reclamation projects, agricultural construction and promotion of snow canons, chairlifts (D)

Opening of agricultural zones for new building Threat of uncontrolled settlement and loss of value projects and conversion of disused barns and stables through the predominance of holiday houses (D) (revision of the RPG)

Regional policy based on sustainability and New finance instruments for landscape-conservation landscape conservation (FLS, in part Regio Plus etc.) projects (C)

Trend in direction of nature-oriented tourism: Increases the added value of qualitative tourism (C) “Veloland Schweiz” [“Switzerland Bike Country”], “Ferien auf dem Bauernhof” [“Holidays on the farm”], “Endlich Ferien. Ihre Landschaft” [“Holidays at last. Your Landscape”], “Netzwerk ländlicher Tourismus” [“Rural Tourism Network”]

Climate change Extensive changes to the Alpine ecosystem, increase in the number and severity of natural disasters (C)

New sustainability-oriented regional planning such as Ecological opportunities (C) biosphere reserves and nature parks

Surprisingly, widespread consensus exists in some major areas of influence. The results for the influences are now grouped in terms of consensus and dissent with respect to their ecological effects (actor constellation, Table 7).

Table 7: Matrix of areas of consensus and dissent among the surveyed experts with respect to the factors that give rise to ecological effects in rural areas (actor constellations based on results from Table 6).

Nature of influence Area for which consensus exists with Area for which there is respect to ecological effects dissent with respect to ecological effects

Positive environmental effect Regional marketing, direct marketing Decline in agriculture Sustainability and landscape- conservation- oriented regional policy

Trend for nature-oriented tourism Internalisation of transport costs, energy taxes New sustainability-oriented regional planning (biosphere reserves and nature parks)

27 Negative environmental effects Economic concentration processes Expansion and rationalisation of agricultural holdings

Competition in tourist areas Opening of agricultural zones Increase in population in rural areas close to urban centres

Increased leisure traffic Climate change

Ambivalent environmental General political development, particularly Infrastructure support effect transport and energy policy

Efficiency-oriented regional policy

The consensus/dissent matrix (Table 7) enables us to identify the areas with positive ecological effects (e.g. direct marketing and environment-friendly, sustainable tourism), in which it would be possible to achieve a political consensus. Moreover, it should be possible to prevent or influence those developments about which consensus exists with respect to negative ecological consequences, for example competition in tourism. Similar consensus-generating actor constellations were behind the development of today’s agricultural policy, the new water philosophy (whereby flowing water bodies are given more space instead of being encroached upon), the NEAT (new Alpine rail system), the engine-power-based heavy vehicle levy, the CO2 and energy control levies and ecological tax reform. This kind of rapprochement between actors is not yet evident in other areas: road-building policy, tourism policy, local authority and cantonal construction zone policy, construction outside of designated construction zones (revised RPG).

4.4. Who decides what happens in rural areas? The endogenous and exogenous influences on rural areas originate, on the one hand, from diffuse social and economic changes (changes in values, globalisation) and, on the other hand, from very concrete institutions (including the WWF, which critically evaluates regional and agricultural policy at international and national level from a sustainability perspective and makes concrete suggestions (Cornish & Bryden 1999)). It is possible to observe a predominant social trend in the direction of increased agglomerisation throughout the world. Approximately two thirds of the Swiss population lives in towns, cities and agglomerations. Within the urban areas, the town and city centres have been losing inhabitants on a continuing basis since the 1980s. Movement was in the direction of the accessible hinterland which subsequently became agglomerated. Hence, in the 1980s, semi-rural areas in Switzerland experienced the strongest population growth. However, the urban centres appear to have been staging a comeback in recent times. The global economy can also be described as a diffuse influence. Its laws of liberalisation, privatisation of state tasks, concentration of economic activities and increasing dominance of the tertiary sector are being adopted by the economic associations, many state authorities and economically liberal political parties. The question of on-site human resources is also seen as a diffuse influence, i.e. the extent of innovative powers, motivation, identity and people’s attachment to the areas in which they live. The general mobilisation of persons and goods is leading to the “fluidization” of moral concepts and the elements considered as creating identity. Thus, the concrete location has assumed a new 28 value within today’s “off-land” society, which is characterised by high levels of mobility, flexibility and relative unrootedness of professions and work. The following table (Table 8) contains a list of diffuse and institutional influences in accordance with their perceived intensity. The hierarchical order is based on the opinions of the interviewees. The “perceived intensity” is derived, firstly, from the number of mentions with a uniform estimation of the strength (e.g. 15 of the 19 interviewees considered the federal subsidy policy as a factor that exerts a very strong influence) and, secondly, on the basis of the frequency of equal estimations (e.g. four interviewees considered the influence of the environmental associations as weak to average and the others did not mention them at all). Here too, a relatively broad consensus exists with regard to the most important influences; there was no major divergence in opinions (strong/weak).

29 Table 8: Institutional influences in rural areas classified in accordance with their perceived importance (based on interviewees’ opinions, the number of references is given in brackets, maximum 19)

Institutional influences (classified according to positive or Perceived intensity (in brackets negative effects on the ecological, economical and socio-cultural the number of mentions, structure of rural areas) maximum 19) Positive Effect Agricultural policy Strong, but declining (17)

Federal cohesion policy (federalism, fiscal Strong (19) equalisation, SECO regional policy)

Federal subsidy policy Strong (15)

SAB, committee of mountain canton governments Strong (18) Regional planning bodies, SEREC, regional Average (12) development agencies (in accordance with IHG) SBV Average (15)

FLS, Sponsorship for Mountain Communities, Average (5) Mountain Aid

BUWAL, conservation bodies Weak to average (4)

Democratic support/participation Weak to average (3) Federal regional planning Weak but increasing (8)

Negative Effect Globalised economic policy (WTO, EU)/ general Very strong (19) social processes

International transport and energy policy Strong (13)

Privatised companies in public service area Strong (14) Tourist economies (“hard” areas) Average but increasing (6)

Ambivalent Effect Local and cantonal policy, motivation and innovative Strong but varies significantly force of the population from region to region (3)

Local enterprises Strong (5)

This table demonstrates that agricultural policy remains an influential actor which, however, is also being joined by players from other policy areas. Overall, the number of actors in rural areas is increasing and this has something to do with the wave of privatisation in the area of basic infrastructure (regional transport, post office, telecommunications, electricity). These new actors, who are assuming state tasks, are at least as motivated by the interests of profitability and shareholders as they are by the general economic interests of providing comprehensive basic services. Political power structures at regional and local areas remain very influential. This strong role can have a positive or negative outcome with respect to sustainable regional development. For example, the regional secretaries often find themselves in a weaker position than the local-authority officials and this is reflected in the quality of (at least the first-generation) the development concepts and planning which are sometimes a more accurate reflection of economic desires than an integrative perspective. Many regional secretaries do not have the resources and capacities (and, in some instances also, the necessary motivation and creativity) to assume with conviction the role of organisers. Moreover, the inter- regional and international exchange of ideas and concepts is not practised widely enough. 30 The strong role of the local authority officials is directly linked with the rather weak involvement of the general population in questions of rural development. Some of the regional development agencies, such as local-authority associations or regional forums, which draw up the development concepts for the use of IHG loans through their regional secretaries, are almost exclusively composed of representatives of the local authorities. Third parties are sometimes even denied access. Official involvement is not a suitable instrument with which to improve the participation of the population. However, the second generation development concepts have been significantly improved with respect to the setting of priorities and participation. BUWAL and the conservation bodies may be defined as strong actors in certain sectors in rural areas (e.g. Alpine Protection Initiative, Alpine Convention, associations’ right of complaint, selected projects), yet their role was deemed weak. This was explained in terms of the lack of a global sustainability-based concept for rural development. According to our interviewees, federal regional planning is currently in a weak position. The restructuring of the authority may enhance in its influence. Political demands for a clear intensification of federal regional planning policy also exist. Only three of the interviewees saw the current political constellation in the local and cantonal parliaments and authorities as exercising strong influence. This is surprising in that the party-political majorities in many rural areas have been dominated by the bourgeois-conservative parties and this situation has been further reinforced by the results of recent elections (advance of the right-wing Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP) [Swiss Peoples Party] since the mid- 1990s to the cost of the liberal-bourgeois circles of the CVP and FDP). In the opinion of three of the interviewees, the representatives of the conservative centre-right parties have adopted a policy which is often incompatible with the regional-policy aims of eliminating disparity and boosting town-country solidarity, and could even be described as “explosive” (quote from one interview). These parties aim to reduce the influence of the central state (for example, in the area of public services, environmental protection, subsidy policy) and in this they run the danger of provoking the breakdown of political consensus for regional- political equalisation. At the same time, they tend to support the reduction of environmental standards and the dilution of regional planning and have even succeeded in achieving this in some areas (e.g. opening up of the agricultural zone under the revised RPG, restructuring of deforestation competencies, a general weakening of protection and conservation authorities (BUWAL, cantonal authorities). On the other hand, charges of weakness in the area of regional policy and a stronger interest in urban policy (demand for compensation of the burdens on centres) could also be levelled at the left-wing parties. Thus, in the opinion of three of the interviewees, there is a real threat of (undesirable) competition between urban and regional policy. The actual or potential difficulties in rural areas are summarised once again in Table 9.

Table 9: Summary of difficulties in rural areas from an economic, ecological, social/cultural and political perspective on the basis of the information provided in the interviews

Dimension Difficulty

Economic Concentration trends

Shift of economic activity to agglomeration areas 31 Decline in agriculture

Freezing and market saturation in the “hard” tourism sector Ecological Agglomerisation

Land use

Traffic pollution Loss of traditional landscape values

Socio-cultural Loss of attachment to the regions, identity

Treat to basic infrastructure supplies Lack of training and employment opportunities/migration

Deficits in the area of participation, active involvement, integration capacity

Political Threatened softening of cohesion policy Deregulation, particularly in the areas of environmental protection and regional planning

Gap between liberal economic policy and environmental policy

Privatisation of state enterprises and threat to maintenance of basic infrastructure supply Environmental economists have long believed that the lack of clearly-defined property rights to resources can lead to the over-use of resources. However, it is only recently that the focus has shifted to the relationship between property rights, resource regimes and sustainable landscape development (e.g. Kissling-Naef et al. 2000, Lenhard & Rodewald 2000). New mixed forms of property ownership by individuals and the community and the rediscovery of old forms (e.g. the common property regime) will prove both suitable and necessary to the conservation of the “common good” of the landscape. These mixed institutional resource regimes depend on new partnerships and responsibilities for the landscape. This also necessitates a mixed form of bottom-up and top-down processes.

32 5. The Challenges Facing Sustainable Rural Development This chapter describes the economic, ecological and social/cultural challenges facing rural areas and the way in which the concept of sustainability could contribute to this process. The information presented here is again based on the literature and the opinions of the 19 experts interviewed.

5.1. The main challenges facing rural areas in the present and future The interviewees identified the following central challenges for rural areas: a) How can the politically elevated status of rural areas in Switzerland be maintained? The increasingly popular liberalisation philosophy and strong policy emphasis on the problems of urban centres is threatening to sideline regional policy. The liberalised state companies, and to some extent also the milk-processing plants, tend to distribute costs on the basis of distance from their operating centres. The threatened increase of negative externalities arising from the economic urban-rural imbalance must be counteracted in future by both state equalisation and market corrections (internalised economic costs, energy control levies, traffic levies etc.). b) How can the attractiveness of locations and the capacity to adapt to structural change be improved to prevent the exodus from rural areas which is taking place in certain areas? With respect to the concentration processes which favour urban centres and agglomerations over rural areas, the question arises as to how the latter can assert themselves in global economic context and how competitive ability can be created for indigenous developments tailored to rural locations. The keywords here are innovation support and functional integration in urban areas. In the agricultural sector, the focus must be placed on the product range, export opportunities and price policy. c) How can quality of life and, in particular, environmental quality be preserved? In terms of quality of life, rural areas enjoy a distinct advantage over urban areas. Better quality of life is often the main reason people give for living in the country. The strong growth in the rural population has, however, resulted in overcrowding and the extension of settlements which in turn has resulted in losses with respect to quality of life (landscape pollution, negative features of agglomerations, increases in traffic). While the traffic in the towns and cities is being calmed, traffic levels in rural areas are increasing without restrictions. The extremely high level of environmental pollution along the Alpine transport routes (Uri, Leventina, San Bernardino, Grosser St. Bern- hard) and access routes to the tourist destinations (Prättigau, Surselva, Bergell, Goms, Kandertal, Simmental, Chablais Vaud/Valais) threatens to undermine the advantages associated with rural locations. Quality of life also includes access to education and training facilities, new jobs, the media and communications world. The keywords here are: increased integration of the landscape into regional planning policy, prevention of settlement expansion, elimination of fiscal law disparity within Switzerland, involvement of the local authorities in the regional development plans. d) Which disparities can still be tolerated? Hitherto, regional policy aimed to eliminate disparities based on the disadvantages posed by the distance between urban centres and remote regions. It is necessary, on

33 the one hand, to reduce economic, social and cultural disparities to a minimum while, on the other hand, promoting the compensations offered by a high quality living environment which includes environmental quality, nature and landscape. e) How can landscape conservation and maintenance be guaranteed and who shall resume responsibility for it? The progressive decline in agriculture raises questions about widespread farming, particularly in large sparsely-populated mountain communities, and hence also the opening up of the landscape and the care and conservation of valuable features (steep slopes, mountain pastures, lowland moors, chestnut tree cultivation, old vine terraces etc.). The question also arises as to how ties between the non-farming community and the land can be strengthened and how the members of this community (e.g. owners of holiday homes) can be made to assume greater responsibility for their regions. The keywords here include: property discussion, town- country actor alliances, voluntary work, establishment of local and regional agencies, introduction of “land-related” school subjects to promote the development of the corresponding skills among non-farmers (mestieri di terra). f) How can the rural population be made to develop an attachment to their areas? The traditional activities on which the identity of rural areas is based are disappearing (farming, small-scale commercial activities, industry). For their part, newcomers must develop a psychological and physical link with their adopted location. In view of the work needed to maintain structures (landscape conservation and care, maintenance of paths, water channels, social, political and cultural involvement), a sense of regional responsibility in the form of a conscious activity not aimed at material gain must be maintained against the background of the changing population structure. g) How can the excessive ageing of the population in rural communities be prevented? In the demographic structure of the mountain regions, the number of over-65 year- olds is increasing faster than in urban regions. This may give rise to problems in the social and cultural structure of village communities and with respect to the necessary integration of newcomers and successor establishment. The keywords here include: targeted creation of employment in rural centres, support for cultural facilities, social amenities and initiatives. h) How can rural areas be liberated from the myth of a the “intact happy agricultural world? Rural areas no longer embody the enviable contrast to urban life that exists in the minds of urban dwellers. Urbanisation is spreading. The perpetuation of such myths give rise to the danger that the true processes and problems will fail to be identified and will not be taken seriously enough. Keywords include: greater urban/rural exchange, urban-rural actor alliances. i) How can interregional co-operation be intensified and the conscious of the concerned population about ongoing processes in rural areas be reinforced? The IHG regions (with their powerful community presidents) are today seen as separate “petits royaumes" [“small kingdoms”]. This small-scale organisation may hinder a more flexible adaptation to the new market challenges. Inter-regional co- operation and co-ordination is essential, not only from an economic perspective but also from an ecological one. To achieve this, a cultural dynamism must emerge which

34 will break down the barriers erected by the rather backward-looking, politically conservative attitudes in rural regions. This applies also to the central Swiss regions. This dynamic will also improve the acceptance of the population of projects leading towards sustainable development. k) How can the traditional areas with dispersed settlement be reinforced without destroying their rich landscape image? The attraction of the traditional agricultural landscapes in the Swiss mountain regions lies not least in the highly varied regional settlement pattern. Due to the progressive conversion of the thousands of agricultural outbuildings and barns dispersed throughout the fields and meadows (that existed under the old decentralised system of agricultural) into non-agricultural residences (e.g. for second homes and holiday chalets), the northern and inner Alpine areas risk losing the charm and attraction of their traditional agricultural landscape and declining into landscapes blighted by a plague of holiday houses. This trend could be counteracted with conversion options being restricted to those persons who are capable of and willing to make an active, i.e. agricultural-type contribution to the care and maintenance of this traditional agricultural landscape. The public must also be given the right to be heard in relation to this redesign of the landscape. The principle which is valid today, i.e. “if the barn is a characteristic element of the landscape, it can be converted” is not only untenable in terms of logic, it also leads to the private appropriation of a traditional landscape which is in fact a key public amenity. In Central Switzerland, significant value should be attached to the presence of an “open” and freely accessible landscape as a recreational amenity. Here, in particular, the area of construction outside of designated construction zones is a key factor in the separation of settlement and non- settlement areas.

5.2. The concept and aims of sustainable rural development Rural development can be described as the process which improves the population’s basic living conditions while also taking the environment, cultural identity and inter- regional solidarity into account (Stucki 1991). However, the concept of “sustainable rural development” is not as easy to define. Thierstein & Lambrecht (1998) mention the following aspects: – sustainable development is an anthropocentric concept; – the global aim of sustainability (in accordance with the UN World Conference in Rio in 1992) must be “translated” at the level of individual states and regions; – the three target and action dimensions - economy, ecology, social/cultural - must be considered simultaneously and in an integrated manner: for the economy this means the optimum use of scarce resources (allocation efficiency), for ecology it means inter- generation responsibility and the definition of global limits for the use of resources and for the social dimension it means cohesion and elimination of disparities; – sustainability is concretised in the following ways: (a) with a general model and a list of sectoral aims, (b) as a basic social right which should override private rights, e.g. the right to use one’s own land (Lenhard & Rodewald 2000), (c) as a social contract, whose content would, however, have little consensual force and (d) as a compromise formula which suggests a resolution between the conflicts between preservation and development and often used in advertising slogans (sustainable Olympic Games,

35 sustainable mobile telephones etc.); the real problems do not arise until concrete projects are implemented at local and regional level. In terms of rural areas, the sustainability aim should be associated with the following basic questions: (a) Which spatial unit is defined as a basis for the evaluation of sustainability (the village, the region, Switzerland, Central Europe)? (b) Should sustainability aims be described in a "top down" or "bottom up" process? (c) Hence, is it true to say that in the case of Switzerland different sustainabilities are valid as opposed to just one? (d) Should rural areas not be primarily understood as areas that complement urban centres which need the hinterland to compensate their lack of sustainability? It is currently impossible to find clear answers to these questions or the criteria/indicator systems which would facilitate an evaluation of sustainability in Switzerland. The relevant studies are now being carried out, at least on a sectoral basis. For this reason, we limit ourselves here to policies and programmes that are sectoral, avoid or reduce deficits. These are summarised in Table 10. Table 10: Sectors of the economic, social and ecological environment in rural areas, the measures for their promotion in federal policies and programmes and their estimated effectiveness with respect to the degree of sustainability achieved (Data: Bundesamt für Statistik, BUWAL 1997, OECD 1998, E = evaluation of effectiveness based on interviews with experts)

Sector Counter-measures in the form of Effectiveness with respect to the federal policies and programmes degree of sustainability achieved (E = evaluation based on interviews with experts)

Biodiversity Nature conservation and habitat Low (high number of endangered species, protection law: habitat inventories, ongoing loss of habitats) preservation and maintenance grants, ecological balance

Water and soil Water protection law, Swiss soil Average (high level of access to treatment protection concept plants but problems with ground and drinking water)

Air Clean air legislation Low to average (problem pollutants, ozone, fine dust, NOX - bad, SO2 - good) Noise Noise protection decree Low to average (noise protection measures are expensive, hence alleviation tends to be sporadic; increase in noise from traffic)

Landscape Swiss landscape concept, regional Low (loss of land through settlement planning law, nature conservation activity, ongoing “banalisation” of the and habitat protection law landscape)

36 Agriculture Agricultural policy 2002 (ecological Average to high (implementation of direct payments, ecological service integrated production successful (now ca. certificate) 80% of holdings), organic farming less successful: percentage of organic farms in Switzerland covering 95% of the Swiss agricultural services; 7.3%, in mountain regions 15% of usable area) E

Forestry Forests law, international certification Average (6% of usable area will be (FSC), forest reserves concept certified in 2002, forest reserves) E

Domestic tourism There is no federal law governing Low (high-impact tourism still dominant, tourism trend towards low-impact tourism increasing; high levels of traffic generated) E Industry Environmental protection act, Average (given decreasing prominence of economic support, regional planning industry in Switzerland) E Non-tourism service Economic support, regional planning Could not be evaluated E sector Energy consumption Energy law, Energy 2000 Pro- Low (modest targets not fulfilled; increase, gramme, stabilisation targets particularly for traffic) E Cultural diversity and Cultural promotion programmes, Could not be evaluated E identity and social social policy integration

It is difficult to track the trends for the above-listed sectors. Positive developments are visible in agriculture and forestry policy and in the area of low-impact tourism, whose effectiveness in terms of sustainability which must be considered in integral terms depends, however, on the two other sectors of economy and society. The integration of sectoral policies is, therefore, a key imperative for the question of sustainable rural development.

37 6. On the Road to Sustainable Rural Development In this chapter, it is intended to present the preconditions (in the opinion of the interviewees) necessary for a policy of consistency and sustainability in rural development and explore how the current controversies and competition between conservation and consumption interests can at least be reduced.

6.1. Summary of the strengths and weaknesses of Swiss regional policy For many years, Swiss regional policy was mainly a regional economic policy whose instruments in the 1970s were derived from the discussions surrounding the disparities that existed between the mountain regions and central areas at the time. In some cases, these instruments received extensive federal (and cantonal) financial support right up to around the mid-1990s. The ten federal laws on regional policy in the strict sense (cf. Chapter 2) together with agricultural policy (CHF 4 thousand million), forest policy (CHF 115 million) and the BUWAL nature and habitats conservation credit (CHF 45 million), give a total federal subsidy of approximately CHF 4.285 thousand millions in 1999. This corresponds to approximately 9% of total federal spending. To this is added, considerable cantonal grants, some of which also originate from the federal fiscal equalisation and contributions from private funds (ca. CHF 40 million from Swiss Mountain Aid and Sponsorship for Mountain Communities). Remember that agriculture never was the only agent of rural economy in Switzerland. The following points were singled out as the predominant strengths and weaknesses of current regional and agriculture policy and its programmes (in accordance with Chapters 2.2.1-2.2.2). (The assignment to the three sectors reflects a weighting and is not exclusive.): a) Strengths Ecological sector: – The Swiss Landscape Fund has become an important regional development instrument. – The cantons have made progress in issues surrounding awareness of landscape conservation (e.g. new generation of direction plans). – The direct payments regime of the new agricultural policy has hitherto facilitated +/- global management which takes ecological concerns into account. – The IHG instrument was positively evaluated by the state and the New Direction in Regional Policy was positively evaluated by the OECD (Bundesrat 1996).

Economic sector: – Successes in the establishment of businesses, in the promotion of small and medium- sized businesses and in the improvement of living conditions in mountain areas. – A (predominantly individual) regional spillover effect through the promotion of infrastructure. – The new (1997) but not yet evaluated instruments Region Plus and Innotour were

38 generally positively viewed (a “pull” as opposed to “push” approach as in the IHG). – Subsidiarity approach with a pledge to assume residual costs (e.g. of 50% in the case of Regio Plus). – Innovative foreign trade projects are also supported.

Socio-political sector: – Broader political and public consensus in regional policy. – The solidarity has boosted the self-confidence of mountain populations. – Motivation and co-operation were fostered by the IHG.

b) Weaknesses Ecological sector: – Negative selective effects from some of the infrastructure support, above all contradictions in tourism support (transport systems, artificial snow equipment), and reclamation/restoration projects. – With the exception of the IHG, the Interreg III programme and Regio Plus, there is no monitoring system with effect control. – The synergies between nature conservation and tourism, tourism and landscape are not exploited innovatively enough (e.g. nature parks, biosphere reserves, landscape development concepts). – No sustainability assessment (exception: agricultural policy). – The federal regional concept is only partly implementable due to a lack of competencies at federal level. – Targets for stemming land use and landscape losses have not been fulfilled.

Economic sector: – Economic interests are often too prominent. – The regional spillover from the IHG projects is insufficient; private interests often dominate (jealousies exist), difficulties exist in concentrating activities and setting priorities. – High level of subsidy dependency in mountain areas hinders individual initiative. – Innovation-oriented support policy aimed at professions and activities outside agriculture and tourism is not sufficiently developed. – Landscape policy is primarily aimed at individual holdings and there is insufficient focus on regional interests. – The internalised regional policy, which was established as early as the 1980s, was not supported, i.e. regional policy must continue to promote a policy of the equalisation of 39 growing economic externalities instead of setting the lever to market control.

Socio-political sector: – In some regions, the positive aspects of development projects are too dependent on a few people. – The number innovative ideas and projects originating in the regions remains too low. – There is insufficient exchange of information between the mountain regions within Switzerland and abroad. – Regional policy remains sectoral and insufficiently integral in its organisation. – Despite the New Direction in Regional Policy, no significant turning point is visible with respect to sustainability. In summary, the interviewees confirmed that responsibility for regional policy falls within the remit of the state. Individual interviewees also saw the need for a basic revision of certain instruments, in particular the IHG, and believe that, as part of a move towards increased autonomy, some tasks should be transferred to the cantons as part of clearly formulated and controlled service contracts. Under the constitution, however, the state is, also obliged fulfil the aims of sustainability in regional policy and must, therefore, continue to assume an important role. It is also obliged under the terms of various international environmental agreements to pursue a policy of the preservation and renewal of natural and cultural resources. Hence, many inter-regional interests can only observed and implemented by the state.

6.2. Regional policy in Switzerland today and potential improvements with respect to sustainability Switzerland has a well developed set of regional policy instruments. Cohesion is a very important aim of the Federal Council and features in the legislature planning for 1999- 2003. Nevertheless, various developments show that rural regions in Switzerland are facing tougher conditions. Precisely because of their close functional links with the high ecological and cultural values in these areas, the economic and social changes deserve maximum attention. The concept of sustainability provides an opportunity to link rural areas with urban centres, not in terms of progressive urbanisation and devaluation of the landscape but through a complementary development which combines the high quality of natural areas with high quality of living conditions for people, the basis of which is an ecologically and culturally aware economy based on local resources. Thus, instead of implementing a policy which disconnect towns/cities and the country, a policy of boundaries, i.e. a kind of “policy of peripheries”, should be developed, which is based on the close links between urban and rural areas while also being aware of their borders and peripheries. Thus, towns/cities should no longer be exclusively defined from the town/city perspective and the mountain regions from the mountain perspective. In concrete terms, this hitherto non-existent linking of the concept of sustainability with an economically oriented regional policy could be implemented as follows (proposals made by interviewees):

Actors at political-administrative level • Basic corrections and adjustments must be implemented in other policy areas.

40 The current distortions between market prices and real costs arise from an energy policy which has led to a significantly increase in the global transportation of goods. Energy prices must be increased significantly. • The state is responsible for sustainable development and hence also for regional policy. The state must not withdraw from regional policy. Stronger emphasis must instead be placed on the realisation of sustainability. Criteria/indicator systems must be developed to enable the introduction of a sustainability assessment. In addition, a monitoring process should also be introduced into regional policy. • Federal policy in general must become more cohesive. The state’s various aims must be more strongly integrated to do justice to the cross- section task of sustainable regional development (cf. Landschaftskonzept Schweiz, BUWAL 1998). This means in addition to the (political and instrumental) reinforcement of the environment sector, in particular, the environmental impact assessment must be more strongly integrated into other policy sectors and planning (cf. Knoepfel 1997).

• Greater differentiation of the concept of “rural areas” and more tailored regional policy instruments. The concept of rural areas should be more differentiated to facilitate the identification of their difficulties (c.f. Thierstein und Lambrecht 1998). The concept of “regional development types” (“regionale Entwicklungstypen”) (Bätzing et al. 1995) offers a possible approach here. Target values and measures based on the – participatory – socio- economic analysis of these areas would have to be defined. The range of regional policy instruments should then be tailored to these differentiated regional qualities. The IHG sector should, in particular, be reconsidered. The state should implement an impulse- oriented regional policy and leave the task of small-scale regional policy based on service contracts incorporating sustainability to the cantons and/or major regions. • The new agricultural policy should be expanded. The development of agricultural policy is heading in the direction of the further removal of market support (and possibly also of direct payments). Meanwhile, the Federal Office for Agriculture’s plans (Horizont 2010, BLW 2000) include the idea that the resources becoming available should not be used to increase direct payments but to finance ancillary social measures to accompany structural change (e.g. early retirement rule, grants for retraining and further training). As opposed to this, representatives of the farming associations are demanding that direct payment levels be at least maintained at current levels and that new motivation incentives be provided. It has also been proposed that resources being made available from the withdrawal of market support would be better used to support of non-agricultural activities as additional sources of income for farmers, expand the range of products provided in agricultural, improve regional marketing and in the general reinforcement of regional structures. This means that agricultural policy would become a stronger regional policy instrument. This proposal would bring about a “regionalisation” of agricultural policy (instead of an exclusive focus on the individual farm) and could facilitate an improved integration of the aims of sustainable rural development. Incentives for conversion to organic farming should also be significantly increased as the current percentage of organic holdings remains very low (approximately 8%). • Environment policy and regional planning should be intensified.

41 The clear deficits in the area of quantitative soil protection and nature and landscape conservation in general require: (a) an improvement in the implementation of existing instruments, (b) increased state competency in regional policy and (c) new instruments to restrict the use of resources and protect land that is not yet built on ("quantitative regional preservation" similar to "quantitative forest preservation", internalisation of externalities, use of economic instruments (monetarisation), national concept of settlement development, new planning concepts for the area of construction outside the designated construction zones, regional use planning as opposed to local authority use planning in rural areas, corrective programme for unsuitable buildings, harmonisation of cantonal tax and construction laws).

• The conservation/protection bodies should become more involved in regional development questions In the past, little impression was made by the involvement of the environmental associations and Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (BUWAL) in regional policy. However, rural areas are the best places for the implementation of the concept of sustainability. Given that a clear emphasis in regional policy was placed on economic issues, the development of a separate comprehensive environment-based concept is particularly important. At present, there are no regional policy instruments aimed at environmental protection.

Actors at economic level • Policies to promote economic development should also promote integration and should not encourage urban-rural rivalry. Economic support for rural Switzerland should not trigger futile competition between towns/cities and the country (c.f. Messerli 1999) but should instead serve the purpose of integration. In terms of business establishment policy, in cases involving equal location conditions and ecological balance, rural centres should be given an advantage (e.g. through tax law) over large agglomerations. The federal authorities could exercise corresponding control through the loan guarantee legislation. On the other hand, the market also necessitates the establishment of a national economic body which would take the interests of rural areas into account. • Economic support should be based on regional location qualities. Economic support should be increasingly dictated by the capital embodied in the location and it should support innovation in location-based economic sectors. The centre for herbal medicine in Olivone in the canton of Ticino, which is providing exciting new employment opportunities as a research centre while benefiting from the cultivation of medicinal herbs in the region, is a good example of this phenomenon. As a rule, combined employment opportunities arise in the context of the processing of raw materials from primary production (e.g. carpentry workshops, furniture industry, perfume manufacture, crafts). To this end, the mountain regions must shake off their kitsch image as the home of outwork in Switzerland. The necessary financial instruments, such as Regio Plus, are available. In many cases, however, suitable projects are lacking. • Regional marketing must be promoted more strongly. A number of examples exist to demonstrate the successful marking of regional products (Napfmilch, Emmentaler Ruschtig BE, Emmer/Einkorn-Projekt im Klettgau SH, "Gran Alpin", Stockalperweg am Simplon VS, etc.). Other projects are struggling with logistical

42 problems ("LaNaTour", "NAT"). What is needed here is a national regional marketing network which would provided the necessary structures. The cantons must become more involved in regional marketing, particularly in view of the fact that the national instruments already exist (sales promotion decree). • The landscape should also be “marketed”. Traditional landscapes are very popular and have an increasingly important role to play in the range of tourism products available. Hence, projects to improve the landscape should also be viewed in terms of increased value added for tourism or agricultural products. New labels need to be created here, e.g. national park, biosphere reserve, regional nature parks. In international terms, Switzerland has some catching up to do. The landscape development concepts (Landschaftsentwicklungskonzepte - LEK), which are not yet very common, provide an opportunity for progress in this area.

Actors at social and cultural level • Interaction between the regional development agencies must be supported.

The federal authorities should provide special programmes for the regional development agencies, including international ones, to motivate training and further training. Such programmes exist at national level but they are insufficiently exploited. We suggested that several federal offices acting in the field of agriculture, landuse planning and environment (BLW, ARE, BUWAL) initiate a real strategy to promote that exchanges. • Regional Agenda 21 instead of Local Agenda 21 Local Agenda 21 is based on the participation of the population in the development of targets for a narrowly defined lebensraum. To strengthen regional identity, these processes should be implemented at regional level. With the help of such sustainability forums, the population can formulate targets and responsibilities which integrate and obligate private and public land ownership equally (common property principle). Thus, a common denominator and balance can be achieved between those persons who have political influence and property rights but lack motivation and those who are motivated but lack the necessary property rights and political influence. • Bottom-up processes should be promoted in tune with general and global aims The concept of sustainability only assumes a clear form when becomes part of a concrete regional development debate. The regional development concepts developed in accordance with the IHG provide an important opportunity here but they need be developed in a far more participatory way than hitherto. The regional support agencies should be opened up to the entire population to create overlap and intersection between cost unit groups, beneficiaries, those affected by possible problems and decision makers. Exclusively bottom-up processes risk losing sight of the global aims (e.g. preservation of a national valuable natural and cultural legacy). The slow-moving conflicts surrounding the Aletsch-Bietschhorn UNESCO natural world legacy area, the extension of the National Park and the Entlebuch biosphere reserve show that the desired outcome can only be achieved through a combination of top-down and bottom-up processes. • Strengthen cultural identity The innovative spirit is strong in rural areas and is strongly dependent on the motivation and participation of the population. This, in turn, is based on cultural self-image and identity. Identity is founded on the “inner (socialising) structure” of an area, on familiarity 43 and the sense of well-being in the interaction with the environment (responsive environment). Attachment to a place is particularly important in a highly mobile off-land society.

6.3. From the mountain regions policy to a comprehensive regional policy For a long time, Swiss regional policy was dominated by the mountain regions policy. The crises in the clock-making and textile industries in the 1970s necessitated its expansion to other semi-urban regions, for example in Jura, upper Leventina and in east Switzerland. In 1996, in addition to the mountain regions, other rural areas were included in the remit of the Regio Plus program. Since the 1970s, agglomerisation has continued to progress and in addition to large parts of central Switzerland (west-east axis Berne-Olten-Aarau-Zurich- Winterthur-Frauenfeld, north-south axis Schaffhausen-Bülach-Zurich-Zug-Lucerne) now also includes the major agglomerations of Basle, "Léman-Ville" (Montreux-Vevey- Lausanne-Nyon-Geneva) and Lugano-Mendrisiotto-Chiasso-Como (I)-Varese (I) and various isolated towns in the Alpine belt, such as Chur, Brig, Bellinzona and Sitten. This development of the agglomerations is infringing on the traditional institutional territorial borders of local authorities, canton and the state. On the other hand, there has been something of a shift in former problems: rural areas are no longer primarily afflicted by migration and enjoyed the highest rates of population growth in the period between 1980 and 1990. According to the statistics published by the Bundesamt für Statistik, the urban centres have recently shown a slightly higher rate of population growth. The perception of the problems facing the urban centres has already made a political impact in that the new Federal Swiss Constitution of 1998 includes a “towns/cities article” (Article 50) which stipulates that equal consideration be given to the situation in mountain regions, towns, cities and agglomerations. This development is no longer about eliminating all of the differences that exist between urban and rural areas. As Minister Moriz Leuenberger stated the intention is not to have cities everywhere or the country everywhere but to create an alliance of the two. This in turn means that economic and regional development in rural areas must differ to that in towns and cities. The differences between life in a pulsating urban centre and a sparsely- populated rural area, which are manifest in the varying social, ecological, cultural and economic conditions, should not be perceived as disadvantages. For this reason, life in a non-urban context must not be associated with social, cultural and economic conditions which have a negative impact on the quality of life. The regional policy of the future must not, therefore, aim to level out the various regional qualities but to promote cultural, ecological and economic differences between the individual regions. Hence, the aims of current regional policy to strengthen the (often already strong) peripheral centres are too one-sided. What is needed are incentives to facilitate (the often conscious choice of) life outside the centres, in remote mountain villages or small communities in Central Switzerland which contrast with urban life. How this contrast should look is ultimately subject to a socio-cultural process of identification which can only be developed on the basis of a broad participatory process (e.g. as part of a Local Agenda 21). The regional policy programmes of the future should, therefore, be based on the promotion of the variety of the different regional qualities in Switzerland. Thus, sustainability in the development of rural areas should be sought in the space-economy-culture triangle. The variety of spatial-cultural characteristics will ultimately become a cultural commodity for Swiss and European society. The opportunities for rural areas do not lie, therefore, in the imitation of urban centres (by copying facilities, for example in tourism – a golf course for 44 each region, snow canons for each region etc. – as is often the case today) or in a policy of stubborn isolation ("we know best what is right for us!" as an example of political polemic in defence of privileged legal treatment) but instead in the integration of a national lebensraum whose varied cultural and landscape forms our individual and general social identity.

45 7. Results of the Workshop of 19 September 2000 There were 23 participants in the half-day workshop held on 19 September in Berne. Participants included both the interviewees and other interested parties, i.e. from WWF Switzerland. An introductory debate was held following a presentation of the study. The participants were then divided into two working groups, the topic of the first being “Landscape and Rural Development (kick-off speech by Jörg Wyder, Director SAB) and the second “Regional Planning and Rural Development” (kick-off speech by Dr Daniel Wachter, ARE). During the introductory debate, the study overview was welcomed and approved by the representative of the Federal Office for Agriculture and the State Secretariat for Economics (SECO). Some of the results were, however, disputed, i.e. the strengths/weaknesses analysis. According to both representatives, the instruments were evaluated too negatively and it was emphasised that the New Direction in Regional Policy of 1997 placed a strong emphasis on the participation of the people, co-ordination and ecology. For her part, the SEREC representative stressed that it had, in general been possible to support co-operation in the regions (institution building) thanks to the IHG. As opposed to this, the FLS and WWF representatives stated that there were still too many negative effects on the land and environment. The reality of the progressive “Californisation” of the landscape speaks for itself. Attention was also drawn to the fact that regional marketing was generally well evaluated in the study, although it is causing increases in traffic. Mr Wyder clearly demonstrated the extent to which the situation in Swiss rural areas contrasts with that in developing countries. Whereas the latter face serious problems in the areas of nutrition and quality of life, the situation in Switzerland with respect to nutrition is one of excess and there is little evidence of quality-of-life deficits. The following points were raised in the course of the discussions: · An effect model could make it easier to identify the hierarchy of influence factors. · A concept, criteria/indicator system and the corresponding target values are needed for the definition and measurement of sustainability in rural areas. · The number of actors to be taken into account is much higher when those from areas such as freight transport, telecommunications and European and global institutions are included. This will make it more difficult to establish a hierarchy. · Greater co-operation between agricultural policy and regional policy could give rise to useful synergies. · Agricultural policy should replace the existing classification in production zones (valley area, mountain zones) with a zoning based on typical regional agricultural zones. · With respect to agricultural policy changes, the job of the farmer and the image of the family farm holdings must be revised; it could also make sense to compensate non- farmers for services provided in the area of landscape maintenance.

Basically, it was confirmed that rural areas in Switzerland are in no way equivalent to agricultural areas. It is important to dispel the myths here. Thus, agricultural policy cannot solve all of the problems surrounding rural development or guarantee the decentralised 46 settlement of the country. In future, it would also make sense to implement a regional differentiation in agricultural policy. Concrete umbrella agricultural service contracts should be developed in the regions, on which the direct payments policy would be based. Ultimately the questions as to what actually constitutes “rural areas” and the ecological, economic and social targets to be attained in the individual regions remained unanswered .

47 References Bätzing, W., Messerli, P. and Perlik, M. 1995. Regionale Entwicklungstypen, Analyse und Gliederung des schweizerischen Berggebietes, Beiträge zur Regionalpolitik, BIGA (now: SECO), Bern. Brandner, B., Hirsch, M., Meier-Dallach, H.-P., Sauvain, P. and Stalder, U. 1995. Skitou- rismus, Von der Vergangenheit zum Potential der Zukunft, NFP "Wirksamkeit staatlicher Massnahmen", Verlag Rüegger AG, Chur/Zürich. Bundesamt für Landestopographie, 2000. Atlas der Schweiz, CD-ROM, Bern. Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft. 2000. Horizont 2010, Strategiepapier zur Weiterent- wicklung der Agrarpolitik, Bern. Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft 2000a. Agrarbericht 2000, EDMZ, Bern Bundesamt für Raumplanung, 1996. Grundzüge der Raumordnung Schweiz, Bern. Bundesamt für Raumplanung, 2000. Neue Zahlen zur Veränderung der Bodennutzung, Die Siedlungsfläche der Schweiz wächst weiterhin um einen Quadratmeter pro Sekunde, dossier BRP 1/00, Bern. Bundesamt für Statistik, 1992ff. Arealstatistik Schweiz, Bodennutzung in den Kantonen, BFS, Bern. Bundesamt für Statistik, BUWAL. 1997. Umwelt in der Schweiz, EDMZ, Bern. Bundesamt für Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft (BUWAL), 1998. Landschaftskonzept Schweiz, EDMZ, Bern. Bundesrat, 1996. Botschaft über die Neuorientierung der Regionalpolitik, EDMZ, Bern. Clivaz, Christophe, 2000. Ecologisation du tourism alpin en Suisse et dans le canton du Valais, Influence des réseaux d'action publique sur le changement politique, idheap/université de Lausanne. Cornish, J. and Bryden, J. 1999. WWF Rural development projects review, The Arkleton Centre, University of Aberdeen. Eidgenössisches Finanzdepartement, EFD, 2000. Voranschlag 2000, Botschaft, Bern Hanser, C., Bühler-Conrad, E. and Keller, T. 1985. Auswirkungen von Infrastrukturin- vestitionen, Empirischer Beitrag zur Erfolgskontrolle der Regionalpolitik des Bundes, Thema-Heft der Programmleitung NFP "Regionalprobleme, Verlag Rüegger, Grüsch. Kissling-Naef, I., Varone, F., Mauch, C. (Eds.) 2000. Institutionelle Ressourcenregime in der Schweiz am Beispiel der Ressourcen Boden und Luft, Verlag Rüegger, Grüsch. Knoepfel Peter, 1997. Switzerland, in: National Environmental Policies, a comparative study of capacity-building (M. Jänicke, H. Weidner, Eds.), S. 175-197, Springer Berlin. Lenhard, V. C. and Rodewald, R. 2000. Die Allmende als Chance, Gaia 9/1, 50-57. Lendi, M. 1983. Schweizerische Regionalpolitik, Schweiz. Zbl. Staats- und Gemeinde- verwaltung, 84/6, 241-270. LID - Landwirtschaftlicher Informationsdienst, 2000. Statistiken, homepage www.lid.ch.

48 Messerli, P. 1999. Zukünftige Perspektiven für die Regionalpolitik, in: 25 Jahre Investi- tionshilfe für Berggebiete, S. 12-23, Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Arbeit (now: SECO), Bern. OECD, 1998. Examens des performances environnementales, Suisse, Paris. Rodewald, R. 1999. Sehnsucht Landschaft, Landschaftsgestaltung unter ästhetischem Gesichtspunkt, Chronos Verlag, Zürich. Stucki E. W. 1991. Le développement équilibré du monde rural en Europe occidentale / Balanced development of the countryside in Western Europe, Conseil de l'Europe, Strasbourg (Sauvegarde de la nature no 58). Thierstein, A. and Lambrecht M. 1998. Raumordnung und nachhaltige Entwicklung: Handlungsansätze für eine nachhaltige Raumentwicklung in der Schweiz, Bundesamt für Raumplanung, EDMZ, Bern.

49 Annex 1: The Main Actors and their Roles in Rural Areas

Federal Authorities

Federal Office for Regional Development (ARE) (up to 1.7.2000 known as Federal Office for Regional Planning (BRP). The Sustainability and Alpine Convention group, previously BUWAL, and the Service for General Transport Issues were integrated into the new department) Swiss Federal Ministry of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (UVEK)

Action level · European, cross-border national (cantonal)

Budget and offices · 6,007,550 / 7,500 (Expenses/Revenue in CHF, preliminary budget 2000); 29 offices

Comment ARE has few competencies and, in particular, no effective instruments of support. The office passes framework laws and regional policy principles and carries out co-ordination tasks (e.g. verification of the legality of cantonal direction plans, passing of sectoral direction plans, responsible for the co-ordination of the transnational Interreg IIIb pro- gramme "Alpine Area", international co-operation, legal supervision in particular in matters concerning non-zone-conforming construction outside of construction zones). In accordance with the federal constitution, responsibility for regional planning is assigned to the cantons.

Internet · www.raumentwicklung.admin.ch

Federal Office for Agriculture (BLW) · Swiss Federal Ministry of Economics (EVD)

Action level · International, national, regional, Einzelbetrieb

Budget and Offices · 3,605,825,300 / 31,304,000 (expenses/revenue in CHF, preliminary budget 2000); 240 offices

Comment In accordance with the constitution, the BLW is responsible for agricultural policy. It is involved in the development of strategies for agricultural policy which, in accordance with the constitution, aim to achieve sustainable and market-oriented production and multi- functional agriculture and concentrates support on farms involved in tillage and cultivation.

50 The BLW is also involved in agricultural trade policy and the development of rural areas (e.g. reclamation projects, direct payments).

Internet · www.blw.admin.ch

State Secretariat for Economics (SECO), Department of Location Support Swiss Federal Ministry of Economics (EVD)

1st Department · Department for Regional Development Policy (RESF)

Action Level · International, cross-border, national, regional

Budget and Offices · 18,013,200 (expenses in CHF, preliminary budget 2000); 10 employees)

Comment The RESF is concerned with policy conception, co-ordination with other federal departments and the implementation of federal regional development policy. It implements the various regional-policy instruments (IHG, Interreg, Regio Plus, BG through the allocation of loan guarantees and interest contributions in mountain regions) and is also involved in European regional planning policy. In 1997, a New Direction in Regional Policy was passed with the revision of the IHG of 1974 and the introduction of the Regio Plus programme. Under the new legislation, the responsibility for the definition and guaranteeing of investment aid loans was reassigned to the cantons. The failure to incorporate the RESF into the new Federal Office for Regional Development could be seen as a missed opportunity.

2nd Department · Department for Switzerland as a Business Location (WSSF)

Action Level · International, national, regional

Budget · 6,820,800 (Expenses in CHF, preliminary budget 2000)

Comment The job of the WSSF is to provide economic support in structurally weak areas in accordance with the federal resolution on the promotion of areas of economic renewal (currently under revision).

3rd Department

51 · Tourism (TOSF)

Action Level · National, international, regional

Budget · 39,416,600 (Expenses in CHF, preliminary budget 2000)

Comment The Tourism Department is mainly involved in the definition of tourism policy aims. It heads the tourism and transport parliamentary group and provides support for the tourism promotion activities of "Schweiz Tourismus" and the Swiss Association for Hotel Loans (SGH). This public law body guarantees loans for the upgrading of hotels and spas. It implements the Federal Law for the Promotion of Hotel and Health Spa Credits (Bundesgesetz über die Förderung des Hotel- und Kurortskredites). The “Innotour” federal resolution on innovation in tourism exists since 1998. The TOSF is currently working on a report on the improvement of the structure and quality of Swiss tourism which is due to be completed by the end of 2001.

Internet · www.seco-admin.ch

Federal Office for Housing (BWO), Federal Office for Emergency Supplies (BWL) · Swiss Federal Ministry of Economics (EVD)

Action Level · National, regional

Budget and Offices · 405,808,700 / 3,830,000 (Expenses/revenue in CHF, preliminary budget 2000); 53 offices (BWO), ca. 40 offices (BWL)

Comment The BWO supports the construction of homes and home ownership throughout Switzerland (based on the law on the home construction and the promotion of home ownership) and living conditions in mountain regions (based on the VWEG). The second of these is only valid until late 2000. The office for emergency supplies ensures the supply of essential goods, e.g. food, petrol, heating oil, medicines and industrial goods in Switzerland during crises and emergencies. It is also involved in the preparation of other measures, for example, the storage of supplies (mandatory storage) measures to control availability (nutrition guarantee), consumption control (distribution, rationing) and measures to guarantee services (e.g. transport and insurance).

Internet · www.evd.admin.ch

52 Swiss Federal Ministry for Financial Administration (EFV) Department of Financial Planning, Budget, Accounting, Fiscal Equalisation, Swiss Federal Ministry of Finance (EFD)

Action Level · National, cantonal

Budget and Offices · 3,939,407,107/1,936,257,840 (Expenses/revenue in CHF, preliminary budget 2000); 183 offices

Comment This is the home of fiscal equalisation, a central instrument of Swiss federalism. A package of reforms for a new fiscal equalisation is currently being prepared and is due to come into force in 2004/5. Numerous overlaps exist with respect to the federation and cantons and it is intended to apply load and resource levelling between the state and the cantons to eliminate disparities between the cantons. The funding for fiscal equalisation is now taken from direct federal taxation.

Internet · www.efd.admin.ch

Swiss Federal Ministry for Tax Administration (ESV), Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (BBL) and others · Swiss Federal Ministry of Finance (EFD)

Action Level · National

Comment The direct federal taxation, general consumption taxes, control levies (e.g. Engine-Power- Based Heavy Vehicle Levy - LSVA) and value added tax have an indirect but strong influence on rural regional development. The federal authorities have no control over fiscal harmonisation (tax scales etc.) between the cantons and the local authorities. The responsibilities of the new Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (BBL) include the property management of the civil federal administration.

Internet · www.efd.admin.ch

Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (BUWAL) · Swiss Federal Ministry of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (UVEK)

Action Level

53 · International, national, cantonal, regional, local

Budget and Offices · 523,774,400/3,628,000 (Expenses/revenue in CHF, preliminary budget 2000); 266 offices

Comment Under the constitution, the protection and conservation of nature and habitats is the responsibility of the cantons. The development of protective inventories is, however, a joint state/cantonal task and the same applies for the financing of maintenance and implementation measures. The cantons are responsible for the protection of habitats also at local level. The federation has significant powers in the area of defining limit values and the relevant measures (e.g. mandatory environmental impact assessment). BUWAL has supervisory control of forests (forest conservation, deforestation policy). BUWAL has not previously had much involvement in actual regional policy.

Internet · www.buwal.ch

Federal Office for Roads (ASTRA), Federal Office for Transport (BAV), Federal Office for Civil Aviation (BAZL), Federal Office for Energy (BFE), Federal Office for Water and Geology (BWG), Federal Office for Communication (BAKOM), Swiss Federal Ministry of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (UVEK)

Action Level · National, cantonal, regional

Budget and Offices · ASTRA: 2,861,186,500/4,975,000; BAV: 3,659,327,220/6,976,000; BAZL: 70,046,625/ 27,740,000; BFE: 115,629,300/26,272,000 (Expenses/revenue in CHF, preliminary budget 2000); 141 offices (ASTRA), 150 offices (BAV), 154 offices (BAZL), 162 offices (BFE)

Comment The infrastructure authorities are for the most part responsible for national road building, Alpine transit (NEAT), Bahn 2000 (railways), the awarding of planning authorisation for electric power lines, licences for cable cars, cable lifts, power stations and air fields. The state no longer has influence in the definition of train timetables.

Internet · www.uvek.admin.ch

Federal Ministry of Defence, Protection of the Population and Sport (VBS)

Action Level · National

54 Budget and Offices · 4,653,696,805/69,438,600 (Expenses/revenue in CHF, preliminary budget 2000); 123,13 offices

Comment The VBS is responsible for the implementation army reform which will have a significant economic effect on some rural regions. Similarly, the conversion of military facilities will make it possible to open up former military buildings and facilities (air fields) for civilian uses.

Internet · www.vbs.admin.ch

Federal Swiss Federal Council and Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA)

Action Level · International, national

Comment The bilateral agreements with the EU which were ratified by the Swiss people in the year 2000 make provisions for regulations in the areas of land, air and passenger travel and in agriculture which should prove both positive and negative for rural areas.

Internet · www.parlament.ch

Federal Office for Culture (BAK) Federal Ministry of the Interior (EDI)

Action Level · International, national, regional

Comment In addition to the promotion of culture, the Federal Office for Culture is also responsible for protection, care and maintenance of monuments.

Internet · www.bak.admin.ch

National Public-Law Institutions

Swiss Landscape Fund (FLS)

Action Level

55 · National, cantonal, regional, local

Offices · 3.85 offices

Comment The FLS was founded by the Federal Assembly in 1991 (700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation) and allocated CHF 50 million for a period of ten years. Funding for a further ten years up to 2011 was authorised by parliament in 1991. The FLS provides financial incentives for voluntary measures for the preservation and restoration of landscapes, natural and cultural monuments. This principle promotes the willingness of regional and local agencies to engage in self-help. It also gives rise to synergy effects in the areas of landscape, tourism, construction industry and native and traditional crafts. Through its grants, the FLS provides effective regional economic aid, i.e. in structurally weak regions. The financial aid has multiple and “snowball” effect. In many cases, it triggers multiple investments. The FLS is also active in the media.

Internet · www.fls-fsp.ch

Independent State Companies and Federal Public Limited Companies

Name · Swisscom AG, Post, SBB AG [Swiss Railways]

Action Level · International, national, cantonal, regional, local

Offices · 22,000 (Swisscom), 55,000 (Post), 30,000 (SBB AG) employees

Comment These three former state companies have been partly privatised since 1.1. 1998 (Post, Swisscom) and 1.1 1999 (SBB AG). As a result of this process, the companies which are fully or partly owned by the state become legally independent. The state sets framework conditions (e.g. provision of basic postal services throughout the country), but also demands profitability. Many jobs have already been lost as part of the privatisation process (10,000 in SBB over the past eight years, 7000 in Swisscom up to 2003). The rural cantons of Uri, Tessin and Wallis and the arc of the Jura have been particularly badly affected by the job cuts. Plans exist for the sale by the state of its shares in Post, SBB and Swisscom which would mean an even greater threat to basic services. The “order and payment” principle was introduced in the SBB regional traffic and seen as positive. This is now also being proposed for the Post. The creation of a cohesion fund, established from the accumulated profits of the Post, SBB and Swisscom and used for the support of innovation and conversion projects in the affected regions, is also being discussed.

Internet

56 · www.swisscom.ch, www.post.ch, www.sbb.ch

National Private-Law Institutions

Swiss Working Group for the Mountain Regions (SAB)

Action Levels · International, national, cantonal, regional

Income and Membership · CHF 2,510,000 (Annual Report, 1998-1999); 1655 members

Comment The SAB is an association which was founded in 1943. Its members include all of the mountain cantons, mountain local authorities and self-help organisations, the mountain regions (IHG Regions) and other bodies in mountain areas as well as numerous individuals. It is SAB’s aim to maintain mountain regions as living and economically viable areas, to promote the sustainable use of existing resources in mountain areas, to achieve equal opportunities for the inhabitants of mountain regions, to promote the independence, autonomy and self-determination of mountain populations and preserve a balance in mountain areas between society, economics and the environment. SAB is a politically influential body (e.g. through the governments of the mountain cantons and mountain population parliamentary groups). It was mainly responsible for triggering the Alpine Convention debate in Switzerland.

Internet · www.sab.ch

Swiss Farmers’ Association (SBV), Union of Swiss Producers (UPS), Association of Small and Medium Farmers (VKMB), Bio-Suisse

Action Level · National, cantonal, individual companies

Income and Offices/Membership · SBV CHF 12,110,575. (Annual Report, 1998); 75 employees (SBV), 2500 members (UPS), 35,000 members (VKMB), 22 employees (Bio-Suisse)

Comment These associations are seen as representing the interests of agriculture despite some obvious differences in their aims and politics. Their attention is focused on agricultural legislation, foreign trade policy and farm incomes. The VKMB mainly concentrates on multi-funtionality and employee policy in agriculture. Bio-Suisse is the main distributor of labels ("Knospe", i.e. bud) in the area of organic production. The Swiss Farmers’ Association enjoys the most political influence of the four (e.g. via the parliamentary agricultural club)

57 Internet · www.bauernverband.ch, www.bioline.ch, www.bio-suisse.ch

WWF Switzerland, Pro Natura Schweiz, Swiss Foundation for the Protection of the Landscape (SL), CIPRA Schweiz, Alpine Initiative, Transport Club of Switzerland (VCS)

Action Level · National, cantonal, regional, local

Income and Membership · WWF Switzerland: CHF 33,415,000 (Annual Report, 1999); Pro Natura: CHF 12,650,000 (Annual Report, 1999); SL CHF 1,023,370 (Annual Report, 1999); VCS CHF 12,274,000 (Annual Report, 1997). Membership: 222,000 (WWF), 92,500 (Pro Natura), 750 (SL), 137,000 (VCS)

Comment These associations are all active in areas of environmental protection and conservation. They are mainly involved in the political environment, publicity and to varying extents also in implementation projects. CIPRA is responsible for the establishment and co-ordination the Alpine local authority network Allianze.

Internet · www.wwf.ch, www.pronatura.ch, www.sl-fp.ch, www.alpeninitiative.ch, www.cipra.org, www.vcs-ate.ch

LITRA - Public Transport Information Service

Action Level · National

Comment LITRA is possibly the most powerful political group in the area of transport. Its main interests lie in the area of public transport and regional transport services. LITRA is sponsored by all of Switzerland’s public transport companies, i.e. SBB AG [railways], the licensed transport companies in the regions and agglomerations and Postauto Schweiz. The cantons, research institutes, all important industrial and service companies, the construction industry, trade and commercial companies, planning and insurance are all represented in LITRA.

Internet · www.litra.ch

Swiss Sponsorship for Mountain Communities

Action Level

58 · National, cantonal, regional, local

Comment The aim of this association is to inspire solidarity with the mountain population among the population as a whole. Thanks to donations from local authorities and other sources, the sponsors provide support to financially weak communities in the IHG regions and also to private co-operatives (Alpine co-operatives etc.). In concrete terms it assumes the residual costs of infrastructure projects. Of ca. 300 applications received annually, some 15% are pure agricultural projects (reclamation of Alpine meadows and pastures etc.). The Sponsorship has invested approximately CHF 257 million since 1940 and this investment in turn triggered multiple subsidies. In 1999, over CHF 20 million was paid for projects.

Address · Patenschaft für Berggemeinden, Asylstrasse 74, 8030 Zürich

Swiss Mountain Aid (SBH)

Action Level · National, cantonal, regional, local

Comment The SBH (founded in 1943) is a non-profit-making organisation and aims to improve the essential economic basis for gaining a livelihood and the living conditions in mountain areas throughout the country. It’s main aim is to support mountain agriculture and provide support to mountain farmers for self-help projects and to village and valley communities in mountain regions. The aid is intended to improve the essential basis for companies, help farming families in their work, guarantee the maintenance and care of the traditional landscape and counteract migration. SBH aims to achieve this inter alia through the procurement of financial resources (donations and legacies), through financial grants, in particular for investments made by mountain farms and investments which otherwise contribute to settlement in mountain areas, through financial grants for community projects, corporations, co-operatives etc. in mountain areas. SBH processes a total of 1000 applications per year and provides over CHF 20 million for projects.

Internet · www.berghilfe.ch

Swiss Chamber of Industry and Commerce (local), Touring Club of Switzerland (TCS), Swiss Commercial Association

Action Level · National, cantonal

Comment These associations embody a large section of political economic interests at national and cantonal level. Their demands are very significant in terms of regional policy.

Internet 59 · www.vorort.ch, www.tcs.ch, www.sgv-usam.ch

Swiss Tourism Association (STV), Swiss Alpine Club (SAC)

Action Level · National, cantonal, regional

Membership · 650 (STV), 93,000 (SAC)

Comment The STV and SAC represent interests in the tourism sector. SAC is also involved in protective issues through the Commission for the Protection of the Mountains (Kommission zum Schutz der Gebirgswelt). STV is the country’s tourism policy umbrella organisation and aims to promote and support the Swiss tourist economy. It represents all of the Swiss tourism agencies and protects their interests. Unlike the marketing organisation Schweiz Tourismus, which is responsible for the conception and realisation of advertising for the country by the state, STV represents the needs of tourism on all political levels, informs the public about its importance and works towards the improvement of the range of holidays on offer in Switzerland - particularly in terms of consultancy and product design. For many years, STV has supported the qualitative development of tourism in Switzerland. The projects Veloland Schweiz (“Switzerland Biking Country”), Netzwerk ländlicher Tourismus (“Rural tourism Network”) (with SBV) and Endlich Ferien. Ihre Landschaft (“Holidays at last. Your landscape”) (with FLS) are mainly supported by STV. STV is also active at political level.

Internet · www.swisstourfed.ch, www.sac.ch

Swiss Consultancy Group for the Regions and Local Authorities (SEREC/BEREG)

Action Level · Regional, local

Membership · 164

Comment This non-profit-making organisation aims to support the development and administration of local authorities and regions. It provides training and consultancy activities and compiles studies (e.g. development concepts). With the help of the state, some cantons, the ETH technical university in Zurich, the local authorities in Pays-d'Enhaut, it established a Swiss centre for exchange and further training in regional development (CH-REGIO). The centre aims to promote rural development, in particular through information and co- ordination. A similar consultancy and research institute can be found at the ETH technical university in Lausanne (Antenne romande at the institute for agriculture).

Internet 60 · www.ch-regio.ch

Cantonal and Local-Authority Bodies and Institutions This level involves the cantonal and local-authority bodies, the Committees of the Heads of the Cantonal Governments, the Committees of Planners and Regional Secretaries, the cantonal economic support bodies, the Association of Swiss Towns from the Swiss Local Authorities Association, the Emissions Centre of the Swiss Local authorities and the sections and membership associations of the above-mentioned national institutions.

61 Annex 2: Other Federal Laws with Implications for Rural Areas (from Chapter 2)

Reorganisation of Post, SBB and Swisscom (telecommunications) The partial privatisation of these three federal state companies was implemented under the condition that regional transport and comprehensive basic supply of services would be guaranteed as long as a demand for these services exists. The PTT reform, in particular, succeeded in creating an excellent legal basis for the public postal service. However, the emphasis on profitability has had significant effects on structure. Thus, it would appear that it will only be possible to provide comprehensive basic services in the future in conjunction with significant price increases. Over 1000 post offices face the threat of closure with a resulting loss of basic services in sparsely populated areas. The situation in telecommunications is similar. The railway reform also makes provision for future competition between railway companies. Total liberalisation of all rail services is not, however, planned; freight traffic and international passenger traffic will be fully liberalised whereas the finely-tuned national passenger traffic services will not. The railway companies must make their infrastructure available to third parties for a fee without discrimination. To facilitate authorisation and fair competition, in addition to reciprocity, technical, financial and labour law requirements must be observed. In the area of regional transport, since1.1.1996, all services, irrespective of provider (SBB, Post, etc.) have been jointly financed by the state and cantons on the same basis. The cantons are largely responsible for the ordering and planning of services within the prescribed financial framework. The competition principle is applied. The state requires that the SBB (railway company) separate the infrastructure and transport sectors, not only in accounting terms but also in organisational terms. Each of these should be operated separately with individual profit and balance sheets and hence as an actual profit centre. The principle, in accordance with which each service is either provided on a break-even basis or must be clearly commissioned (and financed) is being consolidated. Consequently, this means that the providers of transport services (the passenger and freight transport division) must achieve positive results. The retrospective covering of deficits is not admissable.

Army Reform The reform of the army (since 1995) and conversionof military equipment and facilities, i.e. the rededication of military facilities for civilian uses (e.g. air fields) have significant effects with respect to the economy and regional development in rural areas due to the extensive land holdings (the military is Switzerland’s biggest land owner) and the number of employees (significant reduction as a result of army reform: 1990 20,000, 1999 approximately 12,000 employees) and trainees involved.

Energy Policy/Electricity Market Law The liberalisation of the electricity market means that each provider in the European electricity alliance should be able to provide its electricity at its own “market price” and each consumer should (at least theoretically) be able to obtain electricity from the cheapest supplier. This means that access is guaranteed to all networks but use of networks must be paid for. Large-scale consumers will be able to decide which supplier to use, smaller consumers (households, companies etc.) will at most be able to do so

62 through an intermediary supplier. In a completely liberalised market, renewable energy sources such as timber, solar energy and hydro-electric power will be the most expensive and those forms of energy which pollute the environment cheapest. For this reason, parliament has drawn up a constitutional article for an energy control levy (to reduce incidental wage costs) and as a complement, a support levy for renewable energy (solar energy, timber, biomass, hydro-electric power). The planned levy is for 0.3 Swiss centimes per kWh on all non-renewable energy sources. This would yield approximately CHF 440 million per year and it is intended to use the revenue for ecologically based efficiency improvements and for the preservation and renewal of existing hydro-electric power stations. The mountain regions viewed the control levy as a key accompanying measure for the liberalisation of the electricity market. The question of the cost of supplying power to sparsely populated areas will arise increasingly in the future.

The New Fiscal Equalisation (NFA) The reorganisation of the fiscal equalisation between the federation and cantons represents a major project and is a key instrument of Swiss federalism. The following indicators were hitherto used to determine the financial strength of the cantons: national income per inhabitant, total tax yield from cantonal and local authority taxation per inhabitant, total burden of cantonal and local authority taxation per inhabitant and the proportion of the canton in the mountain region measured in terms of proportion of inhabitants and proportion of cultivated land. Three groups of financial strength were defined from the total scale. All of the financially weak cantons lie completely or partly in the mountain belt. The fiscal equalisation was hence defined via the following instruments: the cantons receive a proportion of direct federal taxes and, in addition, federal subsidies are available for many cantonal measures/investments (road building, railways etc.). The disadvantage of the previous system of fiscal equalisation lay in its complexity and lack of transparency. For this reason, a new system of fiscal equalisation was submitted for examination in 1999. The aim was to differentiate tasks that were formerly joint state and cantonal responsibility and re-assign them to just one instance. Load and resource levelling will also be re-regulated. The new fiscal equalisation and increasing cantonalisation of public tasks will have a decisive influence on the structure of rural areas.

Engine-Power-Based Heavy Vehicle Levy (LSVA) It is planned to introduce the new engine-power-based heavy vehicle levy (LSVA, referendum1998) in early 2001. This law contains provision for a levy of CHF 0.6-0.3 per tonne (heavy goods vehicles) and kilometre driven by vehicles of this class. The LSVA is an important example of the implementation of the internalisation of external transport costs. It promotes rail traffic and will be used to contribute to the development of NEAT. As it increases the transport costs of heavy goods vehicles, it also promotes economic activity centred on shorter transport routes. Thus, in terms of the regional economy, the LSVA represents a positive development.

Licensing Policy for Public Transport and Cable Railways In addition to the restructuring of the SBB ,which is important in regional policy terms, (order and pay principle), the state’s licensing policy in the area of cable railways is also relevant in this context. Since the early 1980s, no new access routes to skiing areas have been authorised and increasing emphasis is being placed on ecological considerations.

63 However, the licensing of combined skiing areas repeatedly gives rise to conflicts with the environmental protection sector.

Federal and Cantonal Subsidy and Tax Policy Direct and indirect federal subsidy for regionally-relevant areas, such as road building, forestry and agricultural access, tourism projects etc. are often at odds with protection- oriented legislation. There is often a lack of consistency here. Cantonal tax policy is also important in terms of settlement development as it can give rise to questionable competition between cantons and local authorities concerning the favouring of certain locations and hence promote unsuitable settlement developments.

Tourism Policy There is no actual tourism promotion policy at national level in Switzerland. However, demands for support are often voiced, for example, by the economically weak hotel sector. The hotel sector has already been rewarded with lower rates of sales/value added tax. Individual cantons and, above all, local authorities support concrete tourism projects with public money. Instances of misguided allocation, as was the case under the old agricultural policy, still exist, in particular, in the area of mountain railways.

Federal Law on the Use of Hydro-Electric Power (Wasserrechtsgesetz WRG) of 22 December 1916 When the WRG was created in 1916, the aim was to establish standards for the licensing of water use and to limit license charges (water tax) in order to promote the electrification of the country. The water tax was, therefore, held at an artificially low level to support industrialisation through low electricity prices. In the course of the decades, the water tax was gradually increased. The most recent revision of 1996 sets the maximum water tax at CHF 80 per kWh of installed power, whereby small hydro-electric power stations (up to I MW) are exempt from payment. Following the lapse of the license (maximum 80 years), the wet components of the plant (retaining structure, delivery pipes, buildings, turbines) are assigned free of cost to the issuer of the license (canton, local authority), while the electrical components (generators, cables) can be acquired at a “cheap” (i.e. fair) price. It is also possible to renew the licenses. Water taxes are an important source of income for mountain cantons and local authorities (ca. CHF 250 million/year). From the water tax revenue, one franc is donated to the fund for the compensation of communities which refrain from the implementation of hydroelectric power projects which would be located in landscapes of national importance. A total of nine communities have received in excess of CHF 100 million over 40 years.

Federal Law on Regional Planning (RPG) of 22 June 1979 (Revision of 20 March 1998) The RPG promotes the economic use of land and preservation of the landscape. It provides the implementing cantons with instruments (direction planning, use planning). The area of construction outside of designated construction zones was liberalised under the latest revision with the authorisation of new construction options for forms of agricultural production which are not land-dependent (greenhouses and fattening houses) and new uses for existing buildings. Conservation bodies opposed this development in view of the fact that over 540,000 buildings already exist outside of settlements in Switzerland (corresponds to every 4th building, increase of several hundred per year up to 64 2000). However, the measure was ratified by the people in the referendum of 7 February 1999.

Federal Law on Nature Conservation and Habitat Protection of Habitats of 1965 (NHG), Federal Law on Environmental Protection of 1983 (USG), Federal Law on the Protection of Water of 1991 (GSchG) These three protective laws were created for the purpose of defending the landscape, protecting the animal and plant worlds, preserving soil fertility, protecting man, animals and plants against damaging effects, early limitation of damaging effects and the protecting water bodies against negative impacts. The implementation of the conservation aims is the joint task of the federal and cantonal authorities. Compensation and maintenance grants are paid in accordance with the NHG if a cantonal contribution is also pledged. The polluter-pays principle was recently enshrined in the water protection legislation. In 1995, CHF 45 million was paid out in nature and landscape conservation loans.

Federal Law on Forests (WaG) of 4 October 1991 (1902) Federal forest policy is based on the multi-functionality of the forest and places a high priority on quantitative forest preservation. The WaG aims to: – preserve the forest in terms of its area and spatial distribution, – protect the forest as a near-nature biotic community, – maintain the protection, use and welfare functions of the forests, – promote forest economy. The law outlaws deforestation and clear-cutting for timber use and regulates permissible exceptions. It commissions the cantons to do everything in their power to preserve and promote the forest as protection against avalanches, erosion, landslides and rock fall. The principle of sustainability must be observed in the use of forests. The state provides financial support to the cantons for the preservation of the forests. The state can assume 70% of the costs for the preservation of protective forest in mountain region and provides 50% of the cost of eliminating damage to forests (fire, disease, damage, storms, pollutants etc.). The state also provides interest free or low interest investment loans (machinery, access etc.). In Switzerland, approximately 4.5 million m3 of timber is felled each year and growth is approximately 10 million m3. In 1999, a total of CHF 115 million was used for the maintenance of forests, management measures and access facilities. Under the new regulation of the deforestation authorisation process, as part of new legal package for the simplification and co-ordination of the federal decision-making processes in 1000, the competencies of the federal authority (BUWAL) to authorise deforestation were reduced for areas in excess of 5000 m2 and the cantons are now obliged to consult the federal department. The state may only authorise deforestation in areas under its own responsibility.

65 Annex 3: List of interviewees

State - Rudolf Schiess, Director of Regional Policy, Seco - Hans Allemann, Programme Director of Regio Plus, Seco - Dr. Daniel Wachter, ARE, Director of the Regional Economy Service - Manfred Bötsch, Director of BLW

Regional Planning/Regional Secretariat - François Parvex, Serec, Sierre - Daniele Ryser, Regional Secretary, Association of Local Authorities, Regione Malcan- tone, Secretary of the Association of Rural and Mountain Local Authorities of Ticino, Agno - Kurt Rohner, Regional Planner and Architect, co-initiator of "Regenerationspark Seeland", Biel

Academic Institutions - Ueli Stalder Geographical Institute, University of Bern - Willy Zimmermann, ETHZ Forest Policy Professor, Vice President ENHK - Erwin Stucki, Institut d'économie rurale, Antenne romande, GR-Ecublens, 1015 Lausanne

Associations - Gottfried Künzi, Director STV - Jörg Wyder, Director SAB - Luca Vetterli, WWF - Frau Barbla Krämer, Director of Sponsorship for Mountain Communities - NR Melchior Ehrler, Director SBV - Herbert Karch, Chief Executive VKMB - Hans Weiss, FLS

Others - Professor Ernst A. Brugger, Brugger, Hanser And Partners Ltd., Lagerstrasse 33, Post- fach 3977, 8021 Zürich - Ruedi Meier, Transport Expert, Transport Directorate Canton of Berne 66 Annex 4: Questionnaire

Aim of the interviews To obtain information from key actors in the area of regional development.

Interview structure a. Role and responsibilities of the interviewee (IV). b. Understanding — What is understood by rural development (sectors, interest representatives, targets)? — How does the IV’s perspective (i.e. his/her institution) differ from that of the representatives of other institutions? — What are the IV’s (institution) specific role and contribution to rural development? c. Institutional Framework — What does the institutional framework of rural regional development consist of and what is the position of the IV (i.e. his/her institution) within this framework? — Which contacts exist with other organisations/institutions? d. Influences and Effects — Which organisations/associations/authorities etc. are most influential and effective in the area of rural development? e. Challenges — What are the most important challenges facing rural development? — What are the options available for financial policy? — How could the existing support policies for rural areas be improved? f. Rural Development Policies and Programmes — Which policies and programmes exist and how is the IV involved (development of programmes or/and implementation)? — How do these programmes/policies support the work of the IV (‘s institution)? — What are the key topics and contents of these programmes? — What are the main measures (finance and innovations) of these programmes? — Who develops these programmes? — What are their strengths and weaknesses? — What are their main effects on the environment?

67 g. Sustainability and Rural Development — How exactly is sustainable development connected with rural development and what are the contradictions? (The following areas should be considered: biodiversity, landscape, air, soil, water, climate change, cultural and historical legacy, economic and social factors.) — Do the programmes/policies for rural areas support the implementation of environmental aims? Where are the contradictions? — Do rural development programmes exist which were specially conceived for the environmental concerns in rural areas? What are the corresponding financial aids? — Does success monitoring exist for the evaluation of the effects of rural development programmes on the environment? h. Cultural Factors — How is the population involved? — What are the cultural consequences? — Are traditional participatory forms observed/respected? — What are the effects on training (e.g. quality of jobs)? i. Miscellaneous

68 Annex 5: Translations of the Names of the Authorities, Organisations, Laws and Acronyms referred to in the Text

ARE - Bundesamt für Raumentwicklung Federal Office for Regional Development ASTRA - Bundesamt für Strassen Federal Office for Roads BAK - Bundesamt für Kultur Federal Office for Culture BAZL - Bundesamt für Zivilluftfahrt Federal Office for Civil Aviation BBL - Bundesamt für Bauten und Logistik Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics BBWEG - Bundesbeschluss zugunsten Federal Resolution on Support for Areas of wirtschaftlicher Erneuerungsgebiete, “Bonny Economic Renewal, Bonny Resolution Beschluss” BFE - Bundesamt für Energie Federal Office for Energy BLW - Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft Federal Office for Agriculture Bundesamt für Kommunikation Federal Office for Communication Bundesamt für Landestopographie Federal Office for Topography Bundesamt für Raumplanung Federal Office for Regional Planning Bundesamt für Statistik Federal Office for Statistics Bundesamt für Wohnungswesen Federal Office for Housing Bundesgesetz über die Landwirtschaft Federal Law on Agriculture Bundesrat Federal Council (i.e. Swiss government) BUWAL - Bundesamt für Umwalt, Wald und Federal Office for the Environment, Forests Landschaft and Landscape BWG - Bundesamt für Wasser und Geologie Federal Office for Water and Geology BWL - Bundesamt für wirtschaftliche Federal Office for Emergency Supplies Landesversorgung EDI - Eidg. Departement des Innern Federal Ministry of the Interior EFD - Eidg. Finanzdepartement Federal Ministry of Finance EFV - Eidg. Finanzverwaltung Federal Ministry for Financial Administration ESV - Eidg. Steuerverwaltung Federal Ministry for Tax Administration EVD - Eidg. Volkswirtschaftsdepartment Federal Ministry of Economics FinÖV Public Transport Finance FLS - Fonds Landschaft Schweiz Swiss Landscape Fund GSchG - Bundesgesetz über den Federal Law on the Protection of Water Gewässerschutz

69 IHG - Bundesgesetz über Investitionshilfe Federal Law on Investment Aid for Mountain für Berggebiete Regions INNOTOUR - Bundesbeschluss über die Federal Resolution on the Promotion of Förderung von Innovation und Innovation and Co-operation in Tourism Zusammenarbeit im Tourismus NEAT New Alpine Rail System NHG - Bundesgesetz über den Natur- und Federal Law on Nature Conservation and Heimatschutz Habitat Protection LITRA - Informationsdienst für den Information Service for Public Transport öffentlichen Verkehr LSVA - Leistungsabhängige Engine-Power-Based Heavy Vehicle Levy Schwerverkehrsabgabe Patenschaft für Berggemeinden Sponsorship for Mountain Communities RESF - Ressort Regional- und Department for Regional Development Raumordnungspolitik Policy RPG - Bundesgesetz über die Federal Law on Regional Planning Raumplanung SAB - Schweizerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Swiss Working Group for the Mountain für die Berggebiete Regions SAC - Schweizer Alpen-Club Swiss Alpine Club SBB - Schweizerische Bundesbahn Swiss Federal Railway SBH - Schweizerischer Berghilfe Swiss Mountain Aid SBV - Schweizerischer Bauernverband Swiss Farmers’ Association Schweizerische Bürgschaftsgenossenschaft Swiss Loan Guarantee Co-operative Schweizerische Patenschaft für Swiss Sponsorship for Mountain Berggemeinden Communities SECO - Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft State Secretariat for Economics SEREC/BEREG Schweizerische Swiss Consultancy Group for the Regions Beratungsgruppe für Regionen und and Local Authorities Gemeinden SGH - Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Swiss Association for Hotel Loans Hotelkredite SL - Stiftung Landschaftsschutz Schweiz Swiss Foundation for the Protection of the Landscape STV - Schweizer Tourismus-Verband Swiss Tourism Association TCS - Touring Club Schweiz Touring Club of Switzerland TOSF - Ressort Tourismus Tourism Department

70 UPS - Union des Producteurs Suisses Union of Swiss Producers USG - Bundesgesetz über den Federal Law on Environmental Protection Umweltschutz UVEK - Eidg. Departement für Umwelt, Federal Ministry of the Environment, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation Transport, Energy and Communication VBS - Eidg. Departement für Verteidigung, Federal Ministry of Defence, Protection of Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport (VBS) the Population and Sport (VBS) VCS - Verkehrsclub der Schweiz Transport Club of Switzerland VWEG Decree on the implementation of the Federal Law on Housing and the Promotion of Home Ownership VKMB - Vereinigung der kleinen und Association of Small and Medium Farmers mittleren Bauern WaG - Bundesgesetz über den Wald Federal Law on Forests WEG - Wohnbau und Federal Law on Housing and the Promotion Eigentumsförderungsgesetz of Home Ownership WRG - Bundesgesetz über die Federal Law on the Use of Hydroelectric Nutzbarmachung der Wasserkräfte Power (Wasserrechtgesetz) WSSF - Ressort Wirtschaftsstandort Department of Switzerland as a Business Schweiz Location WS - Bundesgesetz über die Verbesserung Federal Law on the Improvement of Living der Wohnverhältnisse in Bergebieten Conditions in Mountain Regions

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