ALTER-Net Summer Schools

The Fifth ALTER-Net Summer School

"Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services"

5 - 14 September 2010 in Peyresq, France

Here you can download the flyer, however as the the deadline for applying (15 April 2010) has passed we cannot accept any more applications for 2010.

The programme for 2010 below is currently being finalized. Please click on the title of the presentation or the speaker to get more information.

Programme

Summer School Objectives

The ALTER-Net Summer School is contributing to durable integration and spread of excellence within and beyond the network, with a view to promote interdisciplinary approaches.

The 2010 Summer School will focus on: Biodiversity and ecosystems in Europe; Ecosystem processes, function, services and benefits; Resilience of social and natural systems; Valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services; Linking biodiversity research with policy and the public.
	In the plenary (Photo: Allan Watt)

The programme will include two talks in the morning and an aperitif talk in the late afternoon before dinner. All talks provide ample time for discussions and as the speakers usually stay for some days in Peyresq informal discussions will go on till late at night. Tutors will guide the working groups in the afternoons this year as well. The working groups will concentrate on a local region and study the following sectors: Agriculture, tourism, nature conservation and renewable energy. There will be a synthesis group summarizing the results in a synthesis report aimed at policy makers. A field trip will illustrate land-use change in the Provence. Of course there will be also opportunities to relax in the beautiful village of Peyresq and its surroundings.

In case you are interested in former summer schools you can have a look at the programmes of the different years:

• 2006: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Ecological and Socio-economic Aspects
• 2007: Trends in Biodiversity: European Ecosystems and Policy
• 2008: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 
• 2009: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Speakers of the summer school in 2010

- Leon Braat, ALTERRA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Wolfgang Cramer, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany
- Nicolas Dendoncker, Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (FUNDP), Namur, Belgium
- Roy Haines-Young, Centre for Environmental Management, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Rik Leemans, Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
- Hal Mooney, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Marion Potschin, Centre for Environmental Management, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Steve Redpath, Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability, Aberdeen University, UK
- Dagmar Schröter, Umweltbundesamt, Vienna, Austria
- Martin Sharman, Directorate General for Research, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
- Simron Jit Singh, Institute for Social Ecology (IFF), Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Klagenfurt University, Vienna, Austria
- Will Steffen, Climate Change Institute, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
- Mark Sutton, Atmospheric Sciences, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), Edinburgh, UK
- Klement Tockner, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany
- Sybille van den Hove, Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, Autonomous University of Barcelona & Median SCP, Valldoreix, Spain
- Jiska van Dijk, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research - NINA, ALTER-Net II Secretariat, Trondheim, Norway
- Allan Watt, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Martin Wildenberg, Institute of Social Ecology (IFF), Vienna, Austria
- Brooke Wilkerson, University of Bergen, Norway

Participation

The ALTER-Net summer schools are open to young graduate and post-graduate scientists from the network partners and universities in Europe. Two participants from developing countries can participate as well. Adequate English skills are required. All participants present a poster on their own research. The summer school is limited to 32 participants, who are selected with the goal of achieving an optimal mix among regions, disciplines and gender. In 2010 a registration fee of 800,-€ was required which includes the lectures, the excursion, accommodation (double rooms) and meals. Travel costs had to be covered by the participants.

Here you can download the application form. The deadline was 15 April 2010 and the successful applicants have been notified by 1 May 2010.

Summer School Conveners

 

Logistics

The village of Peyresq - where the summer school is taking place - is a very picturesque site in the French Alps (Alpes de Haute-Provence) situated about 1.500m above sea level. The village is partly owned and managed by the European association for culture and artistic and scientific humanism ASLB Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc which has assigned the village as a location for scientific and cultural meetings.

To get to Peyresq by public transport, the easiest method is to fly to Nice International Airport, and then take the picturesque train, called the "Chemins de Fer de Provence", which goes from Nice through the mountains to Digne, and you have to get off in Annot, where you will usually be met at the station. Note that the train leaves from the "Gare de Provence", which is about 10 minutes walk from the main station in Nice, Gare de Nice-Ville. Find here the map for your walk from the Avenue Thiers to the Rue Alfred Binet. In case you do not have the time to take the train form the Gare de Provence in Nice here is the map of the location of the Gare in Lingostière. More local travel information can be downloaded here (pdf: 20KB). [Please remember not to get off at a train stop called "Peyresq", because this is in the river valley from where you would have to climb an hour uphill to the village!] By car it takes about 1 1/2 hours from Nice.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

ALTER-Net Mission

ALTER-Net shall integrate biodiversity research capacities across Europe to:

• Create a network for European long-term terrestrial and fresh-water biodiversity and ecosystem research;
• Assess and forecast changes in biodiversity, structure, functions and dynamics of ecosystems and their services; and
• Consider the social and economic implications of biodiversity change and management.

	A Long-Term Biodiversity, Ecosystem And Awareness Research Network http://www.alter-net.info/
ALTER-Net Secretariat Jiska van Dijk, Kristine R. Ulvund Norwegian Institute for Nature Research - NINA NO-7485 Trondheim, Norway		ALTER-Net was initiated by EU Network of Excellence No. 505298