Bled Event 2013

Come to visit… only if sustainably! How to promote sustainable tourism in lake districts

How to promote sustainable tourism in lake districts, paying special attention to the environment and the protection of biodiversity, was the underlying theme of the project in Bled, Slovenia, within the nEUlakes project, the network of European lakes.

With its immense natural beauty, Bled, together with its surroundings, ranks among the most beautiful alpine resorts, renowned for its mild, healing climate and thermal lake water. The beauty of the mountains reflected on the lake, the sun, the serenity and the fresh air arouse pleasant feelings in visitors throughout the year, guaranteeing an active holiday. Number of inhabitants: 5476. Tourist capacity: 4000 beds.
Bled has a mild, healthy sub-Alpine climate with the longest swimming season of any Alpine resort. The ridges of the Julian Alps and the Karavanke protect it from the chilly northern winds and during the summer months there is no fog. The average temperature in July is 18.7°C and in January -1.2°C.

In the course of four meetings, the theme of responsible development of tourism on lakes was dealt with and discussed from all angles: Professor Massimiliano Mandarini from the Milan Polytechnic dedicated a session to the theme of sustainable planning on lake waterfronts; with the aid of slides and graphs he demonstrated the best practices on a global level which focussed on innovative planning developed by students at an international masterclass on architecture.

An exhibition on rationalist architecture on Lake Como was organised by the architect Ezio Pedrocchi in the Bled Congress Centre, while bilateral meetings were held to compare experiences relating to the development of a network of hotels and eco-hotels, the promotion of local products and the organisation of events to promote the areas and their wine and food.

It was possible to carry out a “field test” on the eco-tourism offer thanks to a guided tour of the nature reserve at the nearby lake of Bohinj. It is the largest permanent lake in Slovenia, located within the Bohinj Valley of the Julian Alps, in the north-western Upper Carniola region, and is part of the Triglav National Park.

Lake Bohinj is 4.2 km (2.6 miles) long and 1 km (0.62 miles) at its widest point.[3] It is a glacial lake dammed by a moraine. The largest of the streams that flow into the lake, the Savica (‘little Sava’),[4] is fed by Črno jezero (Black Lake), the largest lake in the Triglav Lakes Valley. The outflow at the eastern end is the Jezernica creek which merges with the Mostnica to form the Sava Bohinjka, which in turn becomes the larger Sava River at the confluence with the Sava Dolinka. As already discovered by Belsazar Hacquet in the 18th century, much more water leaves Lake Bohinj than enters it, which can be explained by the presence of subterranean sources of water. The clear waters are the habitat of brown trout, burbot, European chub, common minnow and Arctic char, eight genera of molluscs, as well as of numerous algae species. It is a popular day trippers’ destination for swimming and other water sports. On the shore there is a statue of the legendary Goldhorn (Zlatorog) chamois, whose story was perpetuated by the poet Rudolf Baumbach.

During meetings open only to councillors and representatives of the associations presided over by the Mayor of Bled, Janez Fajfar, the foundations were laid.for a close collaboration between the two towns and within the European network in the making.

A concert by the the pianists Massimiliano Motterle (classical) and Enrico Intra (jazz) concluded the event and was very successful with the public.

Download the program