Methodological Proposal for the Inventory and Assessment of Geomorphosites: An Integrated Approach focused on Territorial Management and Geoconservation.

Geoconservation has been growing in importance within the environmental management context. The conservation of geological heritage is being more and more recognised as an essential issue in nature conservation. Inventories of geosites are considered basic steps in geoconservation strategies and constitute a tool to support management considering the sites' values, use potential and risks of degradation.

Assessing watercourse quality: challenges in implementing European and Swiss legal frameworks.

Hydro-climatic changes and the increasing release of pollutants into rivers by human activities tend to affect the quality of watercourses, to alter aquatic ecosystems and to reduce the amount of useable water. The ecological and chemical states of rivers and their evolution is thus of growing concern. In Europe and Switzerland, water policies are progressively shifting towards a holistic approach of river systems.

Climatic and anthropogenic changes in Western Switzerland: Impacts on water stress.

Recent observed hydro-climatic changes in mountainous areas are of concern as they may directly affect capacity to fulfill water needs. The canton of Vaud in Western Switzerland is an example of such a region as it has experienced water shortage episodes during the past decade. Based on an integrated modeling framework, this study explores how hydro-climatic conditions and water needs could evolve in mountain environments and assesses their potential impacts on water stress by the 2060 horizon.