The Municipality of Schnifis is a founding member of the Austrian KLAR! Region “KLAR! Im Walgau” represents 14 municipalities with approximately a total number of inhabitants of 38.500. The KLAR! Region Walgau is preparing for climate change adaptations. The Municipality of Schnifis is characterized by comprehensive municipality development and planning considering all climate change aspects. A culture of innovation and citizen participation is live in the Municipality. Schnifis is a pilot municipality in various topics such as energy community, digitalization, use of old buildings, etc. The Municipality has already been awarded several prizes for its numerous innovations: Energy Globe Vorarlberg in 2021, Energy Globe Austria in 2021 for sustainable municipality development and the CESBA Neighborhood Award 2019. In Schnifis, there is a strong cooperation and climate of trust between private and public investors, which increases the scope for sustainable development. As a public organization, the Municipality strives to enable and ensure joint action by all social strata through awareness-raising and ordinances. The main topics of the Municipality of Schnifis in its sustainability development are farming, foresting, drinking water, cool spaces and general public awareness. Therefore, the planning considers the overall context of the different topics. By raising awareness and creating ordinances, the Municipality will, together with property owners and companies, push forward a sustainable municipality development that adapts to climate change. To implement the developments, partnerships with the “Klar! Im Walgau” municipalities are intensified, and positive changes are promoted in the Walgau region and beyond.
Participation in the SuPeRBE project has the following advantages for the Municipality of Schnifis:
- International and regional recognition as a pilot municipality,
- Preparation of a climate change adaptation plan,
- Review of existing climate change adaptation measures,
- Raising awareness of climate change and necessary adaptation measures among the population,
- Collaboration between the various stakeholders in the Municipality and analyzing their interests.