Almost fifty years ago, Europe's largest hydroelectric dam was impounded at Serre-Ponçon in the Hautes-Alpes department. This major infrastructure, by regulating the torrential whims of the Upper Durance, has since supplied clean, renewable energy to a region structurally deficient in electricity, and secured the supply of drinking, industrial and agricultural water to the PACA region.
Half a century later, Serre-Ponçon is an internationally recognized symbol of sustainable development. Nestling at the foot of the Parc National des Ecrins, Lac de Serre-Ponçon is a permanent invitation to discover the mountains and their white waters under an azure sky. And yet, in many respects, this site appears underdeveloped and undervalued in relation to its tourism potential, already hosting almost a quarter of the department's activity: after 2010 and its many events commemorating the birth of the great lake of the Southern Alps, the time has come for the Hauts-Alpins to create the conditions for a high-quality welcome in an exceptional location, and to complement the resources of hydroelectricity with those of high value-added tourism.
In response to this ambition, and to open up perspectives for the upcoming fiftieth anniversary, the Syndicat Mixte d'Aménagement et de Développement de Serre-Ponçon (S.M.A.D.E.S.E.P.), in collaboration with the Prefecture and Department of the Hautes-Alpes and the Provence-Alpes Côtes d'Azur Region, is organizing a meeting on Monday November 28, 2011, on the theme of environmental and tourism enhancement of Lac de Serre-Ponçon.
The symposium has a number of objectives: to enable the region's socio-professional players to present their ambitions for the future; to better integrate the regulatory contingencies that protect the environmental framework; and to explore ways and means of collectively building new solidarities and indispensable prosperity in this magnificent living basin.