The International Centre for Alpine environments (Icalpe) is a non-governmental, not for profit organisation.

It is born in December 1987 in the Alps, at Chambéry (France) from the will of a group of scientists to promote the scientific cooperation among the mountainous areas of Europe and put the available scientific knowledge at the service of their sustainable development.

From its origins, Icalpe is still scientific, neutral and independent in character.

Its financing  is only depending on financial compensations received in exchange of the different types of services it provides.

Over the years, Icalpe has evolved and enlarged its scope of activities in several directions.

First, activities are now more and more oriented towards the interregional cooperation, expertise and support to local development.

Also, the regions concerned involve now all areas affected by specific structural handicaps, such as the mountainous, insular, Scandinavian or Mediterranean areas, readily called marginal areas. Left aside on the margins of globalisation, isolated they must find through cooperation the way to break their isolation, and find altogether the answers adapted to each one in front of very similar problems, and define their own way towards sustainable development.