The direction of our activity
In order to facilitate the sustainable development of mountain areas, we direct our reflection towards:
Economic development : to increase the value given to existing economic activities and to diversify economies.- Human capital : to favour the passing on of businesses to younger generations; to promote entrepreneurship, and to develop training and the diversification of skills.
- Natural and heritage resources : to better manage the environment, water, waste, energy, and landscapes, in the framework of an integrated approach (at the level of massifs, relationships between mountains and cities/lowlands, etc); to remunerate positive externalities; to adapt to climate change.
- Services and networks : to rapidly solve problems of physical accessibility and of electronic communications; to support businesses in the use of ICT; to set up efficient public services.
Culture and traditions : to increase the value given to initiatives (promotion, events, links between education and mountains, etc.) while ensuring that all generations share the positive links between the economy and nature; for products in particular, to set up an efficient framework facilitating protection, recognition and adding value to mountain products.- Policies and governance in mountain areas : to reinforce subsidiarity at the European level, relying on national and regional policies, keeping in mind the need for an integrated approach taking into account mountain specificities, massif dimension, better connections between mountains and lowlands and their cities, and effective territorial cohesion.
Our concrete actions
Euromontana fulfills its duty by implementing the 4 following types of actions:
Representing mountain communities by keeping in regular contact with European institutions, national governments and intergovernmental organizations involved in governance at the massif level; by making constructive proposals during the revision of European policies that impact mountain areas, and by elaborating these proposals with all members so that they are representative and strong.- Promoting the strengths of mountain areas and the added value for Europe of sustainable investment in these areas: by organising events (conferences, seminars, meetings, conventions, etc) and by publishing articles and reports.
- Organising cooperation between mountain people by developing and managing European projects (research, territorial cooperation, training/exchanges, etc); by coordinating discussions and exchanges between members on priority action themes.
- To carry out, participate in or compile studies that can enrich our collective knowledge on the situation of mountain areas and the orientations to take for their sustainable development.The concrete actions are carried out on different working themes that have been given a priority by the Board of Directors for the period 2008-2012.
