Mountain walk in the Lombardy Region (Italy): discover how Cohesion Policy supports Lidia

In the Lombardy Region (Italy), graduate students can find benefit from numerous opportunities thanks to the European Cohesion Policy. Lidia is an imaginary character created by Montana174 project, whose intention is to showcase real projects financed by the 2014-2020 Cohesion Policy for students in mountain areas.

Discover with him from what initiatives local citizens can benefit in his mountain area:

1. Redevelopment of the Mezzola lakeshore for tourist attractiveness

The Mezzola lake is situated at the north of the well-known lake of Como. Thanks to the mountain community of Valchiavenna, specific interventions for the requalification of the Mezzola lakeshore have been implemented, with the final scope to develop to boost the tourism sector. Among them, the creation of a tourist info point and the renovation of refreshment areas.

2. Ancient church’s conversion in mountain hut

An ancient church in Gordona is to be restored and transformed into a mountain hut. The local municipality will manage the renovation and conversion of the church premises with a tender process. The church will host 25 beds to host mountain trekkers among the Lepontine itinerary.

3. Refurbishment of mountain historical routes

Historical roads have been restored and connected to develop a route from Lake Como to the San Bernardino mountains, in the so-called “Vie del Viandante”. This route has been widely used to trade between north and south of Europe over centuries. The scope is to develop a homogenous and continued pedestrian itinerary to attract tourists and sports lovers, differentiating between soft tracks (easier, targeting families, kids, elderly people, couples) and sport tracks.

4. Fundraising office

A new fundraising office was set up in the mountain community of Valchiavenna. The office will develop a plan to support projects of common interest for the local mountain community, based on the existing good practices from other projects in Europe. In particular, this office has the ambition to become a real “project proposals helpdesk”, meaning that it will also attempt to work on new ideas for projects and to find European funds to implement them in the territority.

Have a look at how Lidia experienced Cohesion Policy in her mountain walk (available in English and Italian).