3 key policy fields
In order to be able to satisfy inhabitants’ needs and to attract new population, mountain regions need to be able to provide them with good living conditions. The population needs to find diverse employment opportunities, to be offered public services, education and training facilities of good quality. Regions must also be able to communicate about themselves in order to be known by people who could be interested in moving there.
Therefore, our project focused on three aspects:
Education and training
Education and training must be coherent with current and future needs of the local economy. Through our exchange of knowledge and experience, we show good practices that support the development of entrepreneurship and innovative skills and qualified employment (targeted courses, on-site universities), etc. For more information, check:
- Newsletter n°1 on education and training – presenting the conclusions of our work
- Our collection of 42 good practices on education and training
- The final, integral good practice and policy recommendations report on education and training
Territorial marketing
Mountain areas can provide a quality of life that is better than in cities; but these areas very often suffer from a negative image of remoteness, loss of diversity and cultural isolation. Improving their image and promoting quality of life can improve the attractiveness of these territories for their own inhabitants and for lowlands inhabitants. For more information, check:
- Newsletter n°2 on territorial marketing – presenting the conclusions of our work
- Our collection of good practices on territorial marketing and welcome policies
- The final, integral good practice and policy recommendations report on territorial marketing
Economic diversification
Some mountain economies tend to be highly dependent on traditional sectors (agriculture, winter sports, etc.) This is the substantial basis of their economy but it does not provide a wide variety of jobs. Diversification of available jobs, as well as ensuring an environment that favours the transfer of existing businesses to younger generations is an essential tool for involving young people in the local economy. For more information, check:
- Newsletter n°3 on economic diversification – presenting the conclusions of our work
- Our collection of good practices on economic diversification
- The final, integral good practices and recommendations on economic diversification
An integrated approach
On the basis of findings on the 3 specific topics, we have worked at improving regional policies against depopulation in mountain areas. This includes looking closely at interactions between the three action lines, building or refining strategies of integration of good practices for every partner in their policy and drawing recommendations for integrated policies for other European regions. PADIMA – Read our guide!
The trends that we observed in the data collection and the way regional and local authorities act to counter depopulation trends lead us to define different target groups for formulating strategies to increase attractiveness of mountain areas. These are: young, working and retired people.
We have designed 3 brochures with targeted information for each group age. They are available down and are addressed to policy makers and administrative stakeholders working in and for mountain areas!
A brighter future for young people in mountain areas!
Attracting more working people in mountain areas
Increasing the attractiveness of mountain areas for retired people
ACTIVITIES
For each one of the policy fields we have :
- Organised a survey of key statistics characterising the situation and the good practices already developed at regional level
- Exchanged good practice identified between partners in the context of a thematic seminar looking at the potential transferability of these good practices
- Deepened the exchange in the framework of inter-regional training sessions targeted at people in charge of developing actions to fight depopulation in the partner regions
- Capitalized the results into a good practice and policy recommendations guide.
PUBLICATIONS
3 newsletters presenting the results:
- April 2011: Education and training, available in English, in French and in Spanish
3 good practices and policy recommendations guides on each topic covered. (They are available at the top of the page, in the section activities).
