Target groups:
Experts of regional development and regional planning, regional managers, service providers, NGOs

An adequate offer of public services is a precondition for quality of life and economic performance in rural areas. But often services are under pressure, especially in sparsely populated mountain areas. The workshop in Warmbad Villach deals with the following questions:

• What can be done to safeguard public services in the alpine regions?
• What is the contribution of local projects to a basic supply?
• How can the social capacities of local communities be strengthened?

The 25 PUSEMOR pilot projects from all participating alpine regions, as well as good practice examples of the CIPRA project “Future in the Alps” are standing in the centre of the event. There will be as well project presentations as a half-day field trip. Moreover, expert speeches and small group sessions are scheduled. The participants will get to know the points of view of different experts and may profit from experiences in other alpine areas.
The organisers care about a good understanding between all participants: the transnational exchange should not be affected by language barriers. Simultaneous translations between German, Italian, French and Slovenian will be provided by qualified translators.

Abstract of the workshop programme:

• Enhancing social capacities of local communities in the Alps – results from “Future in the Alps”
  Mr. Cassiano Luminati, Associazione Polo Poschiavo, Switzerland
• Guidance of population development in structurally weak regions – examples from southern Germany
  Ms. Gabi Tröger-Weiss, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
• Public services in rural Austria
  Mr. Helmut Hiess, planning office Rosinak & Partner, Vienna, Austria
• Presentation of selected good practices
• Fair of PUSEMOR pilot projects
• Half-day excursion to good practice examples in Carinthia
• Thematic workshops in four groups: What can be done for safeguard-ing public services in the alpine regions?

The workshop is a common event of the Interreg IIIB project PUSEMOR and “Future in the Alps”, a knowledge management project of CIPRA International.
PUSEMOR “Public Services in sparsely populated mountain regions”: For more information see www.pusemor.net

Partners: Kärntner Landesregierung, Interreg-Projekt PUSEMOR, CIPRA Österreich.

Languages: german, french, italian and slovenian