Public Services in sparsely populated mountain regions (PUSEMOR) New needs and innovative strategies Thomas Egger Director of the Swiss Center for mountain regions (SAB) and Head of PUSEMOR-Steering committee

Provision with public services: What’s the problem? Demographical change  new needs Technological change  new opportunities Globalization / liberalization / Privatization  more competition / other general regulations Provision with public services must ( and can) be organized in an other (better) way!

Important By „basic provision“ we unterstand a certain, politically determined minimum level of public services, including the infrastructures necessary to provide them. By "public services" we mean products and services of a public (cooperative) nature, i.e. goods that would not be provided – or not provided to a sufficient, universal degree – if left to the market alone. Our interest is thus focused on public services, their quality and their price; it is not, or in any event only indirectly, on the jobs within the (formerly government) agencies which provide these services.

Services in PUSEMOR Transport (railways and roads, public and private) Health care / care for elderly Education / schools / professional training Every day needs (food and non food, incl. postal service) public administration (municipalities and regional admin.) telecommunication (Each regional team has its own focus)

Goals PUSEMOR aims at developping sustainable strategies and innovative solutions for improving the provision of sparsely populated regions with public services. This with the ambition to up-grade these regions both as economic place and as place of residence. To reach the goals, PUSEMOR focuses on the trans- national exchange of expertise and practical experience.

Partners / Regional Teams CountryBundesland / Region ItalyLombardia (3 test areas) as financial lead partner GAL Appennino Genovese (3 t.a.) AustriaBundesland Kärnten (2 t.a.) Bundesland Tirol (Lienz / Osttirol as t.a.) FranceRégion Franche Comté (2 t.a.) GermanyRegion Südl. Oberrhein (Schwarzwald, 4 t.a.) SloveniaRegion Gorenjska (2 t.a.) SwitzerlandWestern Switzerland (3 t.a.) Ticino (3 t.a.) FOSD-CH (SAB) as technical lead partner

Map of partners / Regional Teams

Schedule 4 phases with focus on the regional or the transnational work WP V Regional Studies WP VI Transnational Comparison WP VII Development of strategies Jan 05Jan 06Juli 06Jan 07Juli 07Juli 05 WP VIII Synthesis WP II - IV Project Management and Information / Dissemination

Actual situation of ‘Public services’

Summary – Results ‘Public services’ Compared with the results of data material the assessment of public services shows clear similarities between the test areas Great accordance in the most domains In positive sense / rather not (yet) problematic + ‘Public administration’ + ‘Education’ + ‘Every day needs’ In negative sense / rather (very) problematic – ‘Transport’ – ‘Health care’ / esp. ‘Care for elderly’ – ‘Telecommunication’

Theses – ‘Common challenges’ -All test areas from different regions and countries are concerned by different mixture of problems ! -Nevertheless exist similar common problems ! -Basic provision with public services will be worse ! -Fears about the future are stronger than wishes for extension ! -But actions on problematic domains seem to generate positive future trend !

Theses – ‘Common challenges’ -Provision with public services can often arranged better in larger spatial units ! Cooperation between municipalities to prevent intensification of spatial distinctions within the test areas and regions ! -In ‘Education’, ‘Health care’ and especially ‘Care for the elderly’ the demographical change causes changing demand and need for adjustment of infrastructure ! -Infrastructures and offers for transportation of persons, goods and data via the internet are the greatest challenge for the test areas !

Current actions developed to improve public services Broadband access (wireless), multifunctional bus (food + postal services) Broadband access (wireless) Multi-service card mobile kindergarten Broadband access Broadband access (network- and user-orientated) Public transports (?) Schools as IT-Center Public E-Point