Committee of the Regions COTER Seminar Regional Policy in regions with specific geographical characteristics 14 December 2009 Kiruna, Sweden Session 2: The situation of regions with geographical characteristics: Mountain regions T homas Dax Bundesanstalt für Bergbauernfragen, Vienna, Austria (Federal Institute for Less-Favoured and Mountainous Areas)

Outline  Mountain areas in Europe (definition; scope, diversity)  Situation and trends in mountain regions  Challenges of sustainable development and cohesion aspects  Analysis of impact of policies on mountain areas  Regional initiatives and success factors for mountain development

A common framework for mountain analysis  Definition (national definitions and delimitations, LFA scheme for CAP; regions for Interreg programmes); common indicators of Nordregio study (LAU2) data availability problems  add regional perspective for EU comparison (NUTS3): EC working paper (02/2009)  Mountain policies (national, EU-level; diverse application patterns) specificity addressed in strategic documents  Challenges faced demographic changes /ageing population shifts in economic activity accessibility, infrastructure and service supply emerging potential (quality production) tension between ecological sensitivity and use (e.g. tourism)

Mountains of Europe

Delimitation (Nordregio study)

Mountain areas (selected countries) countryTotal area (1,000 km²) Area of mountain municip. (1000 km²) Mountain area in % of total area Mountain area population in % of total population All countries studied ,619,1 EU ,917,8 Austria846273,449,8 Finland ,812,0 France ,314,3 Germany ,710,1 Greece ,949,6 Italy ,132,6 Portugal923639,126,5 Spain ,738,5 Sweden ,66,9 UK ,54,3 Source: Nordregio 2004, p.29f.

Mountain areas, NMS (table continued) country Total area (1,000 km²) Area of mountain municip. (1000 km²) Mountain area in % of total area Mountain area population in % of total population All countries ,619,1 NMS ,417,6 Bulgaria ,345,6 Cyprus9447,614,3 Czech Rep ,323,4 Poland311165,25,8 Romania ,924,9 Slovakia493062,048,6 Slovenia201678,064,9 Norway ,363,4 Switzerland413790,784,2

IndicatorMountain regionsEU-27 total area (EC-study 2004)35.5% population share (2007)8.0%100 (EC-study 2004)(17,7%) population density (for EU-15, 2004) 42 (Index)100 change in pop. ( , p.a.) 0.17%0.37% change in employment ( , p.a.) 0.20% employment in agriculture (2004) 14%7% Share of population not accessing hospitals (within 30 min.; 2001) 21.3%10.4% proximity to natural area161 (Index)100 LFA-delimitation (2007, EU-27) 21% of total area 15% of UAA 12% of econ. pot. 11% of livestock Situation and trends

Population density in massifs

Population density in municipalities

Population development

Municipalities with depopulation ( from mountain areas and lowlands), Note: bars in red, municipalities with more than -10% depopulation LowlandsMountain Areas

Mountain regions, EU-27 (Nuts 3)

Challenges of sustainable development and cohesion aspects Major processes:  Continuing process of EU economic and social integration, globalisation and economic restructuring  Development of information and transport technologies  Changing political geography of Europe (enlargement, regionalism)  Changing socio-demographic structure of EU population, and  Environmental degradation threats (energy supply, climate change implications)

Mountain policy framework Recent stronger territorial orientation (sector policies, CAP, SF, including trans-border cooperation and Territorial Cohesion)  Main sector policies (agriculture, forestry, tourism, infrastructure, public services; environment, risk management, nature conservation; spatial planning)  Trans-national cooperation (including international agreements: Alpine and Carpathian Conventions; Interreg programmes)  Integrated approaches (pilot action, including Leader in mountains, national priorities and action)  Institutional development (research and development: Mountain Forum, Rio/Johannesburg process, IYM 2002, Mountain Partnership, SARD-M „remunerating positive externalities“)

Arkleton Centre 2005 Pillar 1 support per Annual Work Unit (AWU)

Arkleton Centre 2005 Pillar 2 support per Annual Work Unit (AWU)

Integrated perspectives on activities Reflecting cohesion needs and concept of sustainability Improving (spatial) accessibility Need for incentive policies Take account of landscape values Amenities characteristics with a territorial dimension (need of collective action) Mountain areas, low intensity land management, nature conservation (appropriate land management) Coordination activities, multi-level governance (horizontal and vertical)

Local action in mountain development Need for innovative approaches beyond LFA scheme  Bottom-up approaches (since 1970s), pilot action towards mainstreaming (Leader etc., community capacity building, cooperation – governance)  Two aspects of local capacity building: ► „ diversification“ of farm households ► general spatial relevance of rural action (types of rural regions)  Best-practice and success dimensions

Source: van der Ploeg et al agri-tourism new on-farm activities diversification nature and landcape management organic farming high quality production and regional products short supply chains „Deepening“ „Regrounding“ new forms of cost reduction off-farm income „Broadening“ mobilisation of ressources Agro-food supply chain rural area conventional agriculture Structure of rural development at farm enterprise level

Key issues for mountain policy strategies  Recognition of mountain areas as specific development areas  Remuneration of services rendered to surrounding lowland areas  Diversification and exploitation of the local potential for innovation  Addressing cultural changes without loss of identity  Sustainable management of mountain ecosystems (including biodiversity)  Trans-regional cooperation and strategic regional development approaches  Institutional development (multi-level governance) to focus on sustainable resource use

References  Nordregio, Mountain areas in Europe, EC-study (2004)  BABF, F&F32, Berggebiete in Europa (2004)  BABF, F&F35, Benachteiligte Gebiete in den NMS (2006)  ESPON studies (project and others)  Bausch et al., Prospective Study, Alpine Space (2006)  EC, proceedings, mountain policies conference (2003)  Dax, The role of mountain regions in territorial cohesion, Euromontana (2008)  Eu-project IMALP, Guidelines for promoting sustainable agriculture in Alpine mountain regions (2006) Thank you!