Cross border cooperation in the European Region Tirol-South Tyrol-Trentino

THE CHALLENGE
A declared aim of the program of the Tyrolean Euregio Presidency is to promote cooperation between the municipalities within the European Region Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino as well as new partnerships. With the support of the Land Tyrol, the project team developed a bilingual questionnaire which was sent to all municipalities in the European region Tyrol- South Tyrol - Trentino to examine expectations and attitudes towards community partnerships, possible success factors and challenges.

OUTCOMES
The project resulted in some interesting findings. More than 90% of municipal councils consider the cooperation of the European region important. Despite the high importance of cooperation, 20% of respondents still do not participate enough in joint projects of the European Region. The study compared exchanges between communities with and without partnerships, with three areas of particular importance. Cultural exchanges take place most among communities with partnerships. Areas in which municipalities wish to cooperate more intensively were also examined. As a result, the areas of culture, the environment, tourism, the economy and transport were mentioned. In terms of obstacles, the European region was not seen to be visible enough for many people and the current events surrounding COVID-19 were identified as a barrier to the European region.