Addressing brain drain in mountain areas – Tools to reverse the trend and boost territorial attractiveness

In the framework of the European Year of Youth, the European Commission will publish a Communication on the brain drain and how to mitigate the challenges of demographic decline using the instruments and funds of Cohesion Policy.

Euromontana provided some insights into the demographic challenges that our regions are facing and shared some recommendations as part of the European Commission’s public consultation to bring the voice of mountain areas to the table.

This position paper includes:

• A state of play on the lack of employment opportunities in mountain areas
• Recommendations on the use of Cohesion Policy instruments to combat brain drain
• Other concrete examples and recommendations on strategies to tackle the brain drain in mountain areas, in particular economic diversification, initiatives for students and young graduates, entrepreneurship and teleworking, among others.