Improving the attractiveness of mountain areas for young generations

The VIII European Mountain Convention was organised on 2, 3 & 4 October 2012 in Chambéry, France, on the topic of youth.

Mountain areas have very important assets in terms of quality of life: particularly intense community exchanges, a rich traditional culture, access to a protected environment and leisure activities, as well as many different employment opportunities. But these areas often suffer from an image that is distorted, lacking dynamism and diversity. The Chambéry Convention challenged this image with arguments that highlighted the richness and strengths of these areas, and addressed the current problems that young people (and mountain people in general) face on a daily basis, offering transferable solutions to these problems.

The VIII European Mountain Convention ended with the adoption of the Chambéry Declaration “Improving the attractiveness of mountain areas for young generations”. This Declaration sets out Euromontana’s position and vision of how to build attractive mountain areas for young people.

The Declaration includes:

• A brief overview of the results from the Euromontana mountain youth survey.
• Recommendations for European, national, regional and local authorities to improve the attractiveness of mountain areas for young people. These include recommendations on economic diversification, employment, education and training, basic services, young farmers and access to culture among others.
• Euromontana’s future actions to give a voice to young people in the mountains and share their messages.