Call: Interreg Alpine Space - First Call for Small-Scale Project Proposals

The Alpine Space programme is a European transnational cooperation programme that funds alpine-wide projects. It provides a framework to connect stakeholders from various sectors and different policy levels from seven Alpine countries. Key players from academia and administrative, business and innovation sectors, as well as policy-makers work together to tackle common challenges and develop joint solutions for the Alpine area. Sharing their experiences and expertise, they strive towards improving the quality of life for the Alpine citizens.

The programme will concentrate on green, CO2-neutral, innovative and governance related topics. The mission statement of the programme is also an expression of this focus and intends to make this approach broadly visible. Following priorities are defined for the period 2021-2027:

Priority 1: “Climate resilient and green Alpine region”

Specific objective: “Promoting climate change adaptation, risk prevention and disaster resilience”
The signs of climate change require urgent action. Adaptation to climate change is one element of a possible reaction, mitigation is another. Within this specific objective, measures that foster the adaptation to climate change, “the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects.” as the IPCC puts it, should be covered. Actions supported within these specific objectives should have an integrated character, foster co-benefits for mitigation and avoid lock-in-effects by adaptation.

Specific  objective:  “Enhancing   protection   and   preservation    of   nature,   biodiversity   and   green infrastructure,  including in urban areas, and reducing all forms of pollution”
The Alpine region marks a transnational biodiversity hotspot; even though it is situated within one of the most densely inhabited and connected areas in Europe. This particular context calls for urgent action. Alpine biodiversity and ecological connectivity have been under pressure for many decades, especially since the second half of the last century. Human activities, land use, exploitation of natural resources and pollution lead to habitat fragmentation and loss of biodiversity and cultural landscapes. Additionally, consequences of climate change (e.g. heat, drought) as well as certain climate mitigation and adaptation measures (e.g. the reinforced use of wind- or hydropower in sensitive regions) pose threats to Alpine biodiversity. The on-going and predicted reduction of living space and biotope fragmentation causes high los ses in biodiversity and reduces ecosystem services. The need to reduce biotope fragmentation and loss as well as to foster the connectivity of ecosystems is therefore high.

Priority 2: “Carbon neutral and resource sensitive Alpine region”

Specific objective: “Promoting energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse  gas emissions”
The European Union aims at becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 with no net greenhouse gases in 2050 and economic growth decoupled from resource use. The ambitions with respect to carbon - neutrality have been reflected in different strategies (e.g. the Alpine Climate Target System 2050 (Alpine Convention) as well as in implementing various measures in the Alpine region in the last years. However, in order to reach the global and European targets, the efforts must be increased in the next years.
The two sectors currently showing the highest per capita end-use of energy in Europe are mobility and transport and the building sector. Mobility and transport is one of the sectors that is highly relevant in the Alpine region. Although progress towards energy efficiency has been made throughout the Alpine region and in different sectors, high levels of final energy consumption are still observable in certain areas. Road transport, next to the residential or the tourism and leisure sector, remains one of them. Efficiency concepts alone most probably will not be sufficient to manage the transition to a carbon neutral or even a post carbon society. Innovative steps therefore should go beyond efficiency and foster integrated, sufficiency -oriented concepts of well-being and post-carbon lifestyles. This should be coupled with the use of renewable energy sources broadly available within the Alpine region (e.g. water, wind, solar power, etc.).
The promotion of energy efficiency measures is closely linked to tackle climate change, as well as to implement circular economy-approaches. In this context, this specific objective should be seen as a “supporting objective” to “Promoting climate change adaption” and “Promoting the transition to a circular economy”. The interventions in this specific objective should be complementary but not overlapping with these specific objectives.

Specific objective: “Promoting the transition to a circular and resource  efficient economy”
Fostering circular economy is one of the main thrusts of the European Green Deal. Circular economy refers to sustainable systems that treat resources as particularly valuable and attempt to close the resource loop. The principles of avoiding “waste” and trying to keep resources in use for as long as possible are relevant for the entire production-cycle. In this regard, circular economy is a far broader approach than just recycling or waste management. It strongly supports sustainable development, the mindful use of resources, climate- neutrality and both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Concerning the situation with COVID 19, circular economy is also widely assumed to be a suitable approach to tackle the crisis, strengthen resilience and support a “sustainable restart” of the social and economic system. In this global crisis, the importance of regional and local value chains became clearly visible. Circular economy approaches appear to be very suitable for supporting the needs of sustainable economic development, climate-protection and social adaptation in the Alpine region.

Priority 3 “Innovation and digitalisation supporting a green Alpine region”

Specific objective: “Enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies”
Cooperation on innovation capacities is a transversal activity that can strengthen the programme’s impact in particular thematic fields by increasing the innovation potential of Alpine actors. Enhancing research and innovation capacities in the Alpine region should effectively be fostered by cooperation between actors and stakeholders in different regions. Better alignment and coordination of policy-making in the transnational context is necessary in order to help regions overcome barriers in cooperation on innovation and uptake of advanced technologies. This will lead to establishing and strengthening existing synergies and functional links, reducing polarisation between urban and rural regions, for example by diffusing innovation services, capacities, linking key actors and fostering resilience. At the same time, the programme should further ensure involvement of diverse actors from research, innovation, academia, private sectors, public sector and civil society. Its focus should not only be result - oriented innovation seeking particular solutions, but also innovation concerning processes and with a view to reducing territorial imbalances. It is important to observe that the innovativeness of solutions sought in the programme refers not only to the objective of making business actors more competitive, but to making other actors, such as public bodies and other organisations, more capable of applying innovative solutions and technologies.  Given by the programme`s mission, innovation includes a “green” character of activities, impacts of projects as well as methods and practices of project management.

Specific objective: “Reaping the benefits of digitisation for citizens, companies, research organisations and public authorities”
Digitalisation offers opportunities to address joint challenges, which are particularly prominent in mountainous areas such as the Alpine region. New digital tools can be developed to increase resilience of Alpine regions and mitigate the impacts of accessibility problems and remoteness coupled with negative demographic situations in many regions. Such increased flexibility can be particularly attractive in the context of the territorial specificity of the Alps as well as its ambition to become climate resilient, carbon neutral, green, inclusive and resource sensitive. Due to the emergence of COVID-19, the need to support digital transition in these fields in an inclusive way in all regions became even clearer. Individual lives as well as working modes in both public and private sector have been transformed as more location-flexible. This has created a “window of opportunity” for strengthening and making use of digitalisation to support life and work of citizens to enforce sustainable development even in the face of external challenges. Digitalisation can contribute to finding solutions for more efficient, innovative and effective solutions that support a shift to climate resilience, carbon-neutrality, green and resource sensitivity. In the context of the private sector, it also facilitates the implementation of greening practices by businesses and associations as well as ensuring consideration concerning the exclusion of negative impacts of digitalisation on the environment. Principles that should be pursued in these activities are the inclusion of appropriate groups, such as policy-makers or the civil society, as well as safeguarding that any activities have a positive environmental impact.

Priority 4 - Interreg Specific Objective – “A better Cooperation governance”

The Alpine region is characterised by a long tradition of international and inter-regional cooperation on governmental and non-governmental level. Cooperation in this sense takes place on a wide variety of levels and in a wide variety of formats, ranging from local to macroregional level, from international to regional agreements, or from professional funding programmes to voluntary work. Cooperation activities are implemented through a wide range of formats, e.g. by funding programmes such as EU-transnational or bilateral cooperation programmes, as well as by international agreements such as the Alpine Convention and its protocols or regional cooperation frameworks. In order to take governance and multi-level-cooperation in the Alpine region to a new level, an important step has been taken in recent years: With the establishment of the EUSALP (European Union Strategy for the Alpine Region) a new perspective for governance cooperation at macro -regional level was launched. Multilevel-governance in the Alpine region has to be evolved further and institutional capacities of public authorities and stakeholders have to be enhanced accordingly. To this end, the Interreg specific objective represents a tailor-made possibility to deepen and evolve cooperation and governance structures in the Alpine region. To meet the above-mentioned needs, the Alpine Space Programme aims on further clarifying, deepening, supporting and improving cooperation structures, with placing a particular focus on the professionalisation of governance and stakeholder structures as well as on preparing the ground for innovative projects and stronger involvement of the civil society.

This call for small-scale project proposals 2022 is an invitation to submit project proposals for co-financing across all specific objectives under thematic priorities 1, 2 and 3. There are no restrictions related to the topic subject to cooperation provided it fits in with the challenges and needs of the Alpine regions, as described above.

Small-scale projects are a new form of cooperation, which draws on the expectations voiced by stakeholders in public consultations, but also experience gained in other funding programmes and initiatives. The purpose of this typology of projects is twofold: reach new target groups, allowing newcomers to experience a transnational cooperation project and to make greater use of synergies and complementarities with closed and ongoing classic projects. To better respond to the objectives of the new programme and to offer a new form of cooperation this new strand of shorter and smaller projects is offered.

As the name suggests, small-scale projects are shorter and involve less partners compared to classic projects. This typology allows the beneficiary to address innovative subjects from a thematic and/or territorial perspective and to deliver knowledge be it through analysis, experimentation or fieldwork. Applicants may submit proposals to “set the scene” on themes that are rather new to transnational cooperation. Another option is to test instruments, tools or policies, through exploratory activities. These and other examples could open up new perspectives to cooperation and the development of project proposals, which could be submitted under the Alpine Space programme or other funding schemes.

Small-scale projects may also result in capitalisation actions to bring and “roll-out” available tools and solutions into boosting their implementation and use in the territories. Such measures aim at widely promoting the up-take of project achievements among target groups for greater impact and added-value both at local and regional level. These actions predominantly focus on mature fields of cooperation where a body of knowledge is already available and tested by stakeholders. Such follow and spin-off activities are also opportunities to explore complementarities with other projects and initiatives.

As the programme aims to encourage new experimentation, small-scale projects will be also a laboratory for new ideas, which draws on experience from a variety of disciplines. Regardless of the approach to cooperation, projects need to demonstrate tangible and realistic outputs. With this approach to cooperation, the programme is also equipped with a tool to react flexibly in a responsive way to any unexpected and/or emerging trend challenging the programme area.

Priority 1: “Climate resilient and green Alpine region”

Specific objective: “Promoting climate change adaptation, risk prevention and disaster resilience”
The programme will support the promotion of climate change adaptation-measures specifically focusing on the inter-relations between the natural, economic and societal systems in the Alpine region by funding actions like shown in the following examples:

• Developing solutions and pilots to strengthen the preparedness and adaptive capacity of the alpine society, economy and nature to cope with the impacts of climate change and establish climate services to foster the resilience of the Alpine region (e.g. societal/economic adaptation, health aspects, changes and needs of ecosystem services, soil protection, financial aspects,...);
• Organising solutions and pilot actions to bridge the gap between climate research and practical implementation and to integrate new research results into the adaptation practice at different levels and for different types of territories;
• Supporting information exchange and knowledge transfer at a transnational/regional/local level to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to raise awareness among experts, policy makers and citizens;
• Developing methodologies and tools within pilot activities aiming at measuring and monitoring the specific impacts of climate change to the lithosphere-biosphere-hydrosphere-cryosphere.

The programme will support the promotion of risk prevention and disaster resilience that go hand-in-hand with the adaption measures by funding activities like the following:

• Setting-up of preventive, integrative and strategic planning measures in the fields of spatial planning and risk management through the joint development of solutions, tools, interoperable databases; disaster monitoring-, warning- and response- systems at different territorial levels concerning all kind of natural hazards and fostering Nature Based Solutions;
• Developing solutions and pilot activities for different types of territories in highly affected and exposed regions (e.g. high altitude environment with glacial mass reduction, permafrost degradation, or regions specifically hit by draught) as well as exposed main communications axes (e.g. roads, railways) and human settlements.
• Improving skills and competences for policy makers and stakeholders at different policy levels to make better use of digitalization in the field of risk prevention, risk management and climate change adaptation, e.g. by harmonizing and sharing data (incl. open data) and implementing innovative digital tools;
• Developing integrated and participatory concepts and implementing pilot projects in risk management as well as communication measures aiming at raising awareness and preparedness among policy makers at different policy levels as well as among citizens;
• Developing solutions and pilot activities to set up coordination structures for the sustainable management of multifunctional protective forests and the establishment of Nature Based Solutions, taking into account Green and Blue infrastructure, water-management and ecosystem services.

Specific  objective:  “Enhancing   protection   and   preservation    of   nature,   biodiversity   and   green infrastructure,  including in urban areas, and reducing all forms of pollution”
The programme can fund activities like the following:

• Implementing pilot projects that support multifunctional Green and Blue infrastructure-networks (“TEN-G”), Nature Based Solutions (NBS) and innovative planning methodologies in order to strengthen Alpine biodiversity and ecosystem services, targeting to develop tailor-made solutions for different territorial needs (urban, rural, peri-urban and their interlinkages) and taking into account their impacts on social, cultural and economic systems (e.g. health related issues like the “One-health-approach” integrated and sustainable approaches of system integration and valuation, reduction of pollution,...);
• Developing transnational solutions and implementing pilot projects on sustainable land use management, climate-friendly settlement development, soil protection and the sustainable valorisation of natural and cultural heritage, including cultural landscapes to reduce biotope fragmentation and to support the connectivity of ecosystems
• Supporting transnational cooperation, knowledge-exchange and reinforced research on the concrete impacts of climate change on Alpine biodiversity as well as the impacts of mitigation and adaptation measures for different types of territories, as well as in and for urban regions (e.g. to fight urban heat islands,...);
• Developing integrated solutions and pilot activities to cope with the impacts of energy management, hydro power, and energy grids on ecosystems and biodiversity;
• Supporting measures of communication and awareness raising among different political levels and citizens concerning the valorisation of ecosystem services as well as Green and Blue infrastructure strategies across borders and their integration into regional and local planning.

Priority 2: “Carbon neutral and resource sensitive Alpine region”

Specific objective: “Promoting energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse  gas emissions”
The programme can finance activities like the following examples:

• Supporting innovative solutions as well as concrete pilot actions that foster sufficiency-oriented-post-carbon lifestyles as well as cross- sectoral approaches for different types of territories, e.g. in the planning/building/housing/residential/tourism/obility & transport/energy sector(s) that take into account the sustainable implementation of new energy-resources (e.g. GNV, hydrogen, bio GNV, electric mobility);
• Improving skills and competences for policy makers and stakeholders at different policy levels as well as energy communities to support the transition from efficiency to sufficiency and post-carbon oriented approaches, e.g. in the planning/ building/ housing/ residential/ tourism/ mobility & transport/ energy sector(s) also taking into account renewable energy sources;
• Supporting solutions, the exchange of knowledge, good practices and R&D activities focussing on the transition from energy efficiency to sufficiency-oriented approaches and to support the transition towards a post carbon economy and society in the Alpine region considering Multi-Energy-System-Integration and the sustainable use of renewables;
• Developing cooperative and sustainable solutions to improve energy poverty policies concerning adequate and healthy heating, cooling, lighting and energy-to-power-appliances to enhance social inclusion, social innovation and encourage common policies for the Alpine region;
• Supporting knowledge transfer, pilot activities as well as communication measures in order to raise awareness among different policy levels and the citizens/consumers using approaches like behaviour economics, transformation management and political framing in order to foster the paradigm shift towards sufficiency- and post-carbon approaches.

Specific objective: “Promoting the transition to a circular and resource  efficient economy”
Actions like indicated in the following can be financed:

• Setting-up circular/green/bio-economy-solutions to facilitate the development and implementation of circular and green economy-approaches among different actors with a focus on the Alpine key resources and key sectors above mentioned and implement innovative (pilot)projects and processes;
• Exchanging good practices and implementing pilot activities supporting inter-regional circular economy approaches that promote bio-economy, the use of indigenous biological and regional products and that support waste reduction specifically in the above mentioned key sectors (including e.g. refurbishment activities, enhancing supply chains, regional and local value chains, ...);
• Developing and implementing "transnational value chain”- solutions based on regional assets and resources, competences and needs referring to the EU-key-concept of “strategic value chains”, supporting industrial and innovation stakeholders in the Alpine region;
• Improving skills and competences of stakeholders at all policy levels and in the relevant business sectors to pave the way towards the implementation of circular, green economy as well as bio-economy approaches including the set-up of indicators and monitoring systems;
• Supporting solutions and pilot activities dealing with communication, capacity building, political framing approaches and awareness raising for stakeholders at different policy and implementation levels (e.g. including SMEs etc.) as well as citizens/consumers using approaches like behaviour economics and political framing concerning the concept of “circular economy”, “green economy” as well as “bio-economy” to support a better understanding for the needed transformation processes.
• Developing solutions and pilot activities supporting the development of clusters specialized in circular and green economy as well as circular bio-economy that foster research, innovation, implementation and cooperation particularly in the in the above mentioned key sectors.

Priority 3 “Innovation and digitalisation supporting a green Alpine region”

Specific objective: “Enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies”
The programme can fund activities like the following:

• Developing or testing joint solutions (e.g. policy instruments and management tools) and joint actions to support innovation and uptake of advanced technologies. These activities should involve policy-level actors and have an open and inclusive character, for example in the following areas:
  • Shaping an innovation ecosystem that builds on the natural and the cultural heritage of the area, supporting the development of sustainable and innovative value chains that go beyond mainstream approaches and that involve the relevant actors, including individuals and social stakeholders, promoting and exploring solutions for social innovation, eco-innovation and green economy as a trigger for regional development;
  • Fostering the innovation capacities, addressing innovation gaps on a transnational level in non-urban areas, reinforcing urban-rural as well as rural-rural-linkages in the field of innovation, fostering access of rural businesses to the urban innovation support services and diffusion of innovation support services;
  • Supporting clusters and innovation hubs-cooperation in different territories, as well as transnational value chains relevant for regional smart specialisation strategies (“S3”), focusing particularly on urban-rural links;
  • Supporting experimental models and “green” start-ups to better address innovation topics in the Alpine region, involving greening practices building upon the natural and cultural heritage and knowledge of the actors in the Alpine region;
  • Testing ideas for transnational innovation activities and entrepreneurship with a view to reducing territorial imbalances in all sectors, processes and ecosystems in the Alpine region, as well as solutions for identifying and mitigating adverse social and environmental impacts;
  • Promoting and exploring application of social innovation to SGIs, improve mobility with advanced technologies (such as green hydrogen), health and medical innovations, sustainable tourism with particular consideration of bottom-up and open, inclusive approaches such as co-creation and living labs;
  • Develop and test transnational training programmes to improve skills for green and digital transition and contributing to broaden innovation capacities.
• Testing and implementing transnational networking activities, networking tools, advisory services and exchange platforms to (for example)
  • foster social and process innovation based on the natural and cultural heritage of the Alpine region.
  • connect regional innovation ecosystems (e.g. to develop joint solutions for innovation diffusion)
• Supporting the coordination between innovation activities and policies and other policy domains of highest relevance in the Alpine region.

Specific objective: “Reaping the benefits of digitisation for citizens, companies, research organisations and public authorities”
The programme will fund activities like the following:

• Developing or supporting pilot projects or activities as well as joint solutions (e.g. policy instruments and management tools) to support reaping the benefits of digitalisation in different fields to bring aboutsocially and environmentally sustainable change. For example:
  • Developing and testing solutions that better address the response to sustainable development efforts, and to contribute to solutions for climate resilience, resource sensitivity, green and carbon neutrality as well as ensuring inclusiveness and social accessibility to these solutions for a just transition;
  • Developing and testing solutions to support flexible SGI provision in all types of areas and for all types of users with regards to e-health/smart health, e-government as well as telemedicine, to be applicable in general and not only in times of health crises;
  • Developing and testing solutions to support e-learning, new working structures (home-office and other forms of flexible working) in order to provide more attractive living possibilities in remote areas to different social groups;
  • Developing and testing solutions to support business development opportunities, product and service development, strengthening of regional value chains and regional marketing, with a view to reducing territorial imbalances;
  • Contributing to elaboration and implementation of Smart Villages and Smart Cities concepts;
  • Implementing pilot projects or other activities to accompany SMEs and associations in their digital transformation, with the overarching aim to increase environmental sustainability (e.g. using digitalisation to showcase carbon positive integrated solutions that reduce their carbon footprint and increase competitiveness).
• Promoting integration of digitalisation as a transversal policy issue: supporting coordination betweendigitalisation activities and policies and other policy domains of highest relevance in the Alpine regionsand in response to sustainable development efforts, demographic trends and increase in well-being,particularly focusing on the following policy issues
  • Developing and testing solutions and policies to mitigate digitalisation-related security risks such as cyber security, privacy, data-protection;
  • Developing and testing solutions and policies to closing the digital divide between regions (including explore synergies between rural and urban areas through digital solutions), as well as between more and less fluent users.
• Implement activities to facilitate networking activities, networking tools, advisory services and exchangeplatforms in order to increase territorial cohesion and/or social inclusion in the Alpine region, forexample by:
  • Setting up or supporting transnational network structures and platforms for sharing exchange of good practices and knowledge with regards to policy solutions supporting digitalisation;
  • » Setting up or supporting Digital Innovation Hubs.
• Developing common data collection, indicators and monitoring systems harmonized across borders,ensure the update and sustainability of data collection and monitoring systems.

The Interreg Alpine Space programme welcomes the participation of organisations from both the public and private sector that bring added-value to the implementation of projects. These organisations may participate as project partners (PPs) but may also contribute as observers or external experts.

PPs are organisations that are directly participating in the preparation and implementation of an Alpine Space project and are officially listed in the application form of the project. Organisations have to fulfil certain conditions as regards their legal character and geographical location.

Following bodies may act as PPs:

• public bodies and bodies governed by public law;
• private organisations.

Natural persons are not foreseen to act as PP in the ASP 2021-2027.

Public bodies and bodies governed by public law are defined in the Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 2, on public procurement as:

• the State, regional or local authorities, associations formed by such authorities;
• bodies governed by public law and their associations. According to this Directive, a ‘body governed by public law’ is anybody:

1. established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having anindustrial or commercial character;
2. having legal personality; and
3. being:

• financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or other bodies governed by public law;
• or subject to management supervision by those bodies;
• or having an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or byother bodies governed by public law.

Private organisations are those organisations having legal capacity, that are not included in the definition of public bodies and bodies governed by public law as set out above.

Only public bodies and bodies governed by public law can act as lead partner.

• at least three financing partners
• from at least three countries

The programme will allocate around EUR 5 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to the first call for proposals.

Eligible expenses from EU Members States are co-financed and reimbursed up to 75%.

The total financial size of each project shall range between EUR 250,000 and 750,000.

Interreg Alpine Space Programme - Joint Secretariat

Land Salzburg - Department for Economy, Tourism and Municipalities, Regional Development and EU Regional Policy Unit
Südtiroler Platz 11, A-5010 Salzburg
Email: js(at)alpine-space.eu
https://www.alpine-space.eu/contacts/joint-secretariat-js/