• Lead partner: Swiss Centre for Mountain regions (CH) Contact person: Peter Niederer, Tel.: +41 31 382 10 10, peter.niederer[at]sab.ch
• Financial Lead partner: Regione Lombardia - D.G. Industria, Artigianato, Edilizia e Cooperazione (IT) Contact person: Cristina Pellegrino, Tel.: +39 0 267654030, Cristina_Pellegrino[at]regione.lombardia.it
• Gal - Appennino Genovese (IT) Contact person: Angela Rollando, Tel.: +39 0 108683242, a.rollando[at]appenninogenovese.it
• Office of the Government of Carinthia, Competence Center 3 (Regional Development and Municipalities) (IT) Contact person: Kurt Rakobitsch, Tel.: +43 (0) 50 536 13155, kurt.rakobitsch[at]ktn.gv.at
• Office of Regional Government of Tyrol - Department Spatial Planning and Statistics (AT) Contact person: Manfred Riedl, Tel.: + 43 (0) 512/508-3650, manfred.riedl[at]tirol.gv.at
• Regional Council of Franche-Comté - Spatial planning department (F) Contact person: Laure Falempin, Tel.: +33 (0) 3 81 61 64 73, laure.falempin[at]cr-franche-comte.fr
• Rhône-Alpes Region - Tourism, natural parks and Mountain policy department (FR) Contact person: François Trusson, Tel.: +33 (0) 4 72 59 43 12, ftrusson[at]rhonealpes.fr,
• Regionalverband Südlicher Oberrhein (D) Contact person: Fabian Torns, Tel.: +49 (0) 761 70327-42, torns[at]region-suedlicher-oberrhein.de
• Association pour le développement du Nord Vaudois (ADNV) (CH) Contact person: Christine Leu, Tel.: +41 (0) 24 425 55 21, contact[at]adnv.ch

ACCESS was an INTERREG IV B project developed in the framework of the Alpine Space Programme (ASP). It involved eleven PPs from Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. The partners had come together to improve the accessibility to services of general interest in sparsely populated mountain regions.

The maintenance of a spatially and socially equal accessibility to services of general interest (SGI) is a core issue to the functionality of mountain areas. However, the ongoing territorial concentration of SGI leads to a vicious circle of further deterioration in the quality of provision which in turn causes a decreasing demand of the existing services. The withdrawal of SGI has many negative consequences for the affected regions of which a reduced functionality, competitiveness and a higher amount of motorised mobility are the most pertinent.

The ACCESS project therefore aims at improving the accessibility to SGI in sparsely populated, mountain areas. This will be done mainly by finding new forms of organisation of SGI, using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and fostering demand oriented, integrated mobility systems. To achieve these ambitious goals, ACCESS builds on a transnational approach and on participatory methodologies to assess the specific demands of stakeholders on different levels.

• Coordination of sector policies to prevent exploitation of natural resources and single-sector economies
• Sensitive Alpine territory requires appropriate and diversified measures (consensus-oriented multi-stakeholder approach)
• Rural-urban partnership requires vital networks and processes
• Cross-sectoral and integrated approaches are needed to slow down impacts in rural areas
• Rural areas need to cooperate and complement each other
• Ageing population requires adaptation and offers opportunities for Alpine areas

• accessibility
• public services
• urban-rural partnership
• governance

• unspecific
• Balanced accessibility
• peri-alpine relationship
• Developing access to information and knowledge

Results of a project can be differentiated in outputs, outcomes and impacts of an intervention. Source:OECD Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Based Management.

• Internal and external costs of living and commuting
• Sustainable settlement development
• Regional analyses
• Toolbox for analysing mobility, settlement patterns and service provision
• Decline of services in remote areas
• Pilot action database