EU Funds

Piedmont, the mountains are repopulated (also) with European funding

Twenty-one projects between Italy and France for 14 million euro from the Alcotra programme, between climate change and digitisation

9 July 2025

3' min read

From climate risk mitigation to avalanche prevention, from non-alcoholic wine to the digitalisation of villages, the future of the Alps between France and Italy is also played out with European funds. Those of the European Interreg Italy-France ALCOTRA 2021-2027 Programme which, after the agreement in principle signed in June, have now become concrete projects. Twenty-one of them concern the Piedmontese Alps and are worth EUR 14 million in direct investments for the territory of the Metropolitan City of Turin and the province of Cuneo.

Projects that "are not just funding, but a concrete vision to rethink our territories, responding to the environmental, social and economic challenges of our communities," says Regional Councillor for Spatial Planning Marco Gallo. "The strong involvement of Piedmont institutions such as the University, Turin Polytechnic, the Metropolitan City and Foundations confirms the central role of our Region in this European collaboration. A policy, moreover, that seems to have paid off in recent years. The report on the Mountains published by Uncem, the National Union of Mountain Municipalities, sees in Piedmont a record rediscovery of Alpine villages, which after years of abandonment since 2019 are once again seeing a growth in population with a positive migration balance in the order of 26 per thousand, against an Italian average of 12 per thousand. Much more than even neighbouring Valle d'Aosta (11 per thousand) and Lombardy (21 per thousand).

Green policies

European investments for green policies are the main cornerstone of this scenario: climate change resilience will receive EUR 3.3 million, plus EUR 2.6 million for biodiversity protection and EUR 500,000 for renewable energies. The other spending chapters go to support business innovation, with 3.2 million; digitalisation, 1.6 million; sustainable mobility, 1.2 million; healthcare, 1.2 million; and improving cross-border governance, 600 thousand.

With the Climact project, Piedmont becomes a European laboratory for green policies: Chivasso will be one of the two pilot territories, together with Breil-sur-Roya, to test new solutions to make buildings more resistant to extreme climatic events. The project, whose Piedmontese partners are iiSBE Italia and Fondazione per l'Architettura, will update certification systems to integrate climate risk assessment, a model that aims to be replicable throughout Europe, in line with the principles of the Green Deal and EU sustainable finance.

But also aimed at the resistance of mountain territories to climate change is the Proalp project, in which the Piedmont Region and the Piedmont training agency Formont participate, to accompany the adaptation of Alpine SMEs to climate change and support companies in integrating sustainability criteria into their business models.

Climate change is becoming more concrete than ever in avalanche risk. The Polytechnic University of Turin and the Province of Cuneo will work on this, reinforcing risk surveillance and prevention thanks to an advanced Italian-French network, which focuses on forecasting models, as well as timely communication for the safety of communities.

The Alcotraité 2 Transport project will close the second phase of a strategic initiative created in the framework of the Quirinal Treaty between Italy and France with the aim of improving transport coordination in the Southern Alps through more integrated mobility and reducing the isolation of mountain areas.

Also cross-border and digital is FOR - Future of rehabilitation, the project in the social-health field among those approved, whose lead institution is the Azienda Sanitaria Locale Cuneo 1 and partners ASL CN2 and IRES Piemonte. The objective is to develop a cross-border ecosystem for motor, cognitive and logopaedic tele-rehabilitation for more than 390 patients in the most disadvantaged areas of the province of Cuneo and the French departments of Alpes de Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes. It will guarantee continuity of care at a distance, compensating for the shortage of personnel, on both sides of the mountain range, of an ageing population.

Finally, VA.COM.SI. - Validation of Competences, led by the Piedmont-based Consortium for Business and Professional Updating, with the Luigi des Ambrois Higher Education Institute as a partner, will be dedicated to the certification of competences for the professions that symbolise the mountains, from ski instructors to mountain guides and refuge managers. The aim, again, is to support economic adaptation to climate and socio-economic changes, guaranteeing continuity and Alpine identity.