Programme
Day 1 · 15 October 2024 · Study visits
For all participants
9.00 – 18.00
Study visits are organised around the Catalan Pyrenees. Two leave from Puigcerdà and one from Barcelona. More information and the programme of the study visits is available below.
For Euromontana and NEMOR members
9.00 – 15.00
A shorter study visit to Cerdanya is organised for Euromontana and NEMOR members. Non-members who would like to attend a shorter visit are also welcome to join.
15.00 – 16.00
General Assembly of NEMOR (for NEMOR members only). Venue: Casino Teatre Ceretà
16.00 – 18.00
General Assembly of Euromontana (for Euromontana members only). Venue: Casino Teatre Ceretà
Departure point: Barcelona, Passeig de Lluís Companys, 3 (Arc de Triomf metro stop) | From 09.00 to 17.30
Vall de Núria is a Pyrenean valley in the Ripollès region. It is located 1,964 metres above sea level and surrounded by peaks reaching almost 3,000 metres. It is only accessible by means of a rack railway or on foot.
The rack railway covers a distance of 12.5 km and climbs more than 1,000 meters. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Núria is situated in the valley and there is also an artificial lake. The existing church was consecrated in 1911 and the hotel was opened shortly after.
The Vall de Núria mountain resort is managed by the Tourism and Mountain department of the Catalan Government Railways. In winter, Vall de Núria becomes a popular family ski station. In spring, autumn and summer, the resort offers other leisure activities for everyone to enjoy the surroundings.
Programme
We recommend you bring a warm coat, hiking boots, sunglasses and sun protection cream.
09.00 | Departure from Barcelona, Passeig de Lluís Companys (Arc de Triomf metro stop)
11.10 | Trip by rack railway – direction Núria. Stop at Fontalba
12.00 | Arrival at Vall de Núria. Guided tour of Vall de Núria:
- Cultural, historic and religious heritage: installations and buildings
- Environmental management: Ecovall
- Leisure space:
- Ascent in the Coma del Clot chairlift
- Visit to the Alberg Núria hostel
- Visit to special look-out point: views of the nature reserve and rack railway line
13.30 | Lunch at the Restaurant Racó de la Vall – menu with dishes from the Ripollès region
15.35 | Descent by rack railway to the Ribes Enllaç station
16.15 | Arrival at the Ribes Enllaç station
17.30 | Arrival at Puigcerdà. Arrival point: Hotel del Prado (Carretera de Llívia, 1, Puigcerdà)
Departure point: Hotel del Prado (Carretera de Llívia, 1, Puigcerdà) | From 09.00 to 18.00
Pallars Sobirà is a region in the heart of the Catalan Pyrenees. It is a greatly appreciated destination among nature lovers, and its villages, with their traditional architecture of buildings in stone with slate roofs, capture the essence of this environment. The leisure activities on offer, such as skiing, hiking, climbing and rafting, attract numerous visitors both in summer and winter.
We will travel from Puigcerdà by coach. The journey takes approximately an hour and a half. On this outing, we will focus on visiting local enterprises, such as a timber building company, a winery that produces high-altitude wines and the Shepherds’ Museum, where you will learn about the Shepherds’ School and the Aigüestortes National Park. After lunch in a restaurant where you will be able to check out the local cuisine, we will visit the village of Llessui.
Programme
09.00 | Departure from Puigcerdà. Hotel del Prado (Carretera de Llívia, 1, Puigcerdà)
11.00 – 11.45 | Visit to Fustes Sebastià in Rialp
12.00 – 12.45 | Visit to the Batlliu de Sort Winery, at Batlliu de Sort, a high-altitude wine project
13.00 – 15.00 | Lunch at the Lo Pigall restaurant in Llessui, where you can try the lamb from the Vall d’Àssua and the “Filiberto” dessert created at the restaurant
15.15 – 16.00 | Visit to the Shepherd’s Museum in Llessui in the Vall d’Àssua. The museum is managed by the National Park Service. Its purpose is to explain the activities that take place in the park. The visit will be linked to a brief explanation of the School of Shepherds and Shepherdesses of Catalonia.
16.00 | Departure
18.00 | Arrival at Puigcerdà. Arrival point: Hotel del Prado (Carretera de Llívia, 1, Puigcerdà)
Departure point: Hotel del Prado (Carretera de Llívia, 1, Puigcerdà) | From 08.00 to 14.30
This half-day outing is specially designed for members of NEMOR and Euromontana, so that they can attend their respective General Assemblies in the afternoon. Other participants are welcome to join.
Cerdanya is a region in the Catalan Pyrenees situated around the headwaters of the River Segre at an altitude of about 1,100 meters. It is a mountainous region with a high plain, unparalleled in the Pyrenees because there are no others of such large dimensions. The regional capital is Puigcerdà.
This trip will be the shortest, only taking up the morning, and we will leave from Puigcerdà. The outing will begin with a visit to the pharmacy in Llívia, which dates from medieval times. Opened at the beginning of the 15th century, it is probably the oldest in Europe and it has now been turned into a municipal museum. Then we will visit Molí de Ger, where cheeses are made with local milk from Cerdanya, and finally we will stop at the Hotel Cerdanya EcoResort in Prullans.
Programme
08.00 | Departure by bus from Puigcerdà to Llivia. Departure point: Hotel del Prado (Carretera de Llívia, 1 Puigcerdà).
08.30 | Hospital de Cerdanya. It was the first cross-border health centre to be set up in Europe. The idea of a shared cross-border hospital, serving the population of both La Cerdanya and El Capcir regions, arose in the late 1990s and took shape with the creation of a new type of European public law entity: the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC)
09.30 | Visit to the Pharmacy in Llivia. Pharmacy dating from mediaeval times, probably the oldest in Europe. Opened at the beginning of the fifteenth century, it has now been converted into a municipal museum that houses a collection of Renaissance display cases with portraits of saints and personalities, and pharmacy pots from the sixteenth to eighteenth century. There is also a baroque cabinet carved by Josep Sunyer and an exhibition of laboratory instruments, old-time drugs, medicine formulas, prescription books, etc.
11.00 | Visit to Molí de Ger (with cheese-tasting session). The Molí de Ger (flour mill) is a farmhouse where flour used to be milled. This line of work was generally combined with crop farming and animal husbandry. It is the latter that has survived down to the present day generation after generation.
12.00 | Visit to Hotel Cerdanya EcoResort in Prullans
13.00 | Lunch at Hotel EcoResort
14.30 | Arrival at Puigcerdà. Arrival point: Casino de Puigcerdà (Plaça De Barcelona, 3 Puigcerdà)
Moderator: Sarah Watson
Interpretation services at the Casino Teatre Ceretà are provided in English, French, Catalan, Aranese and Spanish
Day 2 · 16 October 2024 · Conference
Venue: Casino Teatre Ceretà
08.30 | Registrations
09.00 | Official opening
Jordi Gassió Borràs, Mayor of Puigcerdà
Víctor Puga López, Secretary for Regional and Urban Development and Urban Planning, Government of Catalonia
Francés Xavier Boya Alòs, General Secretary for the Demographic Challenge, Spanish Government
Jean-Louis Cazaubon, Vice-President for Food Sovereignty, Viticulture and the Mountains, Occitanie Region
Juan Andrès Gutiérrez, President, Euromontana
10.00 | Keynote speech on smart economy
Genís Roca, President, Fundació.cat
11.00 | Coffee break
11.30 | High level panel - Challenges for European mountain economies in a context of transitions
Francés Xavier Boya Alòs, General Secretary for the Demographic Challenge, Spanish Government
Herbert Dorfmann, Member of the European Parliament
Amaia Barredo, Minister of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries, Basque Government
Jean-Louis Cazaubon, Vice-President for Food Sovereignty, Viticulture and the Mountains, Occitanie Region
Eva Fiter Cirera, Director of the Institute for the Development and Promotion of the High Pyrenees and Aran
13.00 | Lunch break
14.30 | Keynote speech “The future of European mountain value chains”
Thomas Egger, Director, Swiss Association for Mountain Regions
15.15 | Keynote speech “Reconciling territorial development and demographic decline”
Enrique Garcilazo, Deputy Head of the Regional Development Division and Head of the Rural Unit, OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities
16.00 | Coffee break
16.30 | Workshops part 1 - inspiring initiatives
Workshop 1 - How to bring more value to mountain agricultural products? (1/2)
Venue: Sala de l’Arxiu Comarcal
Xavier Farré, representative, Pyrenees Plant Protection Association
Jérémie Bosch, Mountain Officer, La Coopération Agricole
Cristina Stuffer and Elisa Hölzl, Economic researchers, Institute for economic research from the Chamber of Commerce Bolzano
Mar Delgado-Serrano, Full Professor, University of Cordoba
Workshop 2 - From raw materials to processing: how to bring the secondary sector back into mountain territories? (1/2)
Venue: Casino Teatre Ceretà
Anna Puigcercós, General Director, Cadí
Marie-Thérèse Chaupin, Coordinator and Delegate for European relations, ATELIER-Laines d'Europe association
Joël Maitia, Europe and Cross-Border Cooperation Project Manager, Pyrenees Agency
Leonardo La Rocca Project and innovation manager, CISA Consulting and Giuditta Mascetti, Junior project manager, CISA Consulting
(with interpretation)
Workshop 3 - How to tap into the potential of digitalisation for mountain economies? (1/2)
Venue: Biblioteca
Natia Chopliani, Deputy Executive Director, Caucasus Network for Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions
Gorka Altuna Fernández, Forestry Engineer, HAZI
Danijel Bertović, Chief Executive Officer, Sensum Consulting
Eisharc Jaquet, Chief Executive Officer, Arantec
Workshop 4 - How to foster entrepreneurship? (1/2)
Venue: Museu Cerdà
Lluís Rabaneda, Chief Executive Officer, RocRoi
Adriana Cantos, representative, business association Empresariat Cerdanya
Elena Badeanschi, International Relations and Projects Manager, Federation of Trentino Cooperatives
Policymakers session (upon invitation only)
Venue: speakers’ room, adjacent to the Casino Teatre Ceretà
This side-session, moderated by Euromontana, is an opportunity for policymakers attending the European Mountain Convention to meet and share their views on how to foster interregional cooperation and discuss their expectations and priorities in the context of renewed European institutions.
18.15 | End of day 2
18.30 | Cultural event at the Museu Cerdà followed by a welcome cocktail
Day 3 · 17 October 2024 · Conference
Venue: Casino Teatre Ceretà
09.00 | Welcome and introduction of day 3
09.15 | Keynote speech "The new Catalan strategy for mountains regions"
Carlos Guàrdia Carbonell, General Director for Mountain Policies, Government of Catalonia
10.00 | Workshops part 2 - Interactive discussions
Workshop 1 - How to bring more value to mountain agricultural products? (2/2)
Venue: Sala de l’Arxiu Comarcal
Workshop 2 - From raw materials to processing: how to bring the secondary sector back into mountain territories? (2/2)
Venue: Casino Teatre Ceretà
Workshop 3 - How to tap into the potential of digitalisation for mountain economies? (2/2)
Venue: Biblioteca
Workshop 4 - How to foster entrepreneurship? (2/2)
Venue: Museu Cerdà
11.45 | Coffee break
12.15 | Keynote speech “Working for and with nature in mountain areas”
Ulrike Müller, Member of the Bavarian Parliament
13.00 | Keynote speech “Laying the foundations for success: how to attract and retain workers”
Joan Martí, Director of Business Strategy, ACCIÓ (public agency for the competitiveness of Catalan businesses), Government of Catalonia
13.45 | Lunch break
15.00 | Workshops part 1 - inspiring initiatives
Workshop 5 - Working with nature: how to rethink tourism in mountain areas? (1/2)
Venue: Sala de l’Arxiu Comarcal
Dr. Konstantinos Zapounidis, Head of Unit, Department of Projects and Programmes Management, Pieriki Anaptixiaki S.A.-O.L.A
Adrian-Radu Rey, President, RoMontana (Romanian National Association for Mountains and Rural Development)
Ricard Palou, Head of Marketing and Communication, FGC Turisme
Emmanuelle George, Researcher, INRAE (French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment)
Workshop 6 - Working for nature: how to quantify and remunerate ecosystem services from agro-pastoral activities? (1/2)
Venue: Casino Teatre Ceretà
Elena Górriz, Co-Head – Socioeconomics and Governance of Rural Systems, CTFC (Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia)
Raphaële Charmetant and Anne Rouquette, Pastoralism Officers, Occitanie Chamber of Agriculture
Josep Milà Puigdomènech, Biologist, Technical Office of the Catalan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Government of Catalonia
Marc Garriga Lujan, Director, Alt Pirineu Natural Park
(with interpretation)
Workshop 7 - What makes mountain communities tick? Is it only about access to services? (1/2)
Venue: Biblioteca
Isabel Guasch, Chief Executive Officer, Làctics L’Esquella
Laia Ciuraneta Martí, Member, Alliance of Organisations of Rural Women - PIMEC Foundation | ADR
Sotiris Tsoukarelis, Founder and President, The High Mountains social cooperative
Kjell Overvåg, Professor, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
Workshop 8 - Overcoming barriers to attractiveness: how to tackle housing and access to land? (1/2)
Venue: Museu Cerdà
Débora Serrano Martínez, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Realserma Rural
Ilaria Zorzi, PhD and Project Manager, Bluebiloba, innovative startup – University of Florence spin-off
Elisabeth Tuà Sardà, Activity Coordinator for the Regional and Urban Planning and Architecture Authority, Government of Catalonia
Region Occitanie, name of speaker to be confirmed
16.45 | Coffee break
17.15 | Open mic session & side events
Open mic session: learning from your setbacks to move forward
Open to all participants! (Venue: break area in plaça del Call)
Moderator: Enrique Nieto, Deputy team leader, Rural Pact Support Office
We often celebrate good practices and successful initiatives, but we speak less about the difficulties encountered and the lessons learned from them. These setbacks provide valuable insights that help us to move forward. It is particularly important considering the need to progress in many thematic areas for the future of rural communities, as laydown in EU’s long-term vision for rural areas. Moreover, some themes are non-traditional in local development and will require a mindset of experimentation and learning from difficulties and failures.
That’s why Euromontana and the European Rural Pact are bringing these experiences to the forefront at the 13th European Mountain Convention. After a day of insightful conferences, join us in a relaxed and informal setting to share your challenges, discuss ways to overcome them and learn from past experiences.
A surprise awaits the first 3 icebreakers!
LIFE PYRENEES4CLIMA partners meeting
Restricted to PYRENEES4CLIMA partners (venue: Biblioteca)
The PYRENEES4CLIMA strategic project aims to address the challenges posed by climate change in the Pyrenees. It involves more than 40 entities from all over the Pyrenees. The project is coordinated by the CTP through the Pyrenean Climate Change Observatory (OPCC). This meeting is the biannual Technical Coordination Meeting (PTB) to share the progress of the project and, in particular, the demonstrative implementation of 33 adaptation actions in the territory.
NEMOR Education Working Group meeting
Restricted to NEMOR members (venue: speakers’ room, adjacent to the Casino Teatre Ceretà)
The NEMOR Education Working Group will meet during the European Mountain Convention to address educational initiatives. The primary focus will be on developing an MSCADN proposal related to mountain economies.
NEMOR Agrobiodiversity Working Group meeting
Restricted to NEMOR members (venue: speakers’ room, adjacent to the Casino Teatre Ceretà)
The NEMOR Agrobiodiversity Working Group will meet during the European Mountain Convention to explore potential collaborations for future research projects. The group aims to respond to significant societal challenges in Europe’s and global agriculture and food systems by rediscovering traditional animal breeds and plant varieties.
18.30 | End of day 3
20.00 | Gala dinner at Hotel del Prado
Day 4 · 18 October 2024 · Conference
Venue: Casino Teatre Ceretà
09.00 | Welcome and introduction of day 4
09.15 | Keynote speech “Beyond the local: how to take advantage of rural-urban linkages”
František Kubeš, Head of Strategic Development and Cooperation Department, Brno City Municipality
10.00 | Workshops part 2 - Interactive discussions
Workshop 5 - Working with nature: how to rethink tourism in mountain areas? (2/2)
Venue: Sala de l’Arxiu Comarcal
Workshop 6 - Working for nature: how to quantify and remunerate ecosystem services from agro-pastoral activities? (2/2)
Venue: Casino Teatre Ceretà
Workshop 7 - What makes mountain communities tick? Is it only about access to services? (2/2)
Venue: Biblioteca
Workshop 8 - Overcoming barriers to attractiveness: how to tackle housing and access to land? (2/2)
Venue: Museu Cerdà
11.45 | Coffee break
12.15 | Closing panel - Towards a roadmap for resilient and prosperous mountain economies
Laura Gascón Herrero, Employment and Local Development Officer, Province of Teruel and member of the EU Rural Pact Coordination Group
Anna Giorgi, Director, Research Centre for Sustainable Mountain Development – GESDIMONT
Eva Garcia Balaguer, Coordinator of the Pyrenean Climate Change Observatory (OPCC), Pyrenees Working Community Consortium (CTP)
Bernat Claramunt López, Researcher at the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Lecturer at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Coordinator of NEMOR (Network for European Mountain Research)
13.15 | Final declaration & closing words
Euromontana
Carlos Guàrdia Carbonell, General Director for Mountain Policies, Government of Catalonia
13.45 | Lunch break & end of the event
During all the days of the Convention, the bell tower and the remains of the church of Santa Maria de Puigcerdà (Carrer Major, 46, Puigcerdà) can be visited on presentation of your Convention credentials. Opening hours: 10.00 to 19.00
For any question or assistance, please contact info@euromontana.org