Strengthening the cross border cooperation of communities - Interview with dr.Franz Sturm, chief of the Department for communities, country Carinthia
9 - 10 / 2009

What is the purpose of the Alps-Adriatic communal forum in Velden (Austria)?

Sturm: The initial purpose of this event is to offer the representatives of communities in the Alps-Adriatic region a communicational platform, a place for meeting, where they are able to discuss their problems and where the possible solutions can be developed.

The cooperation (communal partnerships) among several communities in the Alps-Adriatic region are existing for quite some time. How do you evaluate it?

Sturm:The partnerships among Carinthian communities and communities in Slovenia and Italy are existing. Partnerships are going on especially on the social field: reciprocal visits, cultural exchange and sport activities. At the Communal forum the cooperation should be raised to a higher level.
A cross border network should be formed with the possibility to coordinate different activities in a better way.

Where are the participants of the Forum coming from?

Sturm: The majority is from Carinthia, which is also organising this meeting. More than 60 participants are from Italy and about 40 from Slovenia. The participation itself exceeded our expectations.

How to proceed in the future? Are more such meetings planned?

Sturm: The Communal forum is planned for every fourth year. The success of the first one, which was held on Tuesday, September the 15th, certainly justifies this time period. For the future meetings we plan to enlarge the circle of participants. We want to include also our neighbour federal countries. We plan that the participants from South-east European regions would be present, too. We will see.

Interview: Mirko Štukelj