YOUrALPS / 2016-2019

Project Summary 

Among younger generations, there is little awareness of the values and opportunities offered by the natural and cultural heritage of the Alps. There is an urgent need to better inform youth and make them more aware of the economic and social opportunities that their mountains are able to offer them.

The project YOUrALPS - Educating youth for the Alps: (re)connecting Youth and Mountain heritage for an inspiring future in the Alps, takes on the challenge to reconcile young people with their Alpine territory. Twelve project partners from five Alpine countries work together to develop and enhance Mountain-oriented Education by including in educational curricula the mountain know-how and values characterizing the region. Thanks to exchanges, training, workshops and trials in pilot sites, the project partners will create an "Alpine School Model". The project aims at empowering youth by creating new opportunities and increasing their commitment to the Alpine territory to better shape their future.

ALPARC is the project leader of YOUrALPS. The network is responsible for the technical and financial management and the coordination of project partners' activities. ALPARC is also responsible for the project communication.

YOUrALPS lasts from November 2016 to October 2019 and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme (Total budget: 2.001.017,40 € - ERDF grant: 1.615.864,77 EUR ).

Project main outputs

• The network OurAlps: a transnational cooperation structure dedicated to Mountain-oriented Education, gathering schools and universities together with specialist from non-formal education and youth. The network will be based on a participatory web-platform and database providing resources, educational offers and contacts from the educational field at the Alpine level.

• The Comparative report: a collection of innovative practices and mountain-oriented strategies in the educational field.

• The Alpine School Model: The project will develop a joint international methodological approach based on a charter, a label, and shared pedagogical tools and resources adapted to different educational level. Recommendations will support decision-makers in transferring and applying the model.

Project specific objectives

• Fostering and strengthening the Alpine mountain-oriented education sector via the settlement of a network of formal and non-formal educational actors. Network’s participants will share knowledge in a web platform dedicated to Mountain-oriented Education.

• Providing youth with opportunities to develop their knowledge and sensibility on the Alpine natural and cultural heritage. Students, as the main target group, will be involved in the model development, actively participating in the project actions and transalpine workshops. Pupils and students from pilot sites will benefit from testing the "Alpine school" educational model.

• Strengthening the inclusion of Mountain-oriented Education in formal education curricula, fostering a transnational Alpine cultural identity via the development, testing and validation of a common Alpine-wide operational model- the “Alpine School Model”.

For further info: http://www.alpine-space.eu/projects/youralps/en/home

Contact: Veronika Widmann veronika.widmann[@]alparc.org