On 3 December 2025, the Central Mountains project was presented during the 16th Meeting of the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee (CCIC) in Belgrade. The session brought together representatives of the Parties to the Carpathian Convention, observers, experts and project partners to discuss how the project’s governance solutions can contribute to long-term cooperation and sustainable development across the Carpathian region.
The presentation introduced the project’s Alpine-Carpathian Joint Strategy together with governance solutions developed within Central Mountains, including the Cross-Border Working Teams (CBWTs) of the Carpathian Sustainable Tourism Platform, the renewed governance model for Alpine Pearls EGTC, and the Carpathian Civil Society Platform. Interactive discussions and live polling enabled participants to assess the relevance, transferability and long-term sustainability of these solutions.
Lessons for policymakers and programme designers
The discussions and interactive survey carried out during the CCIC session generated several insights that may support future governance initiatives in mountain regions:
- Strengthening institutional capacity and coordination should be a priority, as participants identified weak administrative cooperation as one of the main barriers to effective cross-border governance.
- Stable political commitment matters as much as funding. Political instability and changing institutional priorities were considered the greatest risks to implementing long-term strategies and sustaining project results.
- Community-led development requires an enabling environment. Increased financial support, simplified administrative procedures and better integration of community priorities into public policies were identified as key conditions for success.
- Youth participation should become a permanent element of governance. Participants recognised its importance but highlighted awareness, motivation and generational barriers as key challenges requiring long-term capacity-building.
- Cross-Border Working Teams (CBWTs) were considered the project output with the highest replication potential, suggesting that thematic cross-border cooperation structures could be transferred to other mountain regions in Europe.
- Projects create greater impact when their results are embedded into existing governance frameworks. The discussion confirmed that cooperation with macro-regional and international governance bodies, such as the Carpathian Convention, increases the likelihood that project outputs will be maintained and further developed after project closure.
These lessons informed the refinement of the project’s Joint Strategy and Policy Recommendations and provide practical guidance for future Interreg projects, policymakers and organisations working on sustainable mountain governance.
Policy impact
The meeting provided direct input to the refinement of the project’s Joint Strategy and Policy Recommendations. Importantly, the discussion also contributed to subsequent recommendations adopted by the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee, which welcomed the governance instruments developed by the Central Mountains project. The CCIC encouraged further development of the Carpathian Sustainable Tourism Platform, the implementation of Cross-Border Working Teams, and the integration of participatory governance mechanisms into the implementation of the Carpathian Convention.
The event demonstrated how project results can support decision-makers in designing more resilient governance frameworks, strengthening stakeholder participation and promoting long-term cross-border cooperation in mountain regions.