Symbolic passage of witness between young Valais and Aosta hikers
On Friday July 23, it was at the Hospice du Grand-Saint-Bernard that the partners and elected representatives of the Espace Mont-Blanc were welcomed, who met to celebrate 30 years of cross-border cooperation in the service of the populations of Mountain.
The regional and local authorities of the Aosta Valley and Valais, represented by Erik Lavevaz President of the Government of the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, Éric Bianco Head of the Canton’s Economy, Tourism and Innovation Department du Valais and vice-president of the Mont-Blanc cross-border conference, Alberto Ciabattoni Syndic of Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses and Gilbert Tornare President of the municipality of Bourg-Saint-Pierre, took stock of their cross-border cooperation, presented their new projects and, above all, celebrated their reunion, after months of limiting travel across borders.
“Over the past 30 years, Espace Mont-Blanc has demonstrated the commitment of all of us to the service of the sustainable development of our territories. These are 30 years of initiatives and concrete projects in favor of an emblematic territory, where the exceptional natural and landscape heritage is accompanied by the presence of economic and tourist activities of international importance ”recalled the Vice -Italian president of the Mont-Blanc cross-border conference, Erik Lavevaz.
“On this day of celebration, the meeting between young Valais and Aosta hikers invites us to take stock and define the perspectives of our common activities. It is with particular attention to future generations that I would like to mention one of the themes that deserve our full attention, that of climate change. In this regard, the Espace Mont-Blanc carried out the AdaPT Mont-Blanc project – Adaptation to climate change in the Espace Mont-Blanc, which today allows us to have important tools to support our choices: the Report Climate, the integration into the Mont-Blanc Observatory of 7 indicators on the impact of climate change observed in our territories and a “toolbox” for territorial planning, which encourages adaptation by making known the right actions and by proposing ideas / projects and avenues of work for better planning and development ”concluded Erik Lavevaz.
“Despite the pandemic that has struck us – declared the Swiss Vice-President of the Mont-Blanc Cross-border Conference, Éric Bianco – we wish to continue to develop innovative projects between the three regions of the Espace Mont-Blanc: the Vallée d ‘Aosta, Valais and Savoies, which share history and culture and must meet the common challenges specific to mountain regions. The Espace Mont-Blanc undoubtedly remains a real laboratory for the sustainable development policy of the Alpine regions. Our projects must first of all serve our populations, to offer them an attractive living and working environment. In this context, we must continue the work inherent in Mont-Blanc’s candidacy for UNESCO, in collaboration with the Ministries of the Environment of the three countries, in order to consider either a World Heritage classification, or a classification as a Biosphere Reserve or Geopark ”- concluded Éric Bianco.
This meeting took place in the presence of about fifteen young Valais and Aosta hikers aged 12 to 15 and participating in the “Cross-border educational stays around Mont-Blanc”, which were accompanied by Saint-Bernards, thanks to the collaboration of the Barry Foundation.
These young hikers carried out a handover at the border, with an alpenstock which circled Mont-Blanc symbolically crossing the 3 countries.
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