Passeiertal

Main challenges

• Topographically conditioned scarcity of land;
• Difficult accessibility of the valley (one way access);
• Narrow and winding transport infrastructure;
• Maintenance of the commercial and industrial zones as important source of income for the population;
• Mainly small-scale businesses (58 % of businesses employ 1-2 employees on average, Astat 2001);
• Industrial and manufacturing activities vs. tourism and recreation activities.

Expected outcomes for Passeiertal

• Analysis of the site conditions for economic activities in general;
• Commercial location monitoring system as pilot project for South Tyrol;
• Deduction of economic functional areas for South Tyrol;
• Definition of strategic guidelines and principles for alpine municipalities regarding business settlement and inter-municipal cooperation;
• Measures for effective location marketing.

Possible tandem regions for the pilot area Passeiertal and project partner EURAC research

Of particular interest to EURAC and for the pilot area Passeiertal is to observe and exchange/receive information on the further development and implementation of structures in both Austrian pilot regions Großes Walsertal and Leiblachtal, in the German pilot area Südliches Oberallgäu, and the Swiss pilot municipality/municipalities engaged in Industrial Ecology.

Within South Tyrol, tandems  with other valleys or municipalities are mainly informal (i.e. mutual exchange is not formalized but public and private stakeholders meet at various occasions such as open workshops, public events or council meetings). Tandems should be encouraged with valleys/municipalities in fields which are of interest to the Passeiertal, such as the processing of wood and the valorization of the wood sector including measures for extending the local value chain wood to attain a higher processing degree (e.g. biomass (fuel-wood) as a raw material for renewable energy).