EU CAP Network Focus Group ‘Competitive and resilient mountain areas'

• The main challenges facing mountain agriculture and forestry are: unfavourable production conditions, lack of information and advice, lack of access to agricultural markets, abandonment of agricultural activities, depopulation, lack of training centres, conflicts of interest, climate change, environmental degradation, lack of a common long-term strategy, and lack of infrastructure.
• However, there are also opportunities to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of mountain areas. The most important of these are: growing markets for specialised local niche products together with the production of high-quality mountain products, autochthonous breeds, sustainable tourism, a quiet and remote environment, green care and social farming activities, the existence of beautiful landscapes, unique biodiversity, and a range of further common goods as well as living traditions and historic buildings.
• In order to meet the challenges and opportunities of mountain areas in a long-term and resilient way, innovative approaches are a key element of their further development. Agriculture, forestry, and the bioeconomy in mountain areas operate in a complex and dynamic human-nature system, and long-term and transformative solutions are needed to increase resilience at the regional level. In addressing these issues, social innovation can play a key role in this transformation, alongside the innovations linked to products, processes and marketing. Good practices of innovations (including applied examples) were collected by the experts and presented in the accompanying so-called Mini Papers drafted by the experts.
• The success of innovation in rural (mountain) areas is challenged by the lack of scale in terms of population and industrial base, and the distance from economic partners and centres of consumption, which makes the diffusion of innovation and knowledge more difficult. The drivers for innovators and the public policies to guide innovation are not yet fully understood. In order to unlock this knowledge, the members of the FG have identified several factors that are responsible for the successful implementation of innovations in mountain areas, in terms of organisation, strategic planning, and management, as well as access to infrastructure, funding, and other resources.

Finally, research and knowledge needs as well as innovative ideas have been identified by the experts within the framework of the FG, and can be summarised as follows:

• Research needs: cost-benefit analysis for public goods and short value chains, marketing of mountain products, analysis of emigration and immigration in mountain areas, the relationship between rural and urban backgrounds, collaborative networks, climate resilience, and further development of information technology systems.
• Ideas for innovation include: developing mini-processing units adapted to mountain areas, attracting young people to mountain areas, creating market access for mountain agricultural products, promoting cooperation between stakeholders, developing auction platforms, identifying specific shortcomings in the CAP, and forming a farmers' coalition against forest fires.