As President François Hollande said, the territorial reform, based on
democracy, solidarity and efficacy, stems from the will to modernize France and
to make it stronger. The aim of creating larger regions is to make local
authorities more efficient and so administrative procedures simpler and cost
effective. We shall list what we consider the priorities of the new AURA region
to be.
Public transport
Transport is one of the regional council’s responsibilities. Today, the
Rhône-Alpes area is already well developed as far as the High Speed Train is
concerned. However, improving transport in the Auvergne, the western part of
the region, should be a priority as it is basically a landlocked part of France
and distant from Lyon, the regional capital and other cities.
For several years, Auvergne has been asking for a High Speed Train (the
TGV: Train à Grande Vitesse) link between Clermont-Ferrand, the main urban
centre, and Paris. But, the State considers the cost too high. Without the
TGV, how can the Auvergne attract tourists, students and new businesses? How
can Auvergne catch up Rhône-Alpes? Improving public transport (especially rail)
networks between Auvergne (Clermont-Ferrand) and Rhône-Alpes (Lyon) would
create closer ties between them, a feeling of belonging to the same region
(which is far from being the case). It takes more than two hours to travel
between the two urban centres, even by train (which, in addition, is costly).
AURA will only become a European-scale region if all of its territory becomes easily accessible…
Developing multimodal stations should also be a priority to enable people
to travel easily through the region but also through the country and the world.
These stations are able to bring together various transport services (trains,
planes, buses, a bicycle-sharing system, etc.). A recent example is the station
in Grenoble which has been recently improved in order to include a tramway and bikes.
Local airports are also essential to the local economy. For instance, Aulnat
airport in Clermont-Ferrand needs modernizing, with improved and increased
links to Lyon and other European hubs.
Very High Speed (Fibre) internet connection and
telephony
Over the next two years, the Regional Council intends to improve internet connections for research and learning centres, businesses, and the general public. This is a priority because it is going to give us a real advantage over other regions, putting Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on a par with Île-de-France. The aim is to become the first region in France to have all of its territory connected thanks to a €5 billion investment by the Region. In order to achieve this priority, 32 isolated places totally deprived of mobile links will be covered in the near future. Internet is the primary tool for trade and innovation; improving Wi-Fi will be very expensive but, in the world we live in, it is a necessary investment.
Employment
In 2015, 624,000 people were unemployed in AURA (8% of the population).
This is a scandal, and job creation must become a top priority of the new region!
There are several projects which are supported by the Region, especially in
some economic sectors specific to the region.
One such is the Plan PME 3000: 3000 small or medium-sized
companies will be helped with subsidies and advice; this is a good thing as
these firms are the motor of the regional economy and not easily outsourced
abroad.
Another priority is to develop the Forest/Wood sector. Indeed, forests
cover 35% of the AURA territory, which is the most mountainous territory of
France. This sector employs 50,000 people in 15,000 firms. It is a real environmental,
social and economic stake for the region which will help financially this
sector to develop marketing and technical projects and so create new jobs.
The agri-food sector is likely to provide new jobs too. It will do so by
developing the existing structures, especially in organic agriculture, and by
finding new markets. The AURA region has excellent products, such as cheeses
for instance.
Finally, the Region can rely on multi-national companies such as Michelin.
A new project called “Campus Entreprises” has as an objective to create a
training centre for industrial jobs in local companies. The aim is to hire 300
people every year in maintenance and production activities.
Job centres too are making efforts to find jobs for people through job
dating, forums and open days in firms. In ski stations, new seasonal jobs have
been created.
All these initiatives are a good start, but more needs to be done and AURA
has to lead the way in partnership with local companies.
Tourism
AURA is the second more touristic region of France, thanks to its
mountains, volcanos, historic buildings, etc. However, the tourism
infrastructure needs to be developed further. The Panoramique des Dômes train
is a good example to follow. The region needs to be promoted more abroad and so
the Regional Council should support initiatives like the inscription of
the Chaîne des Puys & Faille de Limagne on the UNESCO
World Heritage list.
The Region could take greater
advantage of the foreign students living in the regional universities (Lyon,
Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand) to help promote the region; the families of the
foreign students (from China for instance) could be offered a fair-priced tourist
package that could include visits to Lyon and the touristic spots of the Auvergne
(like the thermal resorts and the volcanoes).
Webography:
www.auvergnerhonealpes.fr
www.elysee.fr
www.pole-emploi.fr
www.auvergnerhonealpes-tourisme.com
It is a really interesting article but I would add the solutions to the priorieties for the TGV, statistics for internet and the question of studies and what activities you can do as a tourist.
ReplyDeleteFor me, your article is very interesting. You talk about subjects which are quite important.
ReplyDeleteYet, I would have also spoken about the economic aspects of our new region such as the economic growth. Moreover, I would have spoken about the importance of the big companies we have on our territory.
This article is very interesting. It is important to talk about the priorities of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. I think this article shows good improvements to make AURA a more attractive region.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could talk about the economic aspects of AURA because I think that it is really important.
An engrossing and captivating essay which summarize the important priorities of the region. Nevertheless, i would add a sportive point of view which can be one of the priorities of the region. ( It has already been made by laurent Wauquiez with a commitment with l'ASM CA)
ReplyDeleteWell done
Well done for the work !