Le Conseil général du Territoire de Belfort.
(General information on all sectors of competence and degree of administrative capacity).
The Territoire de Belfort is what is called in French a "département", that is to say a French local authority. Its deliberating assembly is the "Conseil général" in which a standing committee is elected and which represents the executive power of the "département", or "department" in english. In other words, the affairs of the départment are set up by the resolutions of the Conseil général.
Moreover the "Conseil général" of the Territoire de Belfort is acting on 8 great fields, which are: environment; transport and displacement; economic development and partnership with the districts; old and/or handicaped people; social and professional insertion; childhood and family; education and school life; culture, sport and associative life.
(National language and English translation).
Cellule de coopération internationale du Territoire de Belfort
International cooperation cell of the Conseil général
(Information on specific competences, policies and services).
It has a role of programming and development. The cooperation cell organizes and develop cooperations between the department and foreign local authorities; the "Conseil général" is in particular linked in a cooperation with the town of Novibeograd in Serbia, the town of Baoji in China, and is involved in an important project of development with Burkina Faso, in the periphery of Ouagadougou.
Our involvment in this project is only motivated by our will to work with others and not only for us. The Territoire de Belfort will not directly get something from this project, except an exchange of experiences.
The Territoire de Belfort is never responsible of any groups.
It is more or less involved in all the local case-projects 5-8.
(The WP must have internal rules? Which ones? How do you see the role of the WP responsible? How do you think exchange of experiences within the WP should be promoted? What could be the ways to structure the WP: distinct meetings, news by email? Others?).
Email is a simple and efficient way of exchanging experiences, conclusions and points of view ( speed of reaction).
The Territoire de Belfort agrees with financing a stageaire (for a maximal amount of € 5,000) who will work for the whole partnership, since it will necessarily raise up questions in relation with gerontology.
The Territoire de Belfort expects an enrichment from the others' experience, and hopes bringing eventual answers to its partners.
(What are the administrative levels within the region for different policy, planning, and project purposes? What are the different competences within these areas? What is the relationship between these levels and the small towns? The mountains?).
The French territorial administration is governed by general code of the territorial local authorities and takes into account many levels: districts (in French : "communes"), departments, regions. The region of Franche-Comté is formed by 4 departments, among which there is the Territoire de Belfort.
The department is a political and administrative entity as a whole. As explained in form 1, the "Conseil général" sets up the department affairs by its deliberations.
(Examples: what part is covered by mountains, what are the types of mountain (high, medium, low), which is the quota of the population living in mountain areas, what is the role of the mountain areas in the regional economy, etc.).
The geographical description is useless being given the very specific approach (that is to say thematic approach) of our department towards the AlpCity project.
(Examples: size, hierarchy, demographic and economic changes, main social and economic problems).
See above.
(Examples: symbolic values attached to the mountains, level of attractiveness for residential and/or leisure time activities, level of repulsiveness, differences among community and social groups. Please comment your replies!)
(Is there a specific legislation concerning mountain areas? E.g. national, regional, other levels. What are the main points? Please indicate also the references and dates. Besides legal instruments, is there a specific partner's political approach vis-ŕ-vis the mountains? What are the objectives? What are differences with other areas/regions?).
The Mountain law (loi Montagne, march 2nd 1982) does not concern the totality of the Territoire de Belfort; on the other hand, some plans of action towards the gerontological thematic have been set up at both administrative and organisational levels.