Urbani izziv, thematic issue, 2015, no. 1
69Interview
Caroline PERRIN
Switzerland in the Alpine Space Programme, 2014–2020
Interview with Sébastien Rieben,  
Swiss Alpine Space contact point and employee of 
ARE, the Swiss Federal Office for Spatial  
Development
The Alpine Space Programme is one of the two Interreg  B 
programmes that Switzerland is participating in. The aim of 
the Alpine Space Programme is to strengthen transnational 
cooperation in the Alpine region. Alpine Space Programme 
project partners can benefit from exchanging knowledge and 
experience in a large network, building partnerships and de-
veloping approaches to solutions for their own region and area 
of activity. Sébastien Rieben, the Swiss Alpine Space contact 
point, speaks about the Swiss participation in this programme.
– What is the role of ARE, the Swiss Federal Office 
for Spatial Development, within the Alpine Space Pro-
gramme?
“At programme level, the Federal Office for Spatial Develop-
ment (ARE) represents Switzerland in the Programme Com-
mittee. At the national level, the ARE acts as a contact point 
for project partners and with all stakeholders, offering advice, 
communicating programme news and negotiating national 
co-funding.”
– How is participating in the Alpine Space Programme 
significant for Switzerland?
“Switzerland is very active in European territorial coopera-
tion, participating in no fewer than ten different cooperation 
programmes. Participating in the Alpine Space Programme is 
very important for Switzerland because it makes it possible 
to deal with Alpine issues such as transit or climate change 
with other relevant stakeholders. The economic dimension is 
also crucial for Switzerland because the programme allows our 
clusters and SMEs to cooperate with actors in other highly 
innovative European regions.”
– It’s a long way from the first idea until the official start 
of the project. What pitfalls have you seen and what you 
can recommend to other applicants?
“It may sounds obvious, but the applicants must read the terms 
of reference carefully and be sure to understand what the pro-
gramme committee expects from them. All applicants should 
also ask themselves whether their project is truly transnational, 
or whether it instead consists of a collection of local projects 
that could be supported by national or regional funding in-
struments. It’s also important to understand what the Alpine 
Space Programme is not. For instance, the programme isn’t 
a research programme, even if research is of course part of 
most projects. Finally, there are contact points in all partner 
countries who’d be happy to answer the applicants’ questions. 
Please use this opportunity!”
– Do you think participating in these projects may impact 
developments in the regions participating?
“Yes, of course. The importance given by the programme to the 
impact of projects on the policy cycle has increased in recent 
years, and this trend will continue in the next programming 
period. In Switzerland, for instance, we’ve seen that Alpine 
Space projects have pushed some regions to deal with issues 
that weren’t specifically tackled before, such as demographic 
change. Moreover, some activities launched in the IIIB period 
(2000–2006) are still in place, and they’re proving to be valu-
able parts of certain regional sectorial policies.”
Figure 1: Sébastien Rieben
Urbani izziv, thematic issue, 2015, no. 1
70 Interview
– What do you expect with regard to the next program-
ming period?
“The programme has set clear objectives and of course I’m 
confident that excellent projects will be developed in all four 
priorities. From a personal point of view, I’m particularly curi-
ous to see which projects will be developed under the priority 
‘Low Carbon Alps’ because energy has a much more impor-
tant place in the programme than in the previous period. The 
fourth priority on governance, which is a new topic for the 
programme and which is partly linked to the future Macrore-
gional Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP), will also 
be really interesting.”
– I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude 
to Sébastien Rieben and ARE, the Swiss Federal Office for 
Spatial Development, for the opportunity to carry out this 
interview and for their support for the SPHERA project.
Interview conducted by Caroline Perrin, 5 December 2014
Caroline Perrin 
University Hospital of Geneva (Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève), 
Geneva, Switzerland 
E-mail: caroline.perrin@hcuge.ch