Interreg Italy-Austria Programme is part of the Interreg A Strand pertaining to cross-border cooperation. More specifically, this category features programmes that encourage cooperation between NUTS 3 regions, which are areas with populations ranging from 150,000 to 800,000, located on or near the border of at least two member states.        

For the 2021-2027 programming period, the Interreg Italy-Austria Progamme has a budget of about 91 million euros.
The Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen-South Tyrol – the Managing Authority – employed t33 to provide technical assistance supporting the programme's implementation. The service delivers the following results:

• Preparation of documentation and participation in relation to the accomplishments of the Supervisory Committee and Management Committee’s outcomes.
• Monitoring and (if necessary) adaptation of potential variations in expenses that may affect standard costs resulting in integration of the expenditure eligibility rules document.
• Implementation of a methodology for risk-based management verifications.
• Creation of tables to track the progress of indicators' performance.
• Providing advice on the use of State Aid and compliance with the ‘Do Not Significantly Harm’ (DNSH) principle.
• Modification of the monitoring and control system or, if necessary, the overall programme.
• Support during audit procedures and in the field of anti-fraud.
• General assistance for the programme's implementation, taking into account the next programming period.

 
The Interreg Italy-Austria Programme adopts the so-called ‘Community-Led Local Development’ (CLLD), a ‘bottom-up’ approach to local development that involves citizens at the forefront of managing activities and decision-making processes. Through this approach, the involved regions can collect needs and proposals ‘from below’ and receive financial support for small-scale (up to 50,000 euros) and medium-scale (up to 200,000 euros) projects.

The Interreg Italy-Austria Programme includes four CLLDs: Terra Raetica (comprising Imst, Landeck, Vinschgau, and the National Park), Wipptal (from Bergisel Sill in the north to the fortress of Fortezza in the south), Dolomiti Live (comprising East Tyrol, Upper Belluno, and Pustertal), and HEurOpen (comprising the area between Carinzia and Friuli).

For t33, the opportunity to observe such an innovative experience is highly valuable, as it demonstrates that a bottom-up approach can be effectively integrated into regional policy - provided it is supported by strong administrative capacity.