The French GOVQoL pilots include one municipality, Veynes, in the Hautes-Alpes département, representing a small rural municipality, and the regional natural park of Baronnies provençales, which is an example of cooperation between municipalities straining for a more sustainable local development model in this area of the Southern French Alps. The workshops in both municipalities were attended by various local stakeholders, including representatives of municipal administrations, local associations and public institutions such as primary and secondary schools, regional development agency, home for the elderly, and centre for social work among others.
Throwback to the work done with Veynes
CIPRA France organised two workshops between February and March 2026 in the municipality of Veynes, each time with a group of around 15 participants, mainly volunteers and staff from local associations and organisations. The wish of Françoise Bellanger, local politician and member of the town council, was twofold regarding the GOVQoL workshops :
- Create the opportunity for open discussion and exchange between locals
- Strengthen the cooperation between the different associations of the municipality which often benefit from the same funding.
During the first workshop, the participants got to know each other better and discussed their quality of life, both in their work and in their private lives. They discussed the volunteering dynamics in Veynes, identified similarities, differences and challenges. In a subsequent step, they shared their initial ideas for a common project with one another, in a brainstorming session.
The findings of the first workshop were the following, to be further addressed and explored during the second workshop, with a view to developing specific measures :
- Coexistence vs. Cooperation : Veynes is home to over 60 local associations with a lot of different opportunities to get involved for local inhabitants: social clubs, cultural and nature-related associations, and more traditional sport clubs. One main challenge is collaboration with each other: articulating values, identifying common ground, finding a common language. The group shared the same perspective : collaboration between associations needs to be improved so that action can be taken in a more coordinated manner and in closer alignment with the local authority’s social services department (note the high levels of housing insecurity in Veynes)
- Governance: It was observed that local funding regulatory requirements often go in opposite directions from a collective local governance (i.e. conditions could include mandatory cooperation projects with several partners, a trans-generational aspect, etc.) Improving local governance could help fight the shortage of volunteers and lack of engagement from local residents. The need of a shared understanding of the network of organisations involved in regional development and of the decision-making processes and investment dynamics, were mentioned as common wishes.
The discussions and reflections continued in the second workshop by working on two concrete actions :
- Organising a common event every year about local cooperation and dynamics
- Creating a space for NGOs to meet and discuss, to secure the infrastructure needed for local cooperation exists
Finally the two workshops showed the need for local stakeholders to meet, exchange and work hand in hand to build their projects and shape the future of their local life to achieve a higher quality of life. To be continued with the third workshop planned during the month of June!