The results

The random sample

458 local councillors from the three provinces of Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trentino took part in the questionnaire. The analysis focused on the 261 local councillors who had completed the survey. A table with the demographic structure is linked below.  

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The questions and results 

Hypothesis one and two: 

1) What are the advantages of a community partnership? 

2) What difficulties can a community partnership entail?

To verify these two questions, four questions were formulated.

For question number one the municipal councillors were asked about positive experiences with community partnerships and about the expected advantages of a community partnership. 

For question number two the municipal councillors were asked about their negative experiences with partnerships and about the expected advantages of a community partnership. 

The most frequently mentioned answers are shown in the chart "Success fators" and "obstacles". 

Questions three, four and five:

3) Economic cooperation takes place more strongly among twinned municipalities than between municipalities without partnership.

4) The political exchange with municipalities from the other two regions is stronger in municipalities with an existing partnership.
5) The cultural exchange with municipalities from the other two regions is stronger in municipalities with an existing partnership.

To verify these two hypotheses, some questions were formulated.

These questions concerned the extent of exchange in various areas and the areas in which the local councils would like to see greater cooperation. 

In order to answer the three questions, the previously defined areas had to be combined and the mean value of the total number of points for comparability between municipalities with and without partnership had to be determined. 

The graph shows that there are hardly any differences in economic and political exchange between municipalities with and without partnership and that the two questions must therefore be rejected. In contrast, there is a noticeable difference of 0.2459 points in cultural exchange, which confirms the questions of cultural exchange. The abbreviation "CP" used in the graph stands for community partnership.

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Conclusions

- The majority of local councillors consider cross-border cooperation to be important. 

-Nevertheless, only a few people have participated in projects of the European Region. 

- In the European Region, cultural exchange is an essential factor for the success of community partnerships. 

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Potentials for the future

There is a will to cooperate and to strengthen cross-border cooperation on the part of the municipal councils.

Projects that take up the cultural sector and involve the entire population would thus increase the cohesion of communities many times over.

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