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A cooperation strategy for the cross-border Sambre-Avesnois

In 2021, the MOT assisted the Communauté d'Agglomération Maubeuge Val de Sambre (CAMVS) in carrying out a cross-border diagnosis of the cross-border Sambre-Avesnois. This diagnosis made it possible to initiate a Franco-Belgian dialogue on the territory, with a first steering committee organized in Jeumont in July 2022.

To continue the momentum, the MOT, at the initiative of CAMVS, has been assisting the cross-border Sambre-Avesnois since the fall of 2022 in defining a cooperation strategy.

In order to arrive at concerted and shared strategic orientations, the MOT has collected the political orientations of the institutional actors of the territory during several interviews. The orientations of the citizens were also taken into account through an online survey.

This first phase of co-writing the cross-border strategy was presented at a steering committee meeting in Mons (Belgium) on February 17th. Three areas of cooperation were identified:

• Improving social and territorial cohesion through cross-border services adapted to the public.
• Making heritage and common goods a factor of identity and attractiveness.
• Guarantee cross-border integration through mobility and employment.

These axes now need to be fed with project ideas in order to build, in a second phase, a cross-border roadmap for the territory of the cross-border Sambre-Avesnois. To do this, two days of thematic workshops will be organized in early April in Mons and Maubeuge. Action sheets will be drafted from the reflections of these workshops.

Photo Mons : Shutterstock / uslatar