Contest rules

The Pitch Your Project competition is in its ninth edition. Organised every year as part of the youth activities of the European Union Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP), it is under the responsibility of the Burgundy-Franche-Comté Region with the Bavarian Presidency.

EUSALP is a space of cooperation between 7 states and 48 regions of the Alpine region. Its work focuses on three pillars: innovation and education/research, mobility and connectivity, energy and environment. An annual Presidency is held by one/several states or one/several regions. In 2026 Bavaria is holding this Presidency.

Planned for young people aged 18 to 29 years old, the Pitch Your Project competition takes place from March 31^st to August 8^th 2026.

It consists of two phases: young people wishing to participate will first propose their initiatives via an online form. The 5 best projects, selected by an international jury, will be invited to be presented in pitch form at the final that will take place during the EUSALP Annual Forum on 21^st-22^nd October 2026 in Lindau (Germany). The public will then select the three winning projects, which will be rewarded by EUR 5,000, EUR 3.000 and EUR 2.000 respectively.

Eligible applicants are young people who:

• are between 18 and 29 years old on 8^th August 2026
• are citizens of one of the seven Alpine countries (Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Liechtenstein) or permanent residents of one of these countries.
• apply as an individual or as a group with a project idea. As a group, they must nominate a maximum of three group leaders to present the project.

Any candidate who does not meet the eligibility criteria will not be able to participate in the application process and will not be taken into account in the award decision.

Applications for the competition are open from March 31^st to August 8^th 2026 at 23:59. Any application received after the deadline will not be considered.

Project presentations of eligible applicants must meet the following application criteria:

1. The project concerns one of the themes selected for the 2026 edition:

• Sustainable tourism: Innovations that promote tourism to lesser-known sites, helping to balance visitor flows and reduce environmental impacts while supporting the local economy.
• Digitalisation: New ways of using digital tools or systems to improve quality of life (public services) and to attract or maintain economic activities (services for businesses).
• Preservation of natural sites: Actions aimed at raising awareness on the importance of natural areas for species preservation, as well as concrete initiatives dedicated to protecting natural resources such as water, soil, forests, etc.
• Youth involvement: Approaches to mobilising young people to enhance their participation in public life at different levels and in diverse decision-making processes. How can they contribute more to local democracy and support local projects?

2. The project is ready for implementation.

3. Candidates apply as an individual or as a group with a maximum of three group leaders.

4. The application is submitted in writing and in English until August 8^th 2026 at 23:59 by filling out the application form available on the website https://alpine-region.eu/alpine-youth/pitch-your-project

5. The application consists of the following elements:

A) the completed online application form
B) the project proposal comprising

• a summary
• motivation
• objective(s)
• relevance
• challenges and opportunities

C) the work plan, schedule, equipment, financial and human resources, and the curriculum vitae of the participant or group leader
D) the opinion of an expert who supports the project (teacher, youth group leader, institution, etc.)

6. The following projects cannot be accepted:

• projects submitted by persons working for the European institutions or within the framework of EUSALP (except the members of the EUSALP Youth Council)
• scientific theses and publications
• projects already financed by European funds
• projects that have already received an award from an European institution
• projects submitted manually or by mail, incompletely or in several parts
• projects not submitted in English.

A group application will be evaluated as a single application. Groups may be composed of people of different nationalities/residences (from the 7 Alpine countries). Multiple registrations in terms of groups will be prohibited, the first application as a group will be considered. In addition, people who join groups composed differently will also be excluded.

No one is allowed to apply more than once. The data will be checked by the project coordinator.

Applicants will receive a confirmation email within 48 hours via contact@remove-this.eusalp-youth.eu after submitting their application.
This confirmation email will inform them of the registration of their application and of the communication schedule of the selection board’s decision. In addition, they receive their project code, which must be mentioned in any correspondence between the project coordinator and the applicants. This code will also be used for the publication of the list of selection board decisions on the website www.alpine-region.eu.

Candidates will first have to pass the eligibility criteria check as mentioned in point 2. This verification will be carried out by the project coordinator.
If all the eligibility criteria are met, candidates will then have to fulfil the award criteria referred to in point 3.

The selection board’s decision is based on the following criteria: relevance, feasibility and innovation potential of the project. Projects will be classified according to the number of points received. Amongst all eligible applicants, the five highest ranked candidates will have the chance to present their project at the final of the competition.

The evaluation phase begins on 10^th of August. The five projects with the highest number of points are invited to present their project to the public at a five-minutes pitch.
The Burgundy-Franche-Comté Region covers the travel and accomodation costs for 1 representant per project.

The pitch session will take place during the EUSALP Annual Forum on 21^st-22^nd October in Lindau (Germany) and will be held in English. Immediately after the presentation session, the public will vote for the best projects (each person votes for one project). The three winners of the vote will each receive a prize for the implementation or continuation of their project.

The prizes are financed by the Burgundy-Franche-Comté Region.

Winners receive the following payments :

• 1st prize: EUR 5 000
• 2nd prize: EUR 3 000
• 3rd prize: EUR 2 000

The final decision concerning the 5 finalists will be published at the latest on 20^th September 2026 on https://alpine-region.eu.

All candidates will be informed by e-mail of the selection results of the jury.

The jury is composed of five members who perform their duties in their personal capacity and on the basis of their knowledge as representatives of their institutions. The members of the jury are selected on the basis of criteria such as their expertise in the Alpine region and their membership in institutions working on EUSALP. Geographical balance is ensured.

They will be put in contact with the members of the EUSALP Action Groups for possible requests necessary for the decision-making process.

The project coordinator is responsible for organising the selection process and makes the necessary arrangements for the official announcement, the presentation session and the award ceremony.

The project coordinator is authorised at any time to inform the Burgundy-Franche-Comté Region when, in the opinion of the jury, any of the following elements is apparent:
(I) it is considered that the candidates received undue assistance from experts;
(II) the candidates had undue privileged access to certain resources; or
(iii) the candidates clearly plagiarised other people’s ideas. In such a case, the Burgundy-Franche-Comté Region will withdraw the project from the competition and retain, even after the event, the right to demand, if necessary, the return of any prize.

The decision of the jury is final.

All non-selected candidates will be placed on a reserve list in descending order of their ranking.

Each confirmation of accommodation will be nominative and cannot be transferred to another person. The name on the confirmation cannot be changed. If a selected participant withdraws for any reason before the project coordinator designated by the Burgundy-Franche-Comté Region has reserved the accommodation, his/her place will be assigned to another person on the reserve list in descending order of the selection. If a group leader doesn’t have the possibility to travel before the project coordinator has booked the accommodation, this decision does not jeopardise the entire group. One other member of the group (only designated group leaders) can always travel as planned.

Once bookings have been made, any cancellation or modification fees will have to be charged from the participant’s fees.

The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region only covers the costs of accommodation and travel as explained above. Therefore, living, insurance, travel supplements or any other travel-related expenses must be covered by the participants. Insurance coverage is not provided by the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region and is the sole responsibility of the selected participant. The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region and the project coordinator shall not be held liable for any damage caused or sustained by any of the contest participants, including any damage caused to third parties as a result of or in connection with the implementation of the activities related to this contest. The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region and its project coordinator cannot be held responsible for any material, immaterial or physical damage.

This contest is governed by applicable French law.

The personal data (for contest participants: last name, first name, phone number, email; only for winners: nationality, date of birth, address, identity card or passport number) are processed by the Europe and International department of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region for the purposes of this competition.

This data will be kept for 5 years.

In accordance with the law “Informatique et Libertés” n°78-17 of 6^th January 1978 and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27^th April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation), you can access your data or request their deletion. You also have the right to object, a right to rectification and a right to restrict the processing of your data. These rights can be exercised by mail to the following address: Région Bourgogne-Franche-Comté – Direction Europe et International – 4 square Castan - CS 51857 - 25031 BESANCON CEDEX.

For any questions relating to the protection of personal data, you can contact the Data Protection Officer by mail (4 square Castan CS 51857 25031 BESANCON CEDEX.) or by e-mail (dpd@bourgognefranchecomte.fr).

Candidates are informed that the data concerning them recorded in the frame of the competition are necessary to take into account their participation and to award their prizes if they are successful.