The structural funds period is

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1 # June 2012 Bundesprogramm 08Newsletter Transnationale Zusammenarbeit a newsletter of selected projects within the Federal Programme Transnational Cooperation Heike Mages topics Innovative Measures of Urban and Regional Development City Regions WOMEN Page 2 3 Regional Development through Innovative Transport Projects INTER-Regio-Rail Page 4 Energy Efficiency in Town Planning and Housing Page 5 The structural funds period is coming to an end. The current INTERREG IV B projects which are funded through the federal program Transnational Cooperation are reaching their final stage. The upcoming 12 th application round for support by the federal program offers INTERREG IV B projects the last opportunity to apply for funds for additional project components ( add-on projects ). Moreover, it is already possible to submit applications for the preparation of INTERREG projects for the new funding period from 2014 ( preparatory projects ). The next cutoff date for the financing of these two types of projects is 12 July By then, all applications must be submitted. The application forms are available online on the website of the BBSR. A further call for preparatory projects is planned in January In this issue we present some of the last new projects of this funding period. Strengthening partnerships between cities and their surrounding regions is at the heart of the project City Regions, while focuses on cultural change in old industrial regions. WOMEN aims to stop the emigration of young women from rural areas. Last but not least, accompanies the construction of an energy efficient student residence in Lithuania according to the standards developed in the previous project Longlife. At the same time, other projects are almost at the end of their term. At its closing conference, INTER-Regio-Rail presented its findings in the area of cross-border rail transport. In June, Second Chance will conclude its work and show Nuremberg visitors how arts and culture contribute to urban renewal. The participants of the Amber Coast Logistics midterm conference discussed a better accessibility of the southeastern Baltic Sea region. We hope you enjoy reading this issue. Your DV team DATES June 2013 Project Meeting Berlin 27. June 2013 Final Conference: Arts and Culture as key drivers for urban regeneration Nuremberg August 2013 Design and craft workshop / Transnational Seminar Eisenerz October 2013 Training Seminar Minsk Please check the projects websites on the last page for further information. This newsletter informs about the Federal Programme Transnational Cooperation. With this programme, the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development supports German project partners in European projects of strategic political relevance for the Federal Governement on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Transport, Building and Urban Development. More Information on the Federal Programme at: or German Association for Housing, Urban and Spatial Development DV-GmbH Heike Mages, Littenstraße 10, Berlin Phone +49 (0)30/ Fax +49 (0)30/ interreg@deutscher-verband.org

2 Innovative Measures of Urban and Regional Development 2 Cultural shift in old-industrial regions Arts and Culture as drivers for urban regeneration Saxon Mining Archive Freiberg Skyline of chimneys around Old-industrial regions have been hot spots of economic development in Central Europe in earlier decades and centuries. Many of them have lost this position due to globalization and restructuring from socialist to market economies. Regions that are characterized by small and medium-sized towns often have only their industrial past to make reference to and gain sense of belonging and self-image - unlike metropolitan areas. The cultural shift intended by the project builds on the valorization of old-industrial heritage as a region-specific asset - a crucial pre-condition for any sustainable and endogenous development of such structurally disadvantaged regions. focuses on three areas of intervention: improving cultural management structures for industrial heritage; innovating heritage-based products; changing perception of old-industrial places. Main activities comprise exchange of experience, elaboration of concepts and their implementation, collaborative and individual PR work. is initiated by six Central European regions and towns with a strong industrial past under the auspices of the District of Zwickau. They have teamed up with two scientific institutions renowned for their expertise in regional development and heritage preservation. cooperates closely with the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH), the tourism information network of industrial heritage in Europe. Robert Beske ArtRoom by Laura Eckert in Halle 14, Leipzig, In many European cities, entire neighbourhoods are dominated by former industrial sites. The project has revitalized these buildings and spaces through artistic and cultural activities. The ten partners from Krakow, Leipzig, Ljubljana, Venice and Nuremberg have thus generated positive impulses for the urban renewal of these neighbourhoods. The project, which ends in September 2013, has contributed significantly to the sustainable revitalization of brownfield sites in the five cities. After a thorough analysis of the sites and the surrounding urban areas, pilot facilities have been launched. In Nuremberg, for example, a large cultural centre is being developed on the former AEG site, which will create an open space for culture and education on 6000 square meters. The artistic exchange between the partners was instrumental in the revival of the sites. However, the originally planned development of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) could not be fully implemented at all sites. The final conference of the project in Nuremberg will deal with the theme Art and culture as essential factors for urban renewal. How can culture strengthen the social balance and the environmental quality of cities in the long term? Why is it a success factor for companies to have an artistic and cultural dimension? The conference tackles these questions and offers the opportunity to discuss different ways of re-using urban wastelands and revitalizing cities with the help of creative industries.

3 Innovative Measures of Urban and Regional Development 3 City Regions Strengthening intermunicipal cooperation WOMEN Stopping the emigration of young women from rural areas Projekt City Regions Chris Tobin/Lifesize/Getty Images Partner Meeting in Graz, March 2013 In Europe, economic activities, social infrastructure and cultural life are concentrated in the urban conurbations, where about 70% of the Central European population lives. For urban regions to realize their full economic potential, a wellfunctioning cooperation between the centre and surrounding communities is essential. Under the auspices of the City of Leipzig, five City-Region-Partnerships aim to develop and prove models of inter-municipal cooperation and thus to contribute to a balanced, polycentric development in Central Europe. The intermunicipal cooperation in urban regions is a prerequisite for sustainable development. Investments, for example, could be facilitated by an intercommunal commercial space management. Also, the living and working conditions can be improved through the joint development of recreational areas and public rail transit. To advance regional competitiveness, existing forms of cooperation are analyzed and innovative partnership models will be designed. Binding cooperation agreements will be implemented, while formulating recommendations for further collaboration. In addition, ways to link and integrate the urban regions with existing and emerging European macroregions will be investigated. Transnational events will be organized to sensitize decision makers and expand the capacities for cooperation. Young women increasingly emigrate out of the rural areas of Europe. Compared to men of their age group, they move away more readily if they are dissatisfied with the conditions and the labour market situation. This leads to an imbalance in the sex ratio of the affected regions. The project WOMEN of the program area of Central Europe has therefore set itself the goal to improve the professional and social situation of women between 16 and 35 years in rural areas. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Regional Development and Transport of Saxony-Anhalt, eleven project partners from Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia develop strategies to promote women workers. The unilateral emigration is a particular challenge for regional development. It threatens the national and international competitiveness of the regions and entails greater social, political, and social tur- moil, which can reinforce already existing negative trends. Therefore, WOMEN will initiate actions and activities with young women and men as well as representatives from politics and commerce to develop gender-sensitive measures. To keep women in these regions, WOMEN wants to improve their professional integration in companies. Female entrepreneurs should be promoted and enabled to build stronger networks. Last but not least, it is crucial to improve the perception of the affected regions through image campaigns. These measures aim to increase the employment rate of women and to strengthen their attachment to the home region.

4 Regional Development through Innovative Transport Projects 4 Analysing barriers to cross-border transport streams INTER-Regio-Rail European cooperation planned to continue after project completion Project ACL KORID Around 60 visitors attended the mid-term conference of the project (ACL) in Copenhagen in April ACL promotes the development of multimodal logistic centers in the southern and eastern Baltic region with the aim of strengthening transport links and improving the accessibility of remote areas. The participants of the conference discussed how to improve cross-border transportation and personal networks between Western Europe and the Amber Coast region and its bordering States. ACL brings together 19 partners from Belarus, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland as well as 25 associated partners. Together, they want to make better use of the existing potential of the transport and logistics sector in the Baltic Sea Region and strengthen it for the future. According to a study that was conducted on behalf of the project partners, the container handling in the southeastern Baltic countries will increase sharply by the year This increase is attributable in particular to the rapid economic growth in the hinterland of the Baltic Sea region. As part of the ACL project, various obstacles were analyzed that might prevent or delay the achievement of such growth forecasts. Difficulties for the transportation of goods arise, for example, from drawn-out customs clearance and long waiting times at international border crossings. Another challenge is the lack of personal networks. Thus, cross-border cooperation with Belarusian logistics actors is still very rare. The project partners will continue their cooperation until March 2014, focusing on concrete solutions to these obstacles. How can the regional rail transport (RRT) be improved in Central Europe? In particular, how can crossborder traffic be speeded up and become more passengerfriendly? The INTER-Regio- Rail project has dealt with these questions in the past three years. The nine project partners presented the transferable results of their pilot projects and studies at the final conference in Bologna in May The measures were mainly focused on the needs of the passengers. For example, the Italian region of Emilia Romagna has introduced new trains for cycling tourists. The Stuttgart Region has launched new assistance services for elderly passengers. The groundwork for future improvements in cross-border traffic between Poland and Germany was laid by conducting studies on admission regulations for vehicles and the awarding of contracts and services. Passengers along the German-Polish border may therefore look forward to more direct crossborder connections in future. However, the most important result is the plan to create a transnational network of passenger rail authorities across Europe. In order to stress their commitment to future cooperation, associations of four passenger rail authorities from the Czech Republic, Italy, France and Germany have signed a cooperation strategy at the closing conference. They all face similar challenges and aim to establish closer networks at the European level in the future. The main goal is to create better conditions for regional rail transport. The cooperation will thus be continued beyond the INTER- Regio-Rail project.

5 Energy Efficiency in Town Planning and Housing Projects Cofinanced by the Federal Programme Transnational Cooperation 5 Innovative Measures for Urban and Regional Development ACT4PPP Public-Private partnerships: Construction of an energy-efficient student residence AGORA 2.0 Economic Development in the Baltic Sea Region: AQUAFIMA Sustainable Management of Fishery: Best Agers Demographic Change: City Regions Partnerships between cities and regions: Construction site in Klaipeda In Europe about 40% of the energy is required for heating and cooling of buildings. Therefore, the Longlife project has dealt with the planning of sustainable buildings and developed benchmarks for saving energy and resources. The focus is on the key elements of a building, the building envelope, the windows and the roof. The follow-on project implements the Longlife benchmarks using the example of a student dormitory. The University of Klaipeda, Lithuania is the investor and owner of the Longlife students dormitory. It is a challenge for the project partners to realize the dormitory together. As a pilot project, there will be an incentive for more sustainable investments in Lithuania and in the Baltic Sea Region. For the integrated planning the Longlife Prototype Catalogue is used, a compilation of materials, components and innovative technologies that meet the Longlife benchmarks. The project partners continuously evaluate the design and construction of the dormitory. With a certificate the Longlife Performance Pass the total energy efficiency, CO 2 emissions and life cycle costs of the dormitory are detected. The Longlife Institute e.v., a non-profit organization that was founded in the Longlife project, is responsible for the certification with the Longlife Performance Pass. With study tours, courses, workshops and a webcam on the site the transnational technology transfer in the project is organized. Creative Cities Strengthening and Professionalization of the Creative Industry: HELPS Requirements of Accommodation for Elderly People: MANDIE Managing District Centres: Creative Reuse of Industrial Culture: Activating old-industrial heritage for cultural activities: WOMEN Stopping the emigration of young women: Regional Development by Innovative Transport Projects Freight Traffic between East and Central Europe: DRYPORT Realising the Potential of Inland Ports: INTER-Regio-Rail Regional Rail Transport: Railhuc Cities and Regions as European Transport Hubs: SCANDRIA Infrastructure and Economic Development: SoNorA Infrastructure and Economic Development: TRANSITECTS Transalpine Freight Traffic: ViaRegiaPlus West-East Connection: Energy Efficiency in Town Planning and Housing AlpBC Climat-efficient Buildings in the Alps: Longlife New Buildings Energy Efficiency: Energy-efficient student residence: Urb.Energy Integrated Urban Development Concepts: Spatial Planning Strategies to Adapt to Climate Change Ballast Water Opportunity Managing Ballast Water: BaltSeaPlan Spatial Development on the Sea: C3-ALPS Adaption to climate change in the Alps: CLISP Climate-Proof Spatial Planning: LABEL Flood Risk in the Elbe River-Basin: