European Regional Development Fund
INTERREG IIIB Community Initiative
Concerning Transnational Co-operation
On Spatial Planning 2000-2006
INTERREG IIIB NORTH-WEST EUROPE
APPLICATION FORM
PART A – PROJECT CONTENT and MANAGEMENT
Project Title & Acronym Strategic Planning Action Network for Local Development -
SPAN
Project Idea Number 486 Start Date July 1, 2003
Project Registration Number End Date August 31, 2007
Registration date Duration 50 months
Date of decision by PSC
Notation
To be completed by Applicant
Fields completed by the Secretariat
Signature and Stamp of Lead Partner after printing
This form must be completed in ONE of the four NWE official languages. If that language is not
English, an English version of the Application Form must be submitted in addition to the
original version. In the event of differences between versions, the English version will be the
reference.
DO NOT send any extra documents other than the officially required Annexes listed at the
end of Part A of the Application Form. Any extra documents sent by applicants in addition to
the official annexes will NOT be considered in the assessment of the project and will be
returned to the Lead Partner.
A paper copy AND a digital version of the Application Form on a CD-Rom or floppy disk must
be returned by post to:
INTERREG IIIB NWE Secretariat ENO
Les Caryatides, 5ème étage
24 Boulevard Carnot
59800 Lille
FRANCE
Tel: + 33 3 20 78 55 00
Fax: + 33 3 20 55 65 95
Please ensure that the printed Application Form is identical to the digital version.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 1
SECTION 1 – PROJECT PARTNERSHIP
1.1 List of Project Partners
List all partners in the project starting with the Lead Partner.
Partner 1 – Lead Partner
Institution Université Libre de Bruxelles - Institut de Gestion de l'Environnement et
d'Aménagement du Territoire (ULB-IGEAT)
Legal Status* University
Address Campus de Parentville, Rue de Villers 227
Postal Code 6010
Town Charleroi
Country Belgium
Phone (office) + 32.71.60.02.71 Phone (mobile) + 32.475.71.51.33
Fax + 32.71.60.02.75
E-mail IGEAT.Charleroi@ulb.ac.be
Contact Person Mrs Dominique-Paule Decoster
Bank Details
Bank Name Banque FORTIS
Address Av. Paul Héger, 22
Postal Code 1000
Town Brussels
Country Belgium
Account No/IBAN 210-0429400-33 / BE79 2100 4294 0033
SWIFT Code Same as National Bank Code
National Bank Code GEBA BE BB
Internal Reference MB0284CRE060
Holder of Account Université Libre de Bruxelles
Is the Partner located in an Objective 1 area? Yes
*
Please select between: National Public Authority / Regional Public Authority / Local Public Authority /
Non-Profit Organisation / Private Enterprise / Research Institution / University. Profit-making private
institutions cannot be Lead Partners of INTERREG IIIB NWE funded projects.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 2
Partner 2
Institution Fondation Rurale de Wallonie (FRW)
Legal Status* Non-Profit Organisation
Address Avenue Reine Astrid 14
Postal Code 5000
Town Namur
Country Belgium
Phone (office) + 32.81.26.18.82 Phone (mobile) + 32.475.45.07.70
Fax + 32.81.22.45.77
E-mail direction@frw.be
Contact Person Mrs Cathérine Marie Leroy
Is the Partner located in an Objective 1 area? No
Partner 3
Institution National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM) - Department of
Geography and National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis
Legal Status* University
Address 23B Rhetoric House
Postal Code
Town CO. Kildare
Country Ireland
Phone (office) +353.1.708.36.10/37.56 Phone (mobile)
Fax +353.1.708.35.73
E-mail Jim.Walsh@may.ie
Contact Person Prof. Jim A. Walsh
Is the Partner located in an Objective 1 area? Yes
*
Please select between: National Public Authority / Regional Public Authority / Local Public Authority /
Non-Profit Organisation / Private Enterprise / Research Institution / University. Profit-making private
institutions cannot be Lead Partners of INTERREG IIIB NWE funded projects.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 3
Partner 4
Institution Southside Partnership - Local Development Training Institute Ltd
(LDTI)
Legal Status* Non-Profit Organisation
Address 81, Upper Georges Street
Postal Code
Town Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
Country Ireland
Phone (office) + 353.1.230.06.40 Phone (mobile) + 353.87.90.82.125
Fax + 353.1.230.48.68
E-mail marie.carroll@sspship.ie
Contact Person Mrs Marie Carroll
Is the Partner located in an Objective 1 area? Yes
Partner 5
Institution Queen's University Belfast - School of Environmental Planning
Legal Status* University
Address 3rd Floor, David Keir Bldg, Stanmillis Rd
Postal Code BT9 5AG
Town Belfast
Country United Kingdom
Phone (office) + 44.28.90.33.55.65 Phone (mobile)
Fax + 44.28.90.68.76.52
E-mail m.r.murray@qub.ac.uk
Contact Person Prof. Michael Murray
Is the Partner located in an Objective 1 area? Yes
*
Please select between: National Public Authority / Regional Public Authority / Local Public Authority /
Non-Profit Organisation / Private Enterprise / Research Institution / University. Profit-making private
institutions cannot be Lead Partners of INTERREG IIIB NWE funded projects.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 4
Partner 6
Institution Rural Community Network
Legal Status* Non-Profit Organisation
Address 38a, Oldtown Street
Postal Code BT80 8EF
Town Cookstown
County Tyrone
Country United Kingdom
Phone (office) +44.28.8676.6670 Phone (mobile) +44.77.98.58.43.93
Fax +44.28.8676.6006
E-mail niall@ruralcommunitynetwork.org
Contact Person Niall Fitzduff
Is the Partner located in an Objective 1 area? Yes
Partner 7
Institution Université de Reims - Centre de Recherches sur la Décentralisation
Territoriale (CRDT)
Legal Status* University
Address 57 bis, rue Pierre Taittinger
Postal Code 51096
Town Reims Cedex
Country France
Phone (office) + 33.3.26.91.38.38 Phone (mobile)
Fax + 33.3.26.04.20.74
E-mail jc.nemery@univ-reims.fr
Contact Person Prof. Jean-Claude NEMERY
Is the Partner located in an Objective 1 area? No
*
Please select between: National Public Authority / Regional Public Authority / Local Public Authority /
Non-Profit Organisation / Private Enterprise / Research Institution / University. Profit-making private
institutions cannot be Lead Partners of INTERREG IIIB NWE funded projects.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 5
Partner 8
Institution Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Reims et d'Epernay (CCI)
Legal Status* Private Enterprise
Address 5, rue des Marmouzets
Postal Code 51100
Town Reims
Country France
Phone (office) + 33.3. 26 77 47 14 Phone (mobile)
Fax + 33.3. 26 77 47 16
E-mail rachel.beaujolin@reims-ms.fr
Contact Person M. François Cravoisier
Is the Partner located in an Objective 1 area? No
If you have more than 20 partners, please contact the Joint Technical Secretariat for an
extended Application Form (Part A and B).
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 6
1.2 Project Management
Who will be the Project Manager within the Lead Partner organisation?
Contact Person Mrs Dominique-Paule Decoster
Institution Université Libre de Bruxelles - Institut de Gestion de l'Environnement
et d'Aménagement du Territoire (ULB-IGEAT)
Legal Status* University
Address Campus de Parentville, Rue de Villers, 227
Postal Code 6010
Town Charleroi
Country Belgium
Phone (office) + 32.71.60.02.71 Phone (mobile) + 32.475.71.51.33
Fax + 32.71.60.02.75
E-mail IGEAT.Charleroi@ulb.ac.be
Please ensure that this information is the same as that given for the individual partner.
Describe the person’s experience in project management. This section should not be
longer than ½ page.
Dominique-Paule Decoster is Co-director of the Local and Territorial Development Unit of the
Institute for Environmental Management and Regional Planning of the Université Libre de
Bruxelles (ULB-IGEAT) since 1997. As such, she has managed several action-research
projects including the first phase of CREADEL under Interreg II, the evaluation of the 60 Local
Development Agencies in Wallonia, the evaluation of the URBAN Community Initiative in Mons-
La Louvière, etc. In this capacity, she is also piloting one of the inter-university reseacrh teams
in the framework of the CPDT (Permanent Conference on Territorial Development) that has
beeen set up by the Walloon Region.
In her previous positions as advisor in the Cabinet of the Minister for Regional Planning of the
Walloon Region (1994-1995) and at the Department of housing of the city of Charleroi (1995-
1997), she has notably coordinated and managed several active town planning projects (urban
renovation and regeneration, derelict business sites).
Considered as one of the best Belgian experts in local territorial development, Dominique-Paule
Decoster has held senior positions at the City of Charleroi from 1977 to 1993. From 1989 to
1993, as Chief of Cabinet of the Municipal office responsible for health, family welfare and the
disabled of the city of Charleroi, she was in charge of the management of a department of 220
persons.
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Who will be the Financial Manager for the project?
Contact Person Mrs Michèle Menin
Institution Université Libre de Bruxelles - Institut de Gestion de l'Environnement
et d'Aménagement du Territoire (ULB-IGEAT)
Legal Status* University
Address Campus de Parentville, Rue de Villers 227
Postal Code 6010
Town Charleroi
Country Belgium
Phone (office) + 32.71.60.02.70 Phone (mobile)
Fax + 32.71.60.02.75
E-mail IGEAT.Charleroi@ulb.ac.be
Please ensure that this information is the same as that given for the individual partner.
Describe the person’s experience in financial management. If this position is undertaken
by a non-partner organisation, this must also be justified. This section should not be longer
than ½ page.
Michèle Menin is the Responsible of secretarial office, human resources, administration and
financial management of the ULB-IGEAT Territorial and Local Development Unit since 1995. In
this capacity, she is responsible of the administrative and financial follow-up of many research
contracts with municipalities, regional authorities and the European Commission. She is also in
charge of accounting and bookkeeping for the research Unit.
Her past experience as owner of a small private company in the US where she stayed 10
years, her sense of responsibility and good organisational skills are very valuable in the
administrative and financial management of transnational projects.
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Who will be the Project Co-ordinator (if different to the Project Manager)?
Contact Person Mrs Catherine Niarchos-Lentz
Institution Université Libre de Bruxelles - Institut de Gestion de l'Environnement
et d'Aménagement du Territoire (ULB-IGEAT)
Legal Status* University
Address Campus de Parentville, Rue de Villers 227
Postal Code 6010
Town Charleroi
Country Belgium
Phone (office) + 32.71.60.02.78 Phone (mobile) + 32.478.23.43.89
Fax + 32.71.60.02.75
E-mail cniarcho@ulb.ac.be
Please ensure that this information is the same as that given for the individual partner if
the position of Project Co-ordinator is undertaken by a partner institution.
Describe the person’s experience in project co-ordination. If this position is undertaken
by a non-partner organisation, this must also be justified. This section should not be longer
than ½ page.
A full-time researcher at the ULB-IGEAT since march 2000, Catherine Niarchos-Lentz is in
charge of the overall coordination of the CREADEL under Interreg IIC. In this capacity she has
been coordinating an inter-regional European network of Universities and practitioners
organisations in the field of local development. CREADEL activities during this period included:
the organisation of thematic workshops on different aspects of local development; the
organisation of field visits and transnational exchanges of local development practitioners; the
production of a newsletter; the production of several scientific publications and practical guides;
the creation and management of a comprehensive database of "local actors" in the 3
participating regions; an action-research programme on the theme of evaluating local
development projects and programmes.
From 1992 to 1998 Catherine Niarchos-Lentz was Secretary General of EGLEI (European
Group for Local Employment Initiatives), a broad European network of development agencies,
local and regional authorities and experts in local and regional socio-economic development.
Her main tasks were: providing information to members about European policies and
programmes dealing with regional and local development, employment, training, etc and
networking to establish transnational partnerships for various European projects; coordinating
several European pilot actions and exchange programmes in the field of local development;
managing agreements concluded with the European Commission (DG Regio and DG
Employment); conducting more than 10 training/awareness-raising modules on European
affairs; organising 12 European seminars and congresses in various countries in collaboration
with local member agencies and participating in the organisation and holding of events
organised by the European Commission.
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1.3 Summary of Project Partners
Partners contributing financially, listed by institution and country. This information must
be identical to that provided in Section 1.1 (same names of institutions; same order of
Partners from 1 to 20).
Institution Country
Partner 1: Université Libre de Bruxelles - Institut de Gestion de Belgium
Lead Partner l'Environnement et d'Aménagement du Territoire (ULB-
IGEAT)
Partner 2 Fondation Rurale de Wallonie (FRW) Belgium
Partner 3 National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM) - Ireland
Department of Geography National Institute for Regional
and Spatial Analysis
Partner 4 Southside Partnership Ireland
Local Development Training Institute Ltd (LDTI)
Partner 5 Queen's University Belfast - School of Environmental United
Planning Kingdom
Partner 6 Rural Community Network United
Kingdom
Partner 7 Université de Reims - Centre de Recherches sur la France
Décentralisation Territoriale (CRDT)
Partner 8 Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Reims et d'Epernay France
Partner 9
Partner 10
Partner 11
Partner 12
Partner 13
Partner 14
Partner 15
EU Member States Involved Non EU Member States Involved
Belgium 2 partner(s) Switzerland partner(s)
France 2 partner(s) Others partner(s)
Germany partner(s)
Ireland 2 partner(s)
Luxembourg partner(s)
The Netherlands partner(s)
United Kingdom 2 partner(s)
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 10
SECTION 2 – PROJECT DESCRIPTION
2.1 Priority and Measure
Tick the measure that best matches the strategic focus of the project (select one only)
Priority 1: An attractive and coherent system of cities, towns and regions
Measure 1.1 More attractive metropolitan areas in the global and European context
Measure 1.2 Coherent and polycentric pattern of complementary cities, towns and X
rural areas, coastal and peripheral areas
Priority 2: External and internal accessibility
Measure 2.1 Sustainable mobility management
Measure 2.2 Improved access to the Information Society
Priority 3: Water resources and the prevention of flood damages
Measure 3.1 Land use and water systems
Measure 3.2 The prevention of flood damage
Priority 4: Other natural resources and cultural heritage
Measure 4.1 Stronger ecological infrastructure, reduced ecological footprint
Measure 4.2 Protection and creative enhancement of the cultural heritage
Priority 5: Enhancing the maritime functions of NWE and promoting territorial
integration across seas of NWE
Measure 5.1 Promote transnational co-operation in the enhancement of maritime
functions and in the development of more sustainable links between
seaports and their hinterlands
Measure 5.2 Facilitating co-operation across and between maritime and inland
regions
PLEASE ENSURE THAT ONLY ONE MEASURE IS SELECTED FOR THE PROJECT
2.2 Type of Project
Select the type of project (Action, Study or Investment) Action
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 11
2.3 Project Description
Issues to be addressed.
Describe the issues to be addressed. This section should NOT be longer than 3 pages.
SPAN is a transnational network of practice based organisations and academic institutions
involved in new participatory approaches to strategic planning and multi-level governance
across urban and rural settings.Through this transnational project the partners intend to
research and develop transferable, best practice methodologies and applications which will
assist a wide range of planning and development stakeholders within and beyond the EU.
These include community and non profit organisations, area partnerships, public sector bodies,
and elected representatives.
This proposal being submitted under INTERREG III B can be located within the provisions of
the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), the Spatial Vision for North West
Europe, and the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development of the European
Continent produced by the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional
Planning (CEMAT):
The ESDP argues that organisations involved in spatial planning should overcome any
insular way of looking at their territories and take into consideration European aspects and
interdependencies right from the outset. The document is derived from and gives support to
transnational discussions related to economic growth, environmental sustainability and
social cohesion with a view to deepening European integration. More particularly, the
ESDP has created a common language as an essential tool for international
communication. A key policy aim is polycentric spatial development and a new urban-rural
relationship. This has relevance at a variety of spatial scales from the international to the
regional. It underlines the need for complementarity between cities and regions, while
recognising the importance of creating networks of smaller towns in less densely settled
and economically weaker regions. At the same time the ESDP places great weight on the
contribution of indigenous development, not least within small and medium sized towns.
Local solutions, including urban-rural partnership, are praised as an essential element of
integrated rural development strategies. These issues are central to the execution of the
proposed SPAN project.
The Spatial Vision for North West Europe reveals important opportunities for synergy
among the actions of member states and regions, albeit that its authors regard it as only
the first step in building strategic co-operation on transnational, national and regional
spatial planning within this territory. The Vision is oriented to issues of transboundary and
European significance and reaches out to many potential audiences in their policy making
and decisions. The Vision seeks to help maintain and improve economic prosperity and
social cohesion within environmental limits and argues that the way forward should include
balanced development and the realisation of indigenous potential. This analysis is applied
to a typology of four zones (an open zone, an island zone, a central zone and an inland
zone) whose charactaristics are evident in the territories of the partners to this project. The
important point here is that SPAN can provide scope for solving local planning and
development problems within zones through cooperation across these zones, thus
benefiting not only the partner territories, but making future transnational cooperation
easier.
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The Guiding Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent
produced by CEMAT includes, but looks beyond, the territory of the EU. Its analysis of new
continent-wide challenges and prospects places great weight on the increased involvement
of citizen and societal groups in spatial development planning, encourages development
generated by urban functions and argues for an improving relationship between town and
country. A long list of indigenous development measures is advanced to strengthen urban
and rural areas, but a key message of relevance to this project proposal is the need,
particularly in new member states, to integrate sufficient citizen and local authority
consultation into the possibilities created by development oriented spatial planning
processes. Acceptance of the „European idea‟ is predicated, it is stated, on citizen
involvement at an early stage of any planning process, thus increasing the chances of
success, but also avoiding unproductive investments. SPAN, accordingly, with its
emphasis on participation, can make a significant added-value contribution to the transfer
of best practice in this area to existing and new EU members.
It is against this background that the issues to be addressed by the project can be more fully
considered. Two core themes will guide the work programme related to indigenous
development and balanced growth: strategic territorial planning and multi-level governance.
1. Strategic territorial planning
Strategic planning, for purposes of this project, is defined as a structured way by which to
analyse a local situation and to make provision for dealing with future change. Strategic
planning looks forward over a period of years and seeks to incorporate both current and future
activities into a positive framework for economic, social and environmental development. But
more than this, it is also a mechanism which can bring together different interests at a variety of
territorial scales to agree and implement a multi-faceted agenda of action. The processes of
strategic planning are, therefore, very important in helping to promote stronger citizen
participation and community cohesion. Strategic territorial planning, in short, can act as a
stimulus for stronger solidarity and identity, thus building community capacity in both rural and
urban settings. SPAN will explore this complex arena through a set of shared learning actions
related to indigenous development and balanced growth.
The work of all partners in strategic territorial planning will be guided by a common commitment
to empowerment evaluation. The components of this methodology include training, facilitation,
advocacy, learning and liberation. This is based on the understanding that citizens and
organisations are now demanding much more of evaluation and are not tolerant of the limited
role of the outside expert who has scant knowledge or professional commitment to their
territory. Participation, collaboration and empowerment will be core features of the action
research carried out by SPAN, rather than being advanced as solely end-of-project
recommendations. A transnational expert pool on strategic territorial planning will be
established under SPAN and will be serviced by the partners in this project on a „working
together basis‟. The important point here is that the work of the pool will interact directly with
the action research territories to develop know-how and shape policy at the local level, while at
the same time identifying clearly defined, useful and acceptable approaches to indigenous
development and balanced growth at the transnational scale.
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2. Multi-level governance
It is currently the case that considerable weight is being given across the EU to the contribution
that territorial development can make to meeting the goals of economic competitiveness, social
cohesion and sustainable development. Governance issues at the vertical and horizontal levels
are central to defining the tasks of territorial development. Vertical governance embracing local,
sub-regional, regional and national actors is confronted by the need to mediate decision
making responsibilities, resource allocations and broader political strategies. Horizontal
governance is challenged to shift organisational cultures of independent working towards a
diversity of ways of greater cohesion and unity across the partnership continuum of co-
operation, coordination and collaboration. The argument is that more effective action in the
spheres of economic, social, environmental and cultural development can be secured through
common understandings, shared goals and collective working.
SPAN will give considerable attention to these important issues which have local and
transnational relevance. In order to assist with an exploration of the interaction of rural
hinterland communities with their adjacent small and medium towns through the activities of
multi-level governance, a second transnational expert pool will be established from among the
members of the project partnership. Not only will this facilitate an engagement by local
stakeholders in an analysis of policy and programme integration, but it will also provide a
broader commentary on what works well and what could work better in the assignment of
competences and their application for balanced development within the EU.
In conclusion, SPAN will bring a high level of transnational co-operation to tackling the complex
challenges of indigenous development and balanced growth, with the benefits in local territories
being outweighed by the benefits for the partnership as a whole. The emphasis on
empowerment evaluation and a diversity of participation, not least through partnership
formation as part of the multi-level governance dimension, will create new opportunities for
integrated territorial development beyond the confines of the action research locales. This will
deepen the scope for application of the concepts embedded in the European Spatial
Development Perspective, the Spatial Vision for North West Europe, and the Guiding Principles
for Sustainable Spatial Development.
The project proposal is innovative in regard to the configuration of substantive issues that it
seeks to address, it is innovative in its empowerment evaluation approach to policy formulation
and implementation, and it is innovative in providing an operational mechanism through
transnational expert pools that will connect the results from action research territories to the
priority of balanced EU development.
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Objectives.
Describe the objectives of the project. This section should NOT be longer than 2 pages.
This proposed project will address the territorial planning methodological problem of the inter-
relationship between priorities at the level of the EU and national / regional policies concerned
with balanced growth and indigenous development. While the balanced growth concept
demands more equitable access to opportunities and services, the indigenous development
concept requires the harnessing of a wide range of physical, economic and social capital. The
main assumption of SPAN, therefore, is that the economic, social, environmental, political and
cultural diversity of the partner territories constitutes a major asset in building European
cohesion when their problems and challenges are tackled on a transnational basis. Territorial
cohesion, which is central to the measures outlined in the European Spatial Development
Perspective, the Spatial Vision for North West Europe, and the Guiding Principles for
Sustainable Spatial Development, can only be secured on the basis of partnership processes
across the levels of the EU, its member states and their regions. This should ensure that local
territories can follow their development trajectories to best advantage, but at the same time
implement policies which are consistent with sustainable development in the wider European
context.
Fundamentally, therefore, the proposed project will seek to uncover the circumstances under
which indigenous development can contribute to balanced growth within the context of
polycentric spatial development and a new urban-rural relationship. This understanding can
only be reached through detailed empirical work and thus the integrated action research
agenda advanced in this proposal will contribute not only to local solutions with applicability of
know-how across the EU, but also to a fresh conceptual input to transnational spatial planning
in a diverse and changing EU. The project objectives, therefore, go well beyond the design of
actions based on national frameworks and benefiting only the strict locality of the regional
partners. The critical aim is to provide greater clarity around the application of a number of core
spatial planning principles driving territorial development at the EU level.
The design of the project actions to be carried out by the partners associated with this
application is constructed on the basis that all partners will benefit and that implementation will
take place with as much contribution and reciprocity from individual partners as possible. This
mirrors the idea of „network governance‟ where common interest is pursued through authentic
dialogue and negotiation leading to joint problem solving and shared learning. This can be
considered as a very effective way of bringing about change in relation to policy perspectives at
a variety of spatial scales, but particularly in the European territorial context, where persuasion
rather than imposition is important. The broadening and deepening of this network governance
experience designed to change attitudes and behaviour will be secured through the delivery of
three high profile initiatives comprising (i) a major transnational Public event in 2005, (ii) the
establishment of a permanent North West Europe Society for Indigenous Development and
Territorial Cohesion in 2007, and (iii) the publication of an end-of-project book / report on
transformative spatial planning in Europe. Each in its own way will help with the dissemination
and assimilation of the impact of this INTERREG project among a much larger European
audience.
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It is out of this rationale that the objectives of SPAN may be succinctly specified as follows:
To investigate how the application of indigenous development within the partner
territories of North West Europe can contribute to balanced growth within the
context of polycentric development and a new urban – rural relationship;
To bring together a governance network of practice-based organisations and
academic institutions from the four different territorial zones of North West Europe
to facilitate shared learning, collective action, practice dissemination and policy
assimilation at regional and EU levels, thereby moving well beyond a mere
exchange of experience;
To demonstrate the potential contribution of European civil society to territorial
governance by way of innovative approaches to strategic territorial planning based
on empowerment evaluation, and by way of multi-level governance based on
different approaches to partnership formation and operation;
To ensure that the implementation of this action plan, while benefiting all partners,
will secure a prominent EU territorial impact, which extends beyond the life of the
project.
It is a truism in spatial development that “too many objectives are no objectives”. Accordingly
the four objectives specified above are coherent, realistic, achievable and consistent with the
overall aims of INTERREG IIIB. These objectives are strongly embedded in the design of the
action plan, the integrated components of which demonstrate well the added value of working
transnationally.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 16
Description of the Action Plan.
Summarise the main stages, actions and related results to achieve the project‟s objectives.
This should include communication and publicity actions. Indicate which partners will be
involved in the different actions and how partners will co-operate at each stage of the project.
Please ensure that the summary description of your Action Plan is consistent with Annex I
(Action Plan).
This section should NOT be longer than 4 pages.
1. Preparation phase
In July 2003, representatives of Univesrité Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Fondation Rurale de
Wallonie, Queen's University Belfast, Southside Partnership and National University of Ireland
Maynooth met in Charleroi in order to discuss the possibility to submit an Interreg III B proposal
on the themes of Strategic planning and multi-level governance. The main objectives of the
partnership through this proposal is to enable a participatory approach to spatial planning and
to find ways for local communities and regions to better participate in the socio-economic
development of their territories. In order to better reflect these priorities the project is named
Strategic Planning Action Network (SPAN).
These 5 organisations were part of a previous proposal called CREADEL II which was referred
by the Interreg III B Programme Steering Committee. Taking into account the
recommandations that were made by this Committee, the partners decided to change the
composition of the transnational partnership: In Northern Ireland invitation was made to the
Rural Community Network (made of 500 local rural communities) to join the partnership; in
France, invitations have been extended to the Champagne-Ardenne Regional Council and to
the Centre de Recherche et de Documentation Administratives sur la Décentralisation
Territoriale (CRDT) at the Université de Reims.
The months of July, August and September 2003 were dedicated to a series of meetings with
these new potential partners and with the Interreg III B NWE Join Technical Secretariat to
validate the new project idea. Rural Community Network decided to join the partnership. In
France, it was decided that the Regional Council of Champagne-Ardenne will act as umbrela
organisation for the Univesrity of Reims and also for the Regional Chamber of Commerce and
Industry. In June 2004, the composition of the regional French partnership is changing bringing
University of Reims and Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry as official partners of
SPAN. While maintaining their will to co-finance the project, the Regional Council does not
participate to the partnership anymore. In each of the four regions involved in SPAN the
partnership is composed of a practice based organisation acting in the field of local
development and an academic institution.
In each of the 4 partner regions, 2 territories that will serve as laboratories for the pilot
actions have been chosen according to the following set of criteria:
- existence of a coherent administrative structure and multiplicity of local development
actors;
- existence of a cultural identity;
- coherence in relation to Interreg IIIB objectives in favour of balanced development of the
territory;
- prospective territories in terms of possible common future.
In addition to that the selected territories compose a representative sample of the different
types of urban-rural mixes that coexist in the NWE area, ranging from very peripheral rural
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 17
SPAN partners Transnational pool A on Strategic
Local Platform 1
Practitioners Territorial PlanningB on Multi-level
Transnational pool
Local governance
Local Platform 2
Community
agents
Pilot Territory 2
Pilot Territory 1
Researchers
areas, to industrial re-conversion zones, neighbourhoods of metropolitan areas, protected
natural parks, etc.
2. Launching phase
The 4 first months will be used to launch the project in a very dynamic way at regional and
transnational levels.
During the kick-off meeting, SPAN partners will have the opportunity for familiarisation with
the Project‟s Objectives and to confirm the best ways of working together to achieve the final
results. A set of communication tools (a web site, dias, displays and brochures) will be
developped and a first press conference will be held in Wallonia. In the same time a dedicated
FTP site will be created to facilitate internal communication between partners (SPAN's virtual
office).
Two transnational pools of expertise will be set up, each of them including researchers,
practitioners and local community agents (SPAN partners) of at least 3 different partner
regions. The first pool will deal with Strategic Territorial Planning issues including policy
analysis and evaluation of local projects and programmes. The second pool will concentrate on
Multi-level Governance including policy analysis, evaluation and support to local partnerships.
In each of the 8 pilot territories a local platform will be set up comprising local practitioners
(community and/or local development agents) and local elected representatives. Each platform
will be made of 5 persons maximum.
Regional meetings between on the one hand SPAN partners and on the other hand the local
authorities and the actors composing the local platforms of the pilot territories will mark the
launching of the pilot actions. Each pilot territory will choose its Transnational pool of expertise
according to the local context and the problems it wants to resolve. Regional agreements will
be reached on the action plan and schedule of pilot actions in each of the territories.
Starting point Throughout this phase, an independent external evaluator appointed by the
partnership will conduct an ex-ante evaluation study, which will serve as the "starting point" for
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 18
Local platform in Belgium
Local platform 12in Belgium
Transnational
Transnational
Local platform 78
Local platform pool on
pool ABon
Local platform
Local platform
in Ireland
in Ireland Multi-level
Strategic
in UK
34in UK
Governance
Territorial
planning
Local platform 56in France
Local platform in France
future qualitative evaluation of the project. The results of this work will be presented to partners.
3. Implementation phase
The implementation phase starts in May 2004 and has a duration of 36 months. The actions of
this phase can be summarized under 3 headings: pilot action-research, networking and
information activities.
- Pilot action-research
During the implementation phase the Transnational pools of expertise will meet in the pilot
territories and work to resolve a set of predefined problems in collaboration with the local
platforms made of local practitioners and elected representatives.
+
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 19
Reminder: Each local platform will be made of 5 persons maximum. Each pilot territory will
work with its Transnational pool of expertise chosen according to the local context and the
problems it wants to resolve.
The pools together with the local partners will hold two types of meetings: "private"
brainstorming and mediation meetings to find solutions and public meetings to present results
and have them validated by target groups or the local population. It is planned that the pools
will meet at least once per year in each of the 8 pilot territories.
For example in Ireland the project will be focused on the Dublin and mid-East regions with a
primary emphasis on the urban area of Dun Laoghaire- Rathdown. The focus of the action
within the regional territory will be to explore how work at community level can feed into
strategic territorial planning at the county and regional levels in order to develop a model for
holistic integrated spatial planning and multi-stakeholder governance that takes full account of
social as well as economic, environmental and spatial dimensions.
Structures are already in place for multi-stakeholder involvement in a range of socio-economic
dimensions at the sub-regional level. Through the project it is intended:
to evaluate the effectiveness of current structures in terms of participation of civil
society and acknowledgement of community based issues and needs,
to explore whether local service provision and local development can be met
through the existing structures;
to identify how participation at community level can be extended and enhanced to
include physical planning at the local and strategic levels and finally
to assess how effective participation can bring about institutional change.
The transnational nature of the network of academic institutions and practitioners that compose
the pools plays a crucial role in this process, as each pilot territory can benefit from the
experience gained in other parts of the NWE area, avoid pitfalls that have occurred in similar
circumstances and prevent loosing time in "reinventing the wheel".
For instance, one the Walloon pilot territories "Pays de Herve" is in the process of elaborating a
strategic and prospective plan for its future taking into account the opportunities and threats of
its geographic location in the center of the space girdled by the towns of Liege, Maestricht,
Aachen, Eupen and Verviers, in the heart of the Euroregion Meuse-Rein. The experience of
other areas (especially in France) which have already gone through this process will be most
valuable to the promoters of this territorial initiative.
Academic partners' role in the pools of expertise will be to contextuallise the problems and to
capitalize the results in the form of practical and transferable tools for decision making, for local
partnerships building, for evaluation etc. The findings of both pools of expertise and the
implications for spatial planning and territorial cohesion across the EU territory will be
summarized in a bilingual book published and disseminated during the last months of the
implementation phase.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 20
In the course of the implementation phase, 3 series of 4 thematic workshops will be
organised on the themes “Participatory governance and local development", "Multi-level spatial
planning" and "Networks and their potential for territorial cohesion”. They will give the
opportunity to all local development actors, and notably to those of the pilot territories, to
participate actively in the action-research project in a mutual learning process and to share
experiences. Those events will also be occasions for public presentations of intermediate
results of the project. In each region, the thematic workshops will be organized in the pilot
territories in order to maximize participation of local actors.
The results of each series of workshops including those of the launching phase will be the
object of comparative reading and analysis work carried out by the partners of the project.
Each partner will read and analyse all regional results from a different disciplinary point of view
(territorial planning, political sciences, sociology, environmental planning) in order to maximise
the support they can provide to the Practitioners and local actors. These comparative
transnational results will be published in 3 special issues of the SPAN Newsletter.
The pilot action-research project described below is complemented and reinforced by a series
of networking, training, awareness raising and information activities described hereafter.
- Networking, training and awareness raising activities
Irish, Walloon, French and Northern Irish partners will each organise a week of exchange for
30 practitioners from the other partners' regions. Participants will be selected in the pilot areas
among the members of the local platforms on basis of a procedure including a call for
expression of interest, candidatures, selection, etc. The exchanges consist of a series of field
visits and thematic workshops and are coupled whenever possible with a local event
(Conference, Meeting, Training week, etc.). These are very concrete opportunities for real and
direct exchanges of experiences between the members of the local platforms. Every year of the
implmentation phase, these exchanges create a direct link between the local actors of the pilot
territories.
Moreover, the transnational exchanges offer a very special training experience that can be
placed in the more global context and goal of life-long learning.
In October 2005, a big European public event (called summer school in this proposal) will be
organised in Ireland to present the intermediate results of the project to a large audience and
raise awareness about strategic planing at different territorial scales and the implications for the
local communities. In May 2007, a closing seminar will take place in Brussels to present the
final results of the project and launch officially the North-West European Society for Territorial
Cohesion and Local Development. The book, capitalizing the findings of both pools of
expertise and the implications for spatial planning and territorial cohesion across the EU
territory will be publicized at this occasion.
- Information activities
SPAN News, a four-monthly newsletter will allow information about the project and its progress
to be widely disseminated and will give greater opportunity to the extended partnership to
contribute articles. The number of copies is fixed at 6.000 to cover the needs of all partner
regions.
During the first year the database of local actors developped through CREADEL will be
extended geographically to new partners' regions and internally to include new partners'
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 21
contacts. Special attention will be paid to the already existing category of "local elected
representatives" that will be extended with the objective to be exhaustive by the end of the
project in each of the 4 regions. This is particularly important in the framework of action-
research in the field of multi-level governance. As the network of Community Agents grows, so
they too will be added to the database to allow for communication and shared experience.
Once a year a letter will be dedicated to reminding the actors of the possibility to update their
information on line.
A new database of significant experiences "case studies" will be created on the web site. It
will be related to the actors' database and will use two of the search engines (key words and
geographical). Every year, each of the 4 partner regions will contribute, to create a virtual show
room of good practice in the field of local development in the NWE area. The experiences will
not only be described, but their potential transferability will also be assessed. This is seen as
being of particular value to promote the accessing countries of the expanded Union.
Both these databases will be available on the SPAN web site where local development actors
can also find all the results of the action-research process like publications, practical guides,
synthesis reports of workshops, etc and the local development portal which provides an
inventory of relevant links. The website will be updated permanently.
Finally, during the last months of the project, the partners will set up the North West European
Society for Local Development and Territorial Cohesion. This will take the form of a
European grouping of economic interest with main aims:
- to disseminate results and good practice;
- to act as an observatory of innovation in the field of local and territorial development;
- to provide coaching and support to local development processes;
- to develop training schemes for local development practitioners;
- to be a link with other learning societies (like European networks of local and regional
development organisations, associations of planning societies, evaluation societies,
etc.);
- to ensure long-term perpetuation of the project activities (like the use of databases for
instance);
- to lay the ground for an enlargement of the geographic scope of the project activities
through the addition of new partner organisations.
The feasibility study for this investment is included in the project's action plan.
- Closing phase
During the last 4 months of the project SPAN partners will prepare and write final reports.
An external expert will be in charge of the ex-post evaluation of the project.
Final accounts will be audited.
The diagram hereafter summarizes the methodology of the project and shows the
multiplicity of links between the different actions.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 22
Participatory Planning for Integrated Territorial Cohesion
Transnational Thematic Workshops
2004: Participatory 2005: Multi-Level Spatial 2006: Networking and
Governance and Planning and Balanced Territorial Cohesion
Indigenous Development Growth
A
BE
A: Strategic UK
Territorial B K
Planning - K
policy analysis A
evaluation FR
spatial innovation IR
B
A
IR
B: Multi-level FR
B
Governance -
• policy analysis
• evaluation A
• partnership support UK
BE
B
A and B Action Research Territories Transnational
Transnational to develop Transnational Practitioners
Expert Pools “Know-How” and shape policy Exchanges
2005: Transnational Summer School
2007: NWE Society for Indigenous Development
and Territorial Cohesion
+
2007: Implications/Proposals for Participatory Planning
and Territorial Cohesion across the EU : book-report
+
Closing seminar
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 23
Investments.
If investments are planned, please describe each investment as outlined below.
For single country investment projects only, please demonstrate what the “significant impact” of
the investment is. Please refer to any transnational strategy or internationally agreed strategic
document to which the project relates.
Please make sure that the numbering of investments described corresponds to that
used in Annex VII (Detailed Investment Sheets).
This section should NOT be longer than 2 pages per investment.
Investment No. 1:
Brief description of the content of the investment:
A medium-term objective to achieve by the end of the project is to set up a North West
European Society for Local Development and Territorial Cohesion. This will take the form
of a European grouping of economic interest with main aims:
- to disseminate results and good practice;
- to act as an observatory of innovation in the field of local and territorial development;
- to provide coaching and support to local development processes;
- to develop training schemes for local development practitioners;
- to be a link with other learning societies (like European networks of local and regional
development organisations, associations of planning societies, evaluation societies,
etc.);
- to ensure long-term perpetuation of the project activities (like the use of databases for
instance);
- to lay the ground for an enlargement of the geographic scope of the project activities
through the addition of new partner organisations.
Interreg III B will finance part of the initial social capital of this new society (15%). Partners will
each finance part of the initial social capital and will be in charge of raising public and private
funds to supplement this initial capital.
Transnational impact and relevance:
The North West European Society for Local Development and Territorial Cohesion will
mainly tackle common issues faced by the urban and rural territories : planning tools and
methodologies, empowrement of local actors and their active participation in territorial planning,
monitoring and evaluation of local development processes, etc. and the transnational issue of
multi-level governance. Moreover, it will act as an international observatory of innovation in
these fields, providing usefull information to the European Institutions on the state of the art and
the newest developments.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 24
Benefit for the partnership as a whole / How and at what stages the different project
partners are involved in the design, implementation, outcome and/or use of the
investment:
The decision to set up the North West European Society for Local Development and
Territorial Cohesion was taken in common by the project's partners on the 29 th of July 2003
during the preparatory phase of SPAN. The feasibility study for this investment is included in
the action plan of the project , as suggested by the Interreg III B NWE Technical Secretariat
during their meeting with the project's leader representatives on the 5 th of September 2003.
Each partner (including the ERDF itself) will benefit from its participation in this Society.
All partner organisations will have the opportunity to develop their transnational contacts,
projects and activities using this European Grouping of Economic Interest as a common
platform to launch transnational initiatives. The North West European Society for Local
Development and Territorial Cohesion will enable the academic partners of SPAN to further
develop certain transnational activities which do not belong to the core missions of Universities,
such as for example transnational professional training schemes for local development
practitioners.
Innovative character:
A key aim of the European Council, the European Commission as well as many national and political
stakeholders is to actively change Europe into a “Learning Society”, a 'Learning Economy' or a
'Knowledge Based Economy'. It is widely believed that only by making 'lifelong learning' a reality for
European citizens can individual and regional competitiveness be ensured. Therefore such a move
towards a 'Learning Society' has far reaching economic, political and social implications.
Unfortunately, this discussion has too often been limited to education experts and elite policy
circles. Further, it is in danger of being dominated by technocratic and techno-centric visions of
progress in which learning only serves elite interests and corporate profit motives. For just and
humanizing learning societies to unfold, many more people and their experiences must be
involved in the process. Learning does not take place in a vacuum but in the context of actual
communities. Hence, in the development of learning societies we must recognize the
mechanisms of power, inclusion and exclusion in those communities, and establish the
connections between learning, democracy and citizenship in those communities.
The constitution of a North West European Society for Local Development and Territorial
Cohesion aims at progressively bridging the gap between local communities and their capacity
to develop in the context of a globalized economy. Thus the establishment of this Society is
innovative not only because it will be unique in its field but also with regard to its main aim and
philosophy.
For additional investments, please cut and paste the above box as many times as
needed and insert the relevant number at the top.
Output indicators, expected results and impacts per Measure.
In Annex IV fill in the output indicators, expected results and impacts per Measure.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 25
2.4 Relevant Considerations for the Assessment of Projects
List the main arguments that should be considered in assessing the project against the
Selection Criteria. Refer to Chapter 6 of the Programme Complement for the detailed
description of the Selection Criteria. This section should NOT be longer than 4 pages.
Selection Criterion 1: Transnationality.
Is the nature of the issue tackled transnational? If the project deals with a common
issue, to which extent does transnational co-operation bring added-value to way it will
be tackled?
Indigenous development and balanced growth are common issues of significant transnational
relevance as reflected by their prominence within the ESDP and the Spatial Vision for North
West Europe.
How transnational is the style of working between partners at all stages of the project?
(methods of interactions, co-operation and cross-fertilisation foreseen)
The design of the action plan ensures that there is a strong implementation need for and
dependency on transnational co-operation from inception (ie. the setting up of partner based
expert pools, the establishment of thematic working groups), during the project (ie. shared
training of local indigenous actors, collective interventions by the expert pools in territorial
problem solving, the 2005 Summer School), and at the conclusion of the project (ie. the
establishment of the North West Europe Society for Indigenous Development and Territorial
Cohesion in 2007, the publication and dissemination of an end-of-project book / report on
transformative spatial planning in Europe, the closing seminar). The action plan ensures that
each partner has a high level of joint engagement in all these actions.
How do all partners benefit from the collective results of the project?
The engine for this project is collective activity based on the application of shared learning.
Participation in the series of transnational thematic workshops, the transnational practitioner
exchanges and the transnational expert pools involves all partners on an equal basis. The
results of these activities have a direct bearing on shaping transnational know-how derived
from the action research territories in Belgium, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom. In
short, stakeholders with an interest in strategic territorial planning and multi-level governance
within each territory will be exposed to new ideas and new practices on how to do things
differently and better.
In what way will the territorial impact of the project be transnational in or across North-
West Europe?
The transnational territorial impact of the project is strongly related to the fact that the partner
territories are illustrative of each of the geographical elements portrayed as an agenda for
sustainable and balanced development in the Vision for North West Europe. The territory of the
Belgium partners corresponds well with the challenges being faced in the Central Zone, the
French partners with the Inland Zone, the Ireland partners with the Island Zone, and the UK
partners with the Open Zone. The interlocking elements of this project will contribute to the
operationalisation of this vision thus deepening the scope for extended participatory planning
and more robust territorial cohesion across the EU.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 26
Selection Criterion 2: Innovative approach to territorial planning.
Both the ESDP and the Spatial Vision for North West Europe provide significant application
challenges to their constituent territories. This project with its twin emphases on an
empowerment evaluation approach to strategic territorial planning, and partnership formation in
the context of multi-level governance will create new approaches to integrated territorial
development in line with those challenges. The cross-cutting themes of polycentric
development and a new urban-rural relationship will give focus to this work not least because
they give prominence to „the rural‟ dimension, comprising small towns, villages and open
countryside, and which frequently is overshadowed / marginalised by „the urban‟ in
conventional territorial planning approaches.
Selection Criterion 3: High level of cross-sector integration.
The project is constructed on the basis of close interaction between practitioners and
academics with the former bringing valuable knowledge of on-the-ground conditions,
preferences and opportunities, and the latter contributing investigative methodologies and
conceptual skills. Both sets of partners can, in turn, contribute to the integration of planning
practice and territorial policy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the project actions, are firmly
rooted in the involvement of civil society, working within and across their respective North West
Europe territorial zones. In order to advance the integration between indigenous development
and balanced growth, the operationalisation of the action plan will allow for analysis of the
dynamics of economic, social, environmental and cultural change consistent with principles of
sustainable development.
Selection Criterion 4: Building on existing transnational planning documents.
This proposal is firmly rooted in the policy options of the European Spatial Development
Perspective, the Spatial Vision for North West Europe and the Guiding Principles for
Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent each of which gives prominence
to securing indigenous development and balanced growth within the context of polycentricity
and a new urban-rural partnership. The Spatial Vision for North West Europe, in particular,
identifies four strategic co-operation zones (an Open Zone, Island Zone, Central Zone, and
Inland Zone). The location of the project partners fits well with this broad spatial typology. The
project demonstrates the sentiments expressed in this document that those involved in spatial
planning within a zone can better solve problems by co-operation at a transnational level.
Selection Criterion 5: Contribution to a more geographically-balanced development of
the European territory.
More geographically-balanced development of the European territory demands more equitable
access to opportunities and services across the settlement hierarchy. This requires new ways
to do the business of development and in this regard it is important to harness the potential of
network and partnership-based actions which can promote stronger interdependencies
between the urban and the rural, and between cities and their regions. The integrated actions
in this project are designed to contribute to this EU territorial goal by placing emphasis on
indigenous development through the transnational transfer of know-how. The content of the
project, therefore, goes well beyond the design of actions based on national frameworks and
benefiting only the strict locality of the regional partners. The critical aim is to provide greater
clarity around the application of a number of core spatial planning principles driving territorial
development at the EU level.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 27
Selection Criterion 6a [Action and Investment Projects only]: Improvement of the territorial
impact of EU policies.
The ESDP concludes that while most EU policies have no immediate spatial character they are
supported by a range of spatial concepts with potential to modify spatial structure and potentials in
economies and societies. A number of Treaty headings are advanced as providing the Commisssion
with the basis for action with implications for spatial development in the EU. Of direct relevance to this
project proposal is Community Competition Policy, Structural Funds and Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP) each of which has a bearing on indigenous development and balanced growth outcomes. The
task of maintaining and improving equitable access to opportunities and services raises issues around
intervention to ensure equilibrium between competition and general interest objectives. This is a crucial
challenge in defining a new urban-rural relationship in a situation where the rural is frequently the most
vulnerable element of that relationship. This, in turn, spills over into the need for integrated approaches
for structural funds expenditure and rural development strategies for CAP expenditure. This project will
take cognisance of these policy implications and their territorial impact, not least through the
involvement of a wide range of programme-connected and delivery-oriented practitioners in (i) the
transnational thematic workshops; (ii) the transnational expert pools; (iii) the transnational study visits;
(iv) the investigations within the action research territories; and (v) the transnational Summer School,
together with the dissemination of project findings.
Selection Criterion 7: Building on experience from earlier EU-funded Programmes.
While this project proposal has been consciously designed to take account of the earlier CREADEL
project funded under the INTERREG IIC NWMA Programme, it goes much further than the previous
initiative in relation to its investigations into indigenous development and balanced growth. The
operational emphasis placed on the sharing of transnational know-how throughout the project‟s lifespan,
the methodological emphasis placed on an engagement with civil society through strategic territorial
planning and multi-level governance, the emphasis placed on the identification of transnational spatial
impacts, not least those connected to the implementation of EU policies and the working through of the
zonal typology in the Spatial Vision for North West Europe are strong indicators of exploring new
ground. The project has, moreover, assembled a new partnership configuration consisting of
participants from Belgium, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom whose diversity of regional
backgrounds (Wallonia, Champagne/Ardenne, Dublin Region, and Northern Ireland) are illustrative of
the spatial diversity analysed by the Spatial Vision document.
Selection Criterion 8: Effective communication strategy and transferable results.
The success of the project will depend significantly on recording and analysing data connected to its
many shared learning components as working papers and subsequently turning these insights into a
portfolio of published outputs which can directly reach relevant transnational stakeholders. These
stakeholders comprise community and non-profit organisations, area partnerships, public sector bodies,
and elected representatives, all of which hold a longstanding interest in and commitment to indigenous
development. A regular newsletter, a new web site to be updated on an ongoing basis, practitioner and
academic journal papers, conference presentations will sit alongside the organising of a transnational
Summer School in 2005, the launching of a North West Europe Society for Indigenous Development
and Territorial Cohesion, and the publication of an end-of-project report / book on transformative spatial
planning in Europe.
Selection Criterion 9: Prospect for long-lasting activity and leverage for extra investment.
The emphasis placed within the project on the application of transnational know-how warrants continuity
on a longer lasting basis. The dissemination strategy will seek to demonstrate how the learning
outcomes from the investigations can be mainstreamed into the perspectives and activities of relevant
stakeholders. Particular emphasis is placed on the positive contribution to be made by the
establishment of a North West Europe Society for Indigenous Development and Territorial Cohesion
whose affiliations can encompass a much broader range of organisations and their work than that
represented by the current project promoters. This is an ambitious component of the project, but
nonetheless a feasible and necessary initiative for the pursuit of authentic dialogue on territorial
planning and development.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 28
Selection Criterion 10: Good value for money.
10.A The individual elements of the project budget breakdown represent good value for
money compared to their market price.
The accompanying documentation in this project application gives careful thought to a full explanation of
all budget lines. Expenditure on equipment has been kept to a minimum and is low in absolute terms.
10.B The project budget represents good value for money as it is proportionate to the
expected outputs and results.
A diversity of types of meetings is built into the project format, but the overarching emphasis is that each
meeting must contribute to the transnational purpose of the project, and take advantage of opportunities
to secure efficiencies on travel and accommodation costs. Local practitioners and elected
representatives composing the local platforms need to meet with their counterparts of the other pilot
territories. This will be done through the transnational exchanges, through participation in each others'
local events and through participation of the local platforms to the two big public events of the project.
This is why the project's budget includes a relatively high number of transnational and local trips.
Private consultancy firms will not be used to service the Transnational Expert Pools; instead these will
be serviced by the project partners, with inputs as appropriate from institutional / organisational
colleagues thus giving good value for money and additional guarantees of quality and commitment to
the project.
Selection Criterion 11: Sound and efficient management structure.
The partners associated with this project have considerable individual experience in accomplishing
complex action plans, delivering them on time, and securing a very high rate of absorption of EU
funding. More particularly, the audit report and the final independent evaluation of the previous
CREADEL project confirmed that this had been managed efficiently. The project leadership for this
application, should it be successful, will rest with ULB-IGEAT in line with the wishes of the INTERREG
IIIB NWE Secretariat.
Selection Criteria 12/13/14: Contribution to the objectives, outputs and results of the relevant
Measure.
This action project proposal is located under the specific priority of “An attractive and coherent system
of cities, towns and regions” and its accompanying Measure “Coherent and polycentric pattern of
complementary cities, towns, rural areas, coastal and peripheral regions”. The project involves the
testing and demonstration of methods and processes for involving local people in the planning and
realisation of actions related to territorial development and the application of principles of co-operative
spatial planning at the transnational scale. The project will investigate and deliver new ways to apply the
local implementation of Community policies related to indigenous development with a view to improving
their territorial impact. The project will conclude with the establishment of a transnational thematic forum
under the auspices of the North West Society for Indigenous Development and Territorial Cohesion. All
these actions are illustrated as being eligible within the Community Initiative Programme
documentation. The proposal, accordingly, fits extremely well with the specific objectives under this
Measure of “Balanced growth”, “Strengthening urban-rural partnerships” and “Improving the knowledge
base and co-operation”. This involves “promoting the indigenous potential of rural economies”,
“disseminating and raising awareness on the critical spatial development trends in NWE, and promoting
compatible and consistent data sets for transnational spatial planning”, and “promoting wider
participation amongst civil society and of public-private partnerships in the realisation of the above
mentioned objectives”. The results of the project, by virtue of the focus on indigenous development and
balanced growth, will include “increased consensus on critical transnational spatial development issues
requiring co-operative efforts, reflected in a shared agenda and vision for North West Europe spatial
development, and providing a strong foundation for more intensive co-operation”.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 29
Geographic Scope of the Project.
Please attach a map as Annex V and give extra information regarding the geographic
scope.For Action and Investment Projects: the map should indicate the location of partners and
the location of actions and/or investments. This section should NOT be longer than 1 page.
SPAN partners are located in Wallonia, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Region
Champagne-Ardenne in France as shown on the annexed map. Each regional partnership has chosen
pilot territories that will serve as laboratories for pilot actions. These are:
Belgium-Wallonia
Pays de Geminiacum is a territory made of two communes Pont-à-Celles and Bons Villers,
situated in the province of Hainaut at the periphery of the city of Charleroi. With a population of
24,500 inhabitants it is composed of rural areas, villages and small towns. It combines
significant agricultural landscapes - agriculture is a well developed sector in the area - with an
artisanal and industrial presence disseminated on all the territory or located in the industrial
park of Frasnes-lez-Gosselies. Pays de Herve is an area in the center of the space girdled by
the towns of Liege, Maestricht, Aachen, Eupen and Verviers, in the heart of the Euroregion
Meuse-Rein. It is an area without administrative statute, but with strong territorial, landscape,
and cultural identity. Its territory covers 422 to 748 km2, counts from 12 to 16 communes, and
varies from 100.000 to 160.000 inhabitants.
Ireland
The geographical focus for Ireland comprises the Greater Dublin Region Dun Laoghaire – Rathdown
local authority area, which is characterised by enormous contrasts in levels of socio-economic
wellbeing. Most of the area consists of residential districts that are among the most affluent in the entire
State with many of the resident workforce commuting to highly paid employment in Dublin city.
However, there are also within the area a number of districts where many forms of economic and social
disadvantage are the norm. The Southside Partnership and LDTI target their activities towards the most
disadvantaged and vulnerable groups that comprise about 45,000 persons.
UK- Northern Ireland
The geographical focus for local actions within the UK comprises rural Northern Ireland which
has been defined by Government as comprising everywhere outside the Belfast Metropolitan
Area and the city of Derry / Londonderry. This territory comprises some 950,000 people or
some 60% of the population of the region. It comprises a combination of regional towns, small
towns, villages and a dispersed rural settlement pattern. Over the past decade a combination of
EU measures and Government initiatives has sought to promote rural revitalization based on
local planning and citizen participation. This INTERREG project builds on that work, but will
provide a new momentum to integrate innovative practices of community-led physical planning
and sub-regional networking / partnerships into the forging of a new urban – rural relationship.
The case study localities within Northern Ireland will be selected as being representative of
geographical, cultural and institutional diversity.
France - Champagne-Ardenne
Action-research will be implemented on 2 territories among the 4 following ones: Pays des
Crêtes pré-ardenaises (deeply rural geographical sector), Pays des trois cantons (rural
sector including a small town), Pays rémois, Parc Naturel Régional (Natural Park located
very close to a big town).These territories are selected according to their dynamism and the
final choice of the two zones will be done according to the interest of the local actors and the
local councillors of each one of them.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 30
2.5 Follow-up of the Project.
How will the project be followed up once it has been finalised? This section should NOT
be longer than 1 page.
The project will be maintained, in so far that resources permit, through a continuation of joint
activities organised by the participating partners. These may take the form of an annual
international seminar organised by the North West European Society for Local
Development and Territorial Cohesion; the production of joint publications involving both the
practitioner and academic partners to disseminate information on best practices; and on-going
updating of the project databases and website.
On a less tangible level it is anticipated that through the project there will be an enhancement
of local expertise that will lead to more effective approaches to the promotion of local
development and territorial cohesion. The enhancement of local capacity will have long lasting
positive effects in the partnership areas.
Will the project bring about long-lasting effects in terms of further impacts of
investments? Please justify to what extent it will trigger further development
opportunities in the area concerned. This section should NOT be longer than 1 page.
The project is expected to have long-lasting positive effects in the partner regions through its
focus on supporting so called soft supports in the areas of strategic territorial planning and
multilevel governance which are widely acknowledged as important influences on the
promotion of sustainable local development. Through an enhancement of local expertise and
the promotion of a more participatory approach to planning it is envisaged that the regions will
be more successful in promoting investment opportunities that will lead to further development.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 31
If so, will the project follow-up activities be financially self-sufficient? This section should
NOT be longer than 1 page.
The direct follow up activities that are envisaged will be financed by the participating partners to
the extent that their resources permit. As the proposed actions for the North West European
Society for Local Development and Territorial Cohesion will be mutually beneficial to all
partners it is envisaged that it will be in the interest of each partner to support a continuation of
the joint actions initiated under the project.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 32
2.6 Promotion and Publicity.
How do you intend to raise public awareness of the relevance of the NWE Programme to
different local issues and of transnational co-operation in general? This section should
NOT be longer than 1 page.
The Interreg III B NWE support will be mentioned on all communication and information tools of
the project, namely: the leaflet, display material, SPAN Newsletters and Web site and the
publications. These tools will be used by SPAN partners not only during the project's activities
and for press conferences, but also on a number of public occasions, like conferences and
seminars organised in their respective regions.
SPAN thematic workshops, 2005 Summer School and closing seminar will be publicised on the
NWE web site and through the NWE newsletters. In addition, these activities will be publicised
at European level through the INFO REGIO newsletters and web site, the Euclide newsletters
and any other relevant European media. These announcements always clearly mention the
support provided by the NWE Programme. They are usually relayed by the press at regional
and local levels or through different European networks.
Managers of the NWE Programme will contribute articles to SPAN Newsletters and will be
invited to participate to annual seminars. These will also give the opportunity to display and
dispatch NWE communication materials.
Please give a brief summary of the major actions foreseen in the communication plan,
specifying for which target groups each action is intended. These actions must be
included in the Action Plan (Annex I). This section should NOT be longer than 1 page.
The main beneficiaries of the SPAN project are local Community Agents and territorial
development actors working in the urban and rural areas of the four regions involved in the
project. They will be actively involved in the action-research process to which they contribute
their expertise. They also form the target group of all SPAN information and communication
activities. More widely, local and territorial development actors of the NWE cooperation area
can benefit from SPAN information and communication activities.
Local and territorial development actors include not only the public, private and voluntary
organisations dealing with any aspect of development (whether economic, social, cultural or
environmental), but also local and regional authorities, locally elected representatives, statutory
agencies and SMEs (in particular but not exclusively those of the social economy sector).
Under Interreg III, SPAN information and communication activities will specifically target local
authorities and their elected representatives as this category of local actors will become
increasingly important for the implementation of pilot actions and in the framework of action-
research on the issue of multi-level governance.
The information and communication plan of the project comprises:
a dynamic web site including notably the possibility to search the database
making inventory of local development actors of the 4 regions;
four-monthly bilingual newsletters dispatched to 6.000 organisations (9 issues);
conferences, Summer Schools, workshops and seminars;
4 transnational publications.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 33
How will you publicise the end results of the project? This section should NOT be longer
than ½ page.
The end results of the project will be the object of the closing seminar which will take palce in
Brussels during the first semester of 2007. This public event will give SPAN partners the
opporunity to present their findings and to launch officially the North West European Society for
Territorial Cohesion and Local Development.
With which indicators will the effectiveness of promotion be monitored (for example,
press pick-ups, Website visits, level of enquiries)? This section should NOT be longer than
½ page.
Reminder: all SPAN activities are monitored and evaluated on a permanent basis by the
partners themselves.
Concerning the press coverage, the existing press-book will be continued and enriched.
The number but also the length and origin of Website visits will be monitored and make the
object of statistical treatment.
Workshops and seminars participation will be assessed using quantitative and qualitative
criteria: number of participants, types of organisations represented, etc.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 34
SECTION 3 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
3.1 Overall co-ordination and Management of the Project.
Describe the management structure of the project, including a diagram if necessary.
This Section should NOT be longer than 2 pages, including diagram.
Management and coordination
ULB-IGEAT will be in charge of managing and coordinating the project. A team will be set up
comprising a part-time project manager, a project coordinator, a financial manager (part-time)
and a full-time secretary.
Under the supervision of the project manager, project co-ordinator is responsible for managing
the project at European level. She manages all technical aspects of the project. She leads the
execution of the Project Plan and of the technical activities, on behalf of the SC, in accordance
with SC directives. She will prepare and/or supervise all common documents and make sure
that all the partners are following the methodology of the project. The project coordinator shall
also insure an optimal contact between the Project and the Commission, as well as secure
correct project orientation with respect to the most important European issues.
Decision making
Steering Committee (SC)
The Steering Committee of the project includes at least one representative of each partner plus
the project co-ordinator. It gathers every 6 months (see actions "transnational meetings") to
assess the state of progress of the project and to make decisions about the forthcoming period.
The steering committee meetings are chaired by a member of the partnership and assisted by
an independent facilitator in charge of easing the debates and insure the respect of agendas.
SC meetings will be held in the premises of partners, in order to allow all persons working on
the project for the host partner to meet the complete consortium at least once and to give to the
other partners an insight of the progress achieved by the host. After each meeting, a working
document will be produced: minutes of the meeting, decisions and support material (slides of
presentations, etc.).
All decisions are the responsibility of the SC and will be undertaken through consensus. Where a
consensus cannot be obtained, a voting procedure will be invoked. For this purpose, each partner has
one vote except the lead partner who, as Chair of the Steering Committee, will also hold a casting vote.
Voting will be carried out by secret ballot if requested by the majority. In the case of a tie, the Project
Leader will use the casting vote to ensure a decision.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 35
Communication flow within the consortium
For an efficient dissemination of information within the consortium, a dedicated FTP site will be
settled in the first month of the project. All partners will put technical notes, reports, deliverables
and data in this "virtual office" as soon as they are available. In parallel, electronic mail will be
used to inform partners about progress, availability of documents in the FTP site and to
exchange messages.
Quality Management
Evaluation is included in the global strategy of the project from its start in order to provide a
guarantee of quality management. Evaluation will be dealt with from a double perspective:
following the daily management of the actions (through evaluation sheets for each action)
assessing the efficiency of the project having regard to its goals and strategy (strategic
evaluation)
Compilation, measurement and analysis of these different aspects will be reported at different
stages in intermediate reports and a final report, which results will be disseminate to all
participants of the project.
In addition, an external evaluator will be in charge of conducting an evaluation at 3 stages:
- at the beginning of the project to get acquainted and determine the starting point of the
project (ex ante evaluation);
- at the mid-term of the project to assess if the methods and approaches used are effective
and recommend changes if necessary;
- at the end of the project to assess the efficiency of the partnership and the global results of
the project in comparison with its goals.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 36
3.2 Administrative and Financial Management of the Project.
Describe the administrative and financial management of the project with particular
emphasis on the audit trail and the way the accounts will be handled between partners.
This Section should NOT be longer than 1 page.
In its capacity of Project leader, the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) will be responsible for
managing the relationship with European Commission. It will arrange all contractual matters
between the EC and the consortium, including conflict management. It will anticipate and
manage changes related to the initial project and relevant administrative issues. It will collect
and verify the audited cost statements from the partners every 6 months and co-ordinate
intermediate and final financial reports. It will manage the funding of the project and will
distribute the payments received from the EC to the partners according to their respective
shares.
At ULB, research is administered by two central departments, the Research Management
Department, placed under the supervision of the Rector and his Vice-Rector for Research
whose Research Administration Unit is in charge of the administrative aspects of all research
contracts and activities conducted within the institution (activity reports, deadlines, budgets,
account numbers and credit lines allocation, etc.) and the Financial Department whose
Research Financial Management Unit, placed under the supervision of the Financial Director, is
in charge of all financial aspects of the research activities (Personnel management, payments
of salaries, payments of invoices and expense reports, general accounting, etc.). A branch of
the Research Financial Management Unit is specialised in European contracts and verifies that
each expense is eligible under the specific program, therefore acting as the internal auditor.
When a research contract is signed or when subsidies are granted, a specific internal account
number is allocated to the project by the Research Administration Unit. The Research Financial
Management Unit will thenceforth manage the account, it will accept the hiring of Personnel in
the limits of the allocated budget, it will pay the salaries (as well as pension, insurance, etc.)
and the eligible expenditure within the allocated budget lines. The payment of an expenditure is
asked by the project Financial manager using an internal payment form accompanied by the
evidence of the expenditure (external invoice, receipt, etc.). All original accounting documents
are kept and filed by the Research Financial Management Unit who will give access to its
business premises to the external auditor and the NWE Programme Steering Committee in
accordance with European Regulations.
Benefiting from the financial structure from the institution, the Financial manager of SPAN will
work closely with each member of the partnership to make sure that a similar accounting
system is used in their institution. At the end of each semester, the Financial manager will
organise co-ordination meetings or teleconferences with the administrative and financial staff of
the other partners to verify their financial report before they have it audited and sent to the Lead
Partner with copies of all pieces of evidence. The claim will then be submitted to the Interreg
IIIB NWE Secretariat. The Financial manager will also work in close contact with the Project
coordinator in order to be permanently informed of the state of progress of the project and
avoid technical hitches.
In addition, the whole financial system will be audited twice by an external independent auditor:
once at the end of the third semester, once at the end of the project.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 37
3.3 Auditors.
Who will be the certified auditors responsible for securing the correct use of ERDF
funding? Please indicate their contact details.
Ernst & Young Europe Tel : +32 2 774 96 21, Fax: +32 2 774 96 28, Avenue Marcel Thiry 204, B-
B-1200 Brussels, Belgium
In regard to INTERREG procedures, the objectives of the audit will be:
to issue an audit opinion regarding the reliability, consistency and integrity of the
programme financial data, as reported by the project to the European Commission, as well
as their compliance with the relevant regulations and the INTERREG procedures;
and to review the adequacy of the management control procedures implemented by each
partner in the project for the financial Management of the Programme and their compliance
to these procedures.
The audit work will be performed following all generally recognised auditing standards and
following the general methodology and quality standards of Ernst & Young. An Ernst & Young
partner will be responsible for the quality control of audit and assessment work performed on
this assignment. The quality control will take place before the submission of the draft report to
the EU Delegation. The sampling methodology used by the auditors for these controls will be
based on the standard audit approach of Ernst & Young. This approach results in samples
including the high-monetary value items plus a certain number of other random items.
The audit will be organised in two phases, a mid-term audit phase(for example end 2004)in
order to review the systems and to address on an early basis the possible probles, and a final
audit (at the end of the project) in order to make the final wrap up.
Please ensure that a Joint Convention is negotiated between project partners and
tailored to the project’s needs. At least a draft copy of this convention must be
submitted with this Application Form as Annex VI.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A – final – Revision June 2004 38
SECTION 4 – CONFIRMATION, CERTIFICATION and SIGNATURE
Please note that Parts A, B and the authorised Annexes form an integral part of the
Application Form.
4.1
By signing the Application Form, the Lead Partner hereby confirms that the project, in whole or
in part, has not and will not receive any other EU funding during the INTERREG IIIB NWE
Programme Period.
4.2
By signing the Application Form, the Lead Partner confirms that all partners in the partnership
receiving funds from the INTERREG IIIB NWE Programme comply with the rules on Final
Beneficiaries as stated in the INTERREG IIIB NWE Programme Complement.
4.3
By signing the Application Form, the Lead Partner confirms that all partners listed in the
Application Form are committed to take part in the project‟s activities.
4.4
By signing the Application Form, the Lead Partner confirms that public procurement on works,
supplies and services contracts will take place in compliance with European Community
Directives 92/50/EEC, 93/36/EEC, 93/37/EEC, 93/38/EEC, 97/52/EC, 98/4/EC and national
regulations.
4.5
By signing the Application Form, the Lead Partner confirms that sufficient publicity will be
accorded to the implementation of an EU funded project in compliance with Commission
Decision 94/342/EC in order to attract the attention of potential recipients of Community
assistance and to increase the public‟s awareness of the Community‟s role in co-financing the
project.
4.6 Signature and Stamp of the Lead Partner
Signature of Lead Partner Stamp of Lead Partner
Name and position within Lead Dominique-Paule DECOSTER, Co-director
Partner Organisation Territorial and Local Development Unit
Lead Partner Organisation Université Libre de Bruxelles, Institut de Gestion de
l‟Environnement et d‟Aménagement du Territoire (ULB-IGEAT)
Date
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A - Annex X – Revision June 2004 1
ANNEX X – Project Summary
Project Title & Acronym Strategic Planning Action Network for Local Development -
SPAN
Project Registration Number
Project type Action
Measure applied under 1.2. Coherent and polycentric pattern of complementary cities,
towns, rural areas, coastal and peripheral regions
Lead Partner organisation Université Libre de Bruxelles - Institut de Gestion de
l'Environnement et d'Aménagement du Territoire (ULB-IGEAT)
Country of Lead Partner Belgium
Total number of partners 8
Countries involved Belgium - Ireland - United Kingdom
Start date - End date January 1, 2004 - August 31, 2007
Project total budget 4.194.039,65
ERDF applied for 2.515.970,95
Please enclose a two-page summary of your project application, briefly outlining the
objectives of the project, the issues tackled, the actions and investments foreseen.
Please put particular emphasis on the transnational and innovative character of your
project.
This project entitled Strategic Planning Action Network (SPAN) is a transnational network of
practice based organisations and academic institutions involved in the promotion of indigenous
development and balanced growth across urban and rural settings in Belgium (the Walloon
Region) , the Republic of Ireland Greater Dublin Area region, Northern Ireland, and France (the
Champagne-Ardenne Region). Through this transnational project the partners intend to
research and develop transferable best practice methodologies and applications which will
assist a wide range of planning and development stakeholders within and beyond the EU.
These include community and not for profit organisations, area partnership companies, public
sector bodies and elected representatives.
The selection of themes for the project has been guided by the European Spatial Development
Perspective, the Spatial Vision for North West Europe, and the Guiding Principles for
Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent produced by CEMAT. The project
focuses on two core themes: strategic territorial planning and multi-level governance. Strategic
territorial planning can be used as an a stimulus for stronger solidarity and identity and will be
fostered through an action research programme involving participation, collaboration and
empowerment. A transnational expert pool on strategic territorial planning will be established
under the project. It will be complemented by a second transnational expert pool that will
assess how more effective models of multi-level governance can be devised and put in place.
The fundamental objective of the project is to examine empirically the circumstances under
which indigenous development can contribute to balanced growth within the context of
polycentric spatial development and a new urban-rural relationship. The critical aim is to
provide greater clarity and expertise around the application of a number of spatial planning
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A - Annex X – Revision June 2004 2
principles.
The broadening and deepening of expertise will be facilitated by three high profile transnational
initiatives: a major transnational public event in 2005, establishment in 2007 of a permanent
North West Europe Society for Indigenous Development and Territorial Cohesion, and
publication of an end of project book/report on transformative spatial planning in North West
Europe.
In summary the objectives of Span are
1. to investigate how the application of indigenous development within the partner
territories of North West Europe can contribute to balanced growth within the context of
polycentric development and a new urban – rural relationship,
2. to bring together a governance network of practice based organisations and academic
institutions from four different territorial zones of North West Europe to facilitate shared
learning, collective action, practice dissemination and policy assimilation at regional
and EU levels and thereby move beyond a mere exchange of experience,
3. to demonstrate the potential contribution of European civil society to territorial
governance by way of innovative approaches to strategic territorial planning based on
empowerment evaluation an by way of multi level governance based on different
approaches to partnership formation and processes,
4. to ensure that the implementation of this action plan, while benefiting all partners, will
secure a prominent territorial impact that will extend beyond the life of the project.
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A - Annex X – Revision June 2004 3
Please list the major concrete deliverables and outputs which will have been produced
by the end of your project. These can either be ‘soft’ deliverables (reports, maps, guides,
training scheme, software, website, permanent network, database…) or ‘hard’ small-scale
physical investments (specify what, i.e. a building, a cycle path, signposts…)
Although you will also have to mention these concrete outputs elsewhere in the Application
Form and Action Plan, this section should provide a concise, bullet-pointed list of these tangible
achievements to help demonstrate the „value for money‟ of the project.
This section should NOT be longer than 1 page.
Innovative approaches to strategic territorial planning and multi-level governance with a
view to enhancing transnational policy benefits of relevance for all the partners and the
NWE territory.
A database of local actors including contact details and descriptions of more than
6.000 organisations in all partner regions
A bilingual database of significant experiences , showroom of local development in the
NWE area: 40 case studies
A dynamic web site including the 2 databases and 2 search engines
3 series of 4 thematic workshops focusing on the following themes: Participatory
governance and local development, Multi-level spatial planning, Networks and their
potential for territorial cohesion
3 transnational comparative publications on the results of the thematic workshops
9 issues of a bilingual newsletter: SPAN News
2 big public events: one in Ireland in October 2005 and one on the Continent in 2007.
Both events will aim at awareness raising through the communication of intermediate
and final results of the project
A book / report on the lessons of the project and the implications for spatial planning
and territorial cohesion across the EU territory. This report will summarize the findings
of both pools of expertise
The establishment of the North West European Society for Local Development and
Territorial Cohesion, a European Grouping of Economic Interest
INTERREG IIIB NWE Application Form Part A - Annex X – Revision June 2004 4