1. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Hamburg / Northern Germany Identifying pilot actions Ludwigslust County as an example NEW BRIDGES Project Workshop, Kaunas 8.-9. June 2010 Andreas Obersteg – Guido Sempell HafenCity University Hamburg Partner city-region: Hamburg / Northern Germany

2. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners.

3. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Activities on the level of Northern Germany - Study on issues and possibilities of urban-rural cooperation - Study on public transport “Vision 2030”: connection problems between Länder and between Länder-Counties e.g. Train-Bus; ways of improvement - Final conference MORO June 2010 with German Ministry of Planning and DG Region  Putting urban-rural issues on a strategic level

4. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Priority challenges identified - Demographic change – threatening public / private infrastructure - Structural change in economy - Public transport - Structural change in agriculture - Low awareness of county as residential location

5. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Main issues - Economic change in rural areas: effect of decreasing retail - Mobility problem due to insufficient public transport - Lack of social interaction / meeting points - Low awareness of the region’s potentials and insufficient coordination of marketing in urban and rural regions - Lack of marketing for regional products - Structural change in rural areas: threatening depopulation, unattractiveness of county as residential location due to lack of jobs - Threat: downturn of Ludwigslust from metropolitan county to hinterland

6. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Decision process (Summary) 1st and 2nd Local Stakeholder Meeting: 15/01/10 and 23/04/10 in Zarrentin / Ludwigslust County / Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Stakeholders: associations, organizations, NGOs, economic associations, politics and administration Analysis of the Individual preferences: rather intermediate approach: large-scale and abstract level through studies and workshops Discussion: took place during interview meeting with representatives of regional planning department and during both stakeholder meetings with the participants Pros and cons: some issues like transport and economic change are already dealt with in detail by the county – the following possible pilot actions were agreed on focussing on still existing problems

7. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Possible Pilot Actions 1)Local shop and services 2)“House of the regions” in Hamburg 3)Sustainable housing in rural areas

8. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Local shop and services Description: The idea consists of shops providing basic supply of groceries from regional producers and services in villages with 500 to 1,500 inhabitants, where no other offers exist. The shops should as well be a meeting point for the citizens. Main aim(s): provision of basic services, creation of a meeting point, better accessibility, increase the selling of regional products Geographical scope: promotion of the idea via a conference, expertise concept for one store within Ludwigslust County in a smaller village could be developed as a test run Target group(s): inhabitants (especially less mobile and elderly people), tourists, local investment

9. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Local shop and services Strategies and programmes: - Planning strategy on the level of the county respectively planning region Western Mecklenburg that includes development and supply of retail and services - Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is currently establishing an inter-ministerial working group on the issue of providing (retail) services in rural areas Institutions and stakeholders to be involved: Responsible ministries, Ludwigslust County, municipality in which the store could be located, local associations, society running Community Stores (Genossenschaftsläden), service providers, Consumer Society Hagenow, local producers and caterers

10. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Local shop and services Main implementation steps: - Orientation meeting / informative workshop - Presentation of the local shop concept ”MarktTreff” from Schleswig-Holstein - Presentation of the varied idea for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - Invitation of the inter-ministerial working group - Building of a work group

11. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Local shop and services Political risksLack of political support in the chosen village Legal risksCompetition to ordinary retail (private enterprises) has to be checked Institutional risksAdequate organizational form involving the partners: public-private-partnership, private enterprise form, association or cooperative? Technical risksShop needs certain infrastructure like cooling system, heating etc. which means investments => financing has to be proven

12. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. “House of the regions” in Hamburg Description: The idea is to “merchandise” Ludwigslust County and other counties by their potentials and offerings in the city centre of Hamburg: long-time exhibition, tourist office / booking service / visitor centre, promotion of local events, selling of regional products and event location. Main aim(s): marketing of the counties assets: increase of awareness as tourist and residential locations, selling of regional products Geographical scope: located in Hamburg, involvement of the respective counties, effects on Hamburg’s hinterland Target group(s): tourists and visitors to Hamburg, citizens of Hamburg

13. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. “House of the regions” in Hamburg Strategies and programmes: - Connection to marketing strategies within the Hamburg metropolitan region - Ideas to develop common / coherent offers in tourism and local recreation between Hamburg and surrounding rural areas - Connection to the MORO Nord project “Regional product cycles” due to the regional products sales point Institutions and stakeholders to be involved: City of Hamburg (Hamburg marketing, tourism agency), Hamburg metropolitan region, Ludwigslust County and other counties (planning departments, business promotion associations, marketing and tourism agencies), municipalities within the counties (if interested / necessary as partners), public transport associations, local producers

14. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. “House of the regions” in Hamburg Main implementation steps: - Impulse meeting, preparation of a conceptual study - Then self-organised project steering

15. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. “House of the regions” in Hamburg Political risksCoalition between different counties and regions to initiate and run a common house of the region is not easy to build Legal risksCommon form of organisation has to be found Institutional risksConflicts might appear between the responsible departments from the different counties while dealing with certain issues Technical risksAdequate building has to be found, if possible close to the main station / city centre

16. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Sustainable housing in rural areas Description: The settlement development in selected municipalities has potential for a sustainable orientation. Themed ”Living in the countryside, but sustainable”, two approaches could be followed: a) bio-energy villages b) sustainable housing especially for elderly people Main aim(s): creation of added value, better quality of life, local identity and village community; attractiveness as recreation and ecological compensation area; improvement of the region’s climate balance; sustainable guidance of settlement development Geographical scope: example bio-energy village in a smaller village within the western part of the county, more urban sustainable housing e.g. in one of the towns of Zarrentin or Boizenburg Target group(s): persons interested in sustainable countryside housing

17. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Sustainable housing in rural areas Strategies and programmes: - Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania plans to support bio-mass energy production with bio-energy villages as a part of this strategy - Clarifying demands in a regional context - Planning strategy on the level of the county respectively of the planning region Western Mecklenburg is considering the issue Institutions and stakeholders to be involved: Responsible ministries, Ludwigslust County (local politicians, building and environment agencies), municipality in which the bio-energy village could be located (local politicians, building and environment agencies), project developer / investor / carrier, building company, social associations

18. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Sustainable housing in rural areas Main implementation steps: - Informative meeting to raise awareness of / sensitise to bio- energy villages / sustainable housing especially for elderly people - Workshop with experts about bio-energy villages and regional demands - „Hotbed of ideas“ to develop a concept together with interested citizens and experts

19. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Sustainable housing in rural areas Political risksConflicts between concentration of settlement in central places and the free development in also smaller villages (concerning the concept of bio-energy villages) could occur Legal risksOrganising institution has to be verified: municipality, project developer, investor or carrier? Institutional risksUnclear whether or in what extent energy companies have to be involved Technical risksFinancing has to be proven and investor to be found

20. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Main questions to discuss - Which pilot action is the most suitable one? - Is the information given detailed enough? - How could the timeframe look like concerning the realisability? - Which stakeholders have to be involved additionally? - Do you have any experience in one of the touched pilot actions?

21. This project is part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partners. Thank you for your attention! Feedback and comments are very welcome! Andreas Obersteg – Guido Sempell HafenCity University Hamburg Partner city-region: Hamburg / Northern Germany