Sustainable
URBAN FRINGES SURF
"Connecting Urban & Rural" ^
The SURF project is split into 4 workpackages dealing with-
I Project Management
2 Publicity & Communications
2 Review & Analysis
Project partners had the opportunity to discuss the challenges and benefits for businesses in the urban fringe during the recent Sustainable Urban Fringes Mid Term Conference in Bradford.
Delegates had the opportunity to visit the Worth Valley for a workshop on rural fringe themes where they were able to learn more about the local area, meet key stakeholders and listen to local speakers.
The event was hosted by project partner, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
meaningful change for the urban fringes. These outputs, due in 2012, include a policy paper and guidance and an urban fringe toolkit.
Delegates also had the opportunity to capitalise on learning from other projects. The event included talks from guest speakers, with Joe Ravetz sharing experience from the Plurel project and Reinhard Henke, of the PURPLE network.
The conference was a working event to allow partners to exchange information and develop work on the 4 main project themes for the urban fringe: economy; governance; role and value of green spaces; and spatial planning and community engagement.
This work will enable preparation and planning for the project final outputs, which aim to deliver
SURF was approved by the Interreg IVB Programme in September 2009. The project brings together partners from 5 countries across the North Sea Region.
Testing & Implementation
www.sustainablefringes.eu
Theme Workshop
Project partners from the Netherlands, Belgium and UK visited Aberdeen in May for a workshop examining spatial planning and stakeholder engagement for the urban fringes.
The event was part of the project theme work development and enabled information exchange and partner updates on project activity.
Delegates had the opportunity to study Aberdeen's urban fringes and the work under development through the SURF Aberdeen project.
SURF Aberdeen is working to develop and promote new methods for assessing and managing open spaces along the River Don Corridor in the city for the benefit of the local community, economy and environment.
A programme of community engagement is underway for the SURF Aberdeen project which will inform the spatial planning tools and physical improvements being developed for this area.
Find out more about the SURF Aberdeen project on their Facebook page -http://www.facebook.com/group s/115346778554658?ap=1
tervision Workshop looks at amburg Urban Fringe
The event was hosted by project partner Hamburg with support from Saxion University experts in the Implementation Lab approach.
The event programme focused on the issues involved in the creation of a Regional Park, Wedeler Au. It took into account the urban fringe of Hamburg which has a long history of tree nurseries.
Participants had the chance to visit the urban fringe and meet key city representatives to enhance understanding and gain first hand knowledge of the issues and opportunities for the area.
The report from the Implementation Lab is available on the Sustainable Urban Fringes website.
All participants received a case study dossier which provided additional background information about the area.
Project partners are familiar with the Implementation Lab approach. A" lite" version of the event was held at a partner meeting in West Flanders in 2011. This provided ideas and visioning on a way ahead for tackling urban fringes in the Province.
Dutch to Launch Regional Vision & Strategy
Partners in the Dutch Twente Region are preparing for the launch of their regional vision and strategy for urban fringes later this year.
Join us on Linkedin
The Sustainable Urban Fringes (SURF) project has a discussion group on Linkedin. Why not join the group and have your say? Visit www.linkedin.com
Spotlight on SURF partners
In each edition of the SURF newsletter we will catch up with the work of some of our partners. In this edition the spotlight falls on Hengelo and Norfolk.
Hengelo
The project aims to develop and test the use of strategy and methods to increase use of the the Westhag the Park of Connection. It aims to use scaled interventions and publicity activity.
The Westhaug Park is situated in the heart of the city and has great potential as an area for leisure and recreation and as a connecting point for surrounding communities.
Engaging the local community in plans and actions for the Weusthag Park is very important to the Hengelo project.
This work has been enhanced through the formalisation of the group "Friends of Weusthag".
Official welcome signs have been installed at the entrance to the park.
The park associations worked together to organise a special activities day in July. This allowed local people the opportunity to get to know the park better. The park themes of nature, culture, education and sports featured prominently.
This new event in Hengelo has been dubbed 'De WeustDAG' (Weusthag Day).
To find out more visit the park website at www.hetweusthag.nl
Norfolk
The project aims to invest in the natural assets and social infrastructure of the Gaywood River Catchment Area, to devise and offer innovative solutions in the management of a broad range of social and economic risks
Norfolk is another partner who is developing their urban fringe area in the Gaywood Valley, through community engagement and partnership working. Work has included -
• Developing a virtual flythrough tool to help with engagement and visualisation on the project.
• A full programme of walks, talks and workshops.
• Production of information boards showing circular walking routes in the urban fringe
• Working with Nottingham University on the EMBED project which looks at ecosystems services.
• Working with the Norfolk Wildlife Trust to roll out a Community Wildlife Toolkit.
• Groundtruthing the project area to discover the local species and habitats.
• Working to install a renewable energy pump at the site.
• Competitions and surveys.
• Follow the Gaywood Valley project on twitter at
www.twitter.com/GaywoodValley
SURF Recent Achievements
Flemish partners took project information to the Flemish Fair "Agriflanders"... Regional Urban Fringe Workshop in Almelo, Netherlands in January... Symposium for the urban fringe presentation on urban fringes of Enschede and the SURF project to students at Saxion University-Norfolk published a guide to events in the urban fringe-Hamburg hosted an implementation lab in March... Leeds Bradford hosted a Regional Conference in April... Aberdeen held a spatial planning and stakeholder engagement theme workshop in May-Science Cafe on the urban fringes in February... SURF Aberdeen held a Community Networking Event in June-Public Awareness days in Norfolk and Hengelo.. Poster presentation on the project at the European Forum on Urban Forestry Conference in June-Information on SURF at the Resilient Cities Conference in June-Leeds, Urban Fringe Study Group, met with Government Department DEFRA and discussed evidence emerging from SURF.
^^j^pRj^p* Find out more about the SURF partners on our website y<^//\\>/ www.sustainablefringes.eu
Overview of Theme Comparing Phase
Giving a context for the urban fringe, project partners have contributed information on structures, strategies and policies that exist in their SURF partner regions.
The work was carried out under the latest phase of theme working to build up evidence about what works for the urban fringe in different situations.
This theme work approach, being developed through the project, will provide evidence for Sustainable Urban Fringe recommendations to EU policy makers. It builds upon the practical work carried out by partners in their own city regions.
Partners were presented with an "Overview of the Comparing Phase" at the SURF Mid Term Conference in Bradford in June.
Project theme work is coordinated by SURF academic experts from Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK and Saxion University in the Netherlands.
Sustainable Urban Fringes is I looking at 4 themes for the urban fringe.
Economy, competitiveness and enterprise
The role and value of green spaces
Spatial planning and stakeholder engagement
Governance of urban fringes
Connecting the Leeds City Region to its urban/rural fringes
Over 80 people attended a conference on connecting the UK's Leeds city region to its urban/ rural fringes, in April 2011.
The fully subscribed event proved very popular, with conference spaces being quickly snapped up.
The conference provided an opportunity to assess and discuss the potential for local community agendas, the urban fringe areas and the city region's interests to be mutually developed.
A mix of academic, rural agency and city region bodies were represented at the event and workshops were held reflecting the SURF four key themes of competitiveness, green spaces, governance and spatial planning.
Thelnterreg IVB North Sea Region Programme
The event was organised by Bradford Metropolitan District Council and the Centre for Urban Development and Environmental Management (CUDEM) at Leeds Metropolitan University.
A report from the conference and link to presentations from the event are available on our project website.
The next SURF partner conference will take place in Harryda, Sweden on 7-9 November 2011.
Find out about project partner events on our website. ^
Project Partners are:
Aberdeen City Council -(Lead Partner)
School of the Built Environment at Leeds Metropolitan University
City of Bradford
Norfolk County Council
City of Enschede
Saxion University
City of Almelo
City of Hengelo
Province of East Flanders
Province of West Flanders
City of Hamburg
Municipality of Harryda
Province of Antwerp
The Sustainable Urban Fringes (SURF) Project is part of the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme and is partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
www.sustainablefringes.eu