Research Project: Implementing the Territorial Agenda 2030

Additional pilot actions with German participation

Municipalities and regions in Germany implement the objectives of the Territorial Agenda 2030

The model project supported municipalities and regions in participating in pilot actions for the implementation of the Territorial Agenda, which are led by various European countries. The regional activities in Germany connected the European-strategic level of the Territorial Agenda with the practical implementation level on the ground. They supported the operationalisation of the strategic objectives.

The pilot actions covered the following topics in a European context:

• The strengthening of small towns to promote regional development (led by Norway) with participation of Rodewisch.
• The methodology of a region-oriented territorial impact assessment (led by Poland) with participation of the Joint Spatial Planning Department of Berlin-Brandenburg.
• Cross-border vision-processes (led by Luxembourg) with participation of the federal state planning authorities of Rhineland-Palatinate.
• Climate-resilient Alpine towns (led by Switzerland) with participation of Sonthofen.

Norwegian pilot action: small places matter

Small towns and their significance for regional development are receiving increasing attention in European countries and are supported with programmes and national strategies. Germany participated in a pilot action for the implementation of the Territorial Agenda under Norwegian leadership concerning small towns. The pilot action included the municipality of Rodewisch as a German model municipality. The focus of the pilot action was on the role of small towns and villages in the development of integrated spatial development processes, on strengthening the coordination of political actors and on the exchange of experiences of European states on the matter.

Local measures focused on strengthening the role of small and medium-sized towns as anchor points in rural-peripheral areas and their positive impact on the surrounding regions. By linking local initiatives and strategic planning processes in relation to demographic change, small places should increase their attractiveness for younger people.

Participation of the MORO model municipality of Rodewisch

The small town of Rodewisch has approximately 6,500 inhabitants. In recent years, the general trend of a population decrease has been mitigated. Moreover, the town cooperates in many sectors with three additional neighbouring municipalities as intermunicipal cooperation including around 37,000 inhabitants. Following the incorporation of the model municipality in the Göltzschtal regional municipal association, the implementation activities were oriented towards the regional development concept and hence have the potential to develop a positive effect and support the anchor function of the town in the region.

The vision for the future development of Rodewisch was created with a strong involvement of the public and with a special emphasis on the public consultation in the design of the urban public space. The MORO project aimed to revitalise the city centre and create a good standard of liveability standard for public spaces, that fits intergenerational needs.

This should mitigate the losses for local retail businesses. Young families, not only from Rodewisch, but also from the rural periphery thereby have better prospects to stay. One example for this is the pop-up store concept for the town centre of Rodewisch, which offers local, regional, but also external businesses a simple way of renting retail spaces.

Further information: pilot action “Small places matter”.

Luxembourgian pilot action: cross-border spatial planning – the development of a spatial vision for the metropolitan region of Luxembourg

Luxembourg is currently developing a new spatial vision to progress the topics of decarbonisation and ecological transformation in the context of spatial planning. The revised version will include visions for the short to medium-term (2035 time horizon) and offer a strategic orientation for the long-term future development of the Luxembourg area.

Cross-border planning is characterised by several difficulties: different legal frameworks, varying planning instruments and different conceptions of planning objectives, non-concerted hierarchies, and authorisation procedures. Hence, with regard to defining areas of intervention, spatial and planning strategies are mostly based on administrative borders. The pilot action wanted to discover new paths. As an input for the strategic orientation, Luxembourg conducted a dialogue process called “Luxembourg in Transition”. As part of the pilot action, the Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning, Luxembourgworked together with stakeholders from Luxembourg and neighbouring regions on a territorial vision and implementation strategy with concrete projects for a decarbonised and resilient cross-border functional region and which serves as the basis for a European learning process with partners from all over Europe.

The participation of the MORO model partner “Spatial Planning Department Rhineland-Palatinate“

The aim of the Rhineland-Palatinate model region was to draw conclusions from the development of the territorial vision for planning procedures and processes in the fields of regional and federal state planning in Rhineland-Palatinate and Germany. The matter of cross-border spatial planning offers great potential in Luxembourgian-German cooperation since there are many commonalities between the two spatial planning systems. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the federal state planning authority accompanied and participated in the project. From Rhineland-Palatinate alone, 30,000 people commute to Luxembourg every day.

Further information: pilot action “Cross-border spatial planning”

Polish pilot action: understanding how sector policies shape spatial (im)balances

Disparities between places and people play an important role in the current discussion about spatial development at the EU level. Terms such as “places that don’t matter”, “places left behind” or “the geography of discontent” are just a few examples. The pilot action “Region-focused Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA)” led by Poland focused on the application of spatial impact analyses to investigate the impact of sectoral policies on spatial disparities. The focus was on areas with special development challenges; the local perspective was prioritised. Furthermore, the aim was to develop a better understanding of the political impact on territories, in order to develop more tailor-made, locally based policies.

The participation of the MORO model partner “Joint Spatial Planning Department of Berlin-Brandenburg“

The Joint Spatial Planning Department of Berlin-Brandenburg focused on the German-Polish interaction area, which, on the German side, includes the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania, and Saxony. To further limit the methodology, it was decided to focus on mobility policy and the Berlin-Gorzów railway connection. There are mutual efforts to modernise and extend the railway. The territorial impact assessment (TIA) is intended to help identify and consider possible positive and negative outcomes.

Further information: pilot action “Understanding how sector policies shape spatial (im)balances”

Swiss pilot action: climate protection in Alpine towns

Cities play a decisive role in the adaption to and mitigation of climate change. Local cooperation and intersectoral coordination allow place-based and sustainable solutions carried out by the local community. For this reason, Switzerland has launched the pilot project “Climate action in Alpine towns” with its partners, among them the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building, as part of the Territorial Agenda 2030. The project promoted the empowerment of cities and their citizens to develop and realise creative ideas and low-threshold bottom-up measures in connection with the development of long-term climate strategies in spatial planning. Building on existing resources and bottom-up actions will result in long-term effects, thus creating a solid framework with well-established networks in the Alpine region and beyond.

Participation of the town of Sonthofen (Bavaria)

In the Sonthofen pilot action, the project team worked on a conflict resolution for cyclists in the pedestrian zone. This has contributed to more users of the inner city visiting it by bike. As a result, there is an increasing switch of mobility modes towards more climate-friendly ones. In Sonthofen, there were repeated tensions between pedestrians and cyclists in the pedestrian zone, which were analysed in more detail in a conflict analysis. The analysis helped to objectify the discussion, supported the further implementation of the local cycling concept and represents a “beacon” for bottom-up cooperation and coordination. Further information: pilot action “Climate action in Alpine towns”