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ANNEX 4
Strategic Project 4: Integrated Urban-Rural Management System
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Strategic Partners
Interested Partners: Union of Baltic Cities, Environment and Agenda 21 Secretariat (chair of Baltic 21 Joint Action 4), members of the above mentioned project initiator as well as Baltic Sea States Sub-regional Co-operation (BSSSC) with the additional involvement of relevant National Ministries throughout the BSR
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Strategic Focus
Key Background Policy: EU Thematic Strategy on Urban Environment, EU SDS, Agenda 2000, 6EAP, Aalborg Commitments, ESDP, Leipzig process and its Territorial Agenda of the EU
Complementary Programmes: Structural and Rural Development funds, UNEP, LIFE+, Dg Env
Core Outcome: Integrated Management Systems for Urban and Rural Authorities
Baltic 21 Sectors/Members: Transport, Spatial Planning, Energy, Agriculture, Forestry, Industry
Key Features: Competitive Cities and Rural Areas; Integrated Transport and ICT Solutions; Regional Clusters
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Project Background
BSR Institutional Framework
The Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) was established as a city network in 1991 by 32 cities in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). Currently the network has 100 members in 10 countries in the BSR. The main goal of the UBC is to contribute to the democratic, social, economic and environmentally friendly development in the Baltic Sea Region, and especially to serve the cities in sustainable development and environmental management.
The UBC Agenda 21 Action Programme 2004-2009 – Roadmap for Sustainable Baltic Cities includes five thematic focus areas: Good governance and sustainable urban development; Sustainable use of energy and resources; Good living environment and nature protection; Sustainable economy and transport and Social integration and health. The UBC Environment and Agenda21 Secretariat co-ordinates the implementation of the Action Programme and is actively participating in different working groups contributing for example on the specific BSR context within the Urban Thematic Strategy and the preparation of guidance documents.
The Baltic Sea States Subregional Co-operation (BSSSC) founded in Norway 1993 is a political network for decentralized authorities (subregions) in the Baltic Sea Region. Its members are regional authorities (level directly below the national level authorities) of the 10 Baltic Sea littoral states. The work of the BSSSC is organized around the Chairperson, the Board consisting of two representatives of each of the BSR countries, the secretariat which follows the Chairperson and ad hoc Work Groups. BSSSC also has a reporter on Maritime Issues. The main BSSSC event is the annual conference.
The BSSSC Workgroup “Agenda 21“ explores options, develops solutions and supports implementation for sustainable development at the sub-regional level in the context of the Baltic 21 implementation. Its focus lies on sustainable urban development and the connection between urban centers and the surrounding region.
EU Policy Framework
Despite the large number of legal regulations, existing tools and best practice models, negative impacts of human activities on the environment are still growing in Europe (BSR). Although the scale and intensity of the problems of local authorities varies, a common core set of challenges can be identified as follows: poor air quality, high levels of traffic and congestion, high levels of ambient noise, neglect of built environment, high level of greenhouse gas emissions, urban sprawl and generation of large volumes of waste and waste water.
In 2002, the 6th Environmental Action Programme of the European Community "Environment 2010: Our Future, Our Choice" called for the development of an EU Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment. As a result of a broad consultation process the Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment (UTS) was adopted by the Commission in January 2006.
The main aim of the UTS is to contribute to the quality of life through an integrated approach concentrating on urban areas. To this end, the EU Commission encourages local authorities to use integrated environmental management (plans and systems) and sustainable urban transport plans and has initiated a process to further develop this. Integrated approaches to the management of the urban environment involve the establishment of a clear vision and the adoption of a high level, strategic approach to management and an annual cyclical implementation process.
Furthermore competitive regions require strengthened urban-rural partnership. In the Agenda 2000 EU has outlined the varied needs of rural communities and proposes rural communities to take a multi-sectoral and integrated approach to the rural economy. The Agenda 2000 supports the diversification of the activities, the creation of new sources of income and employment and the protection of the rural heritage. Also the European Spatial Development Perspective stresses the reinforcement of synergies between urban and rural areas.
The renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy adopted in June, 2006 (Document 10117/06) acknowledges the important role of local and regional levels in delivering sustainable development. Furthermore, it emphasizes that approaches like Local Agenda 21 and other processes with broad public participation must be strengthened and promoted. The Strategy also stresses that municipalities, cities and towns should be invited to sign and implement the Aalborg Commitments (http://www.aalborgplus10.dk/) and highlights the important role that networks at different levels have in supporting these activities. Signing the Aalborg Commitments commits the cities into using a management system. Also the Council of the European Union calls on the EU member states and their cities to improve the quality of life in cities and urban areas by promoting and implementing integrated environmental management systems (Document 11070/06).
Consequently an Integrated Management System (IMS) is a core element of the current EU policies and by implementing it this will enable the sustainability of the BSR.
Specific BSR context
At the moment no country in the BSR has national or regional obligations for Environmental Management Systems (EMS) or Sustainable Urban Transport Plan (SUTP). Only Denmark and Poland have a national regulation for Environmental Action Plan and Sweden has supported a voluntary campaign to promote Environmental Action Plan. While many cities have experiences in implementation of an environmental management system only a few cities have implemented environmental management system on a high strategic level.
At the same time many UBC member cities throughout the BSR have contributed to the development of EU UTS through UBC development and research projects. The models from both new and old EU member countries have been valuable for this Strategy development. Especially UBC has promoted Baltic and Nordic view in UTS working groups.
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Main Project Objective
There is a lack of coherence between the large number of legal regulations, EU and National programmes, strategies and tools leading to an unbalanced and inefficient implementation and development in the whole BSR. The renewed EU SDS promotes coherence between local, regional, national and global actions in order to enhance the contribution to sustainable development (Council of the EU, Document 10117/06).
The main objective of the project is to develop the BSR into a model region through successfully functioning Integrated Management Systems operational within a majority of its local and regional authorities. The project will lead to policy recommendations to apply IMS to the authorities at all levels.
The project will build on the extensive development work promoted by the European Commission over the past years. IMS will enable the urban and rural local authorities within the sub-regions of BSR countries to co-operate in a more strategic and coordinated way to ensure sustainable development and competitiveness of the entire functional urban area (regional economic area), through regional coordination and cross-sectoral multi-stakeholder processes.
The project answers to the following failures identified by the EU Working Group on Sustainable Urban Management and adapts the IMS for the rural context:
• insufficient co-operation beyond administrative boundaries;
• insufficient horizontal co-operation;
• insufficient harmonized data, tools and practices;
• development occurs via short-term and isolated projects;
• insufficient public participation;
• insufficient vertical co-operation;
• need for institutional and personal capacity;
• separation of planning and implementation.
The key actors of the project are the local and regional authorities in the BSR. The ultimate aim of the strategic project will be to create a common understanding of the realization of such an IMS among BSR cities and regional authorities and the actual implementation of an IMS within the member cities of UBC and members of BSSSC.
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Main Project Activity Lines
BSR Networking
BSR policy level = Increasing competitiveness of the BSR; Creating grounds for standardization of the processes; supporting and guiding the implementation of the Aalborg commitments; BSR wide networking and exchange of experience among involved Ministries of Environment, Transport and Communications, Agriculture, Spatial Planning, and Industry and Trade within Baltic 21.
National policy level = Better implementation and understanding of the EU regulations, policies and strategies at the local, regional and National levels (Renewed Sustainable Development Strategy, UTS, Agenda2000, EU Directives etc); stressing EU emphasis on the principles of the subsidiary and transparency; discussion forums through Baltic21,
Regional policy level = supporting the implementation of the National sustainability strategies through Regional sustainability processes.
Project level = development of the functioning integrated management system for urban and rural area through large multi-stakeholder approach; support to the balanced development of urban and rural areas, thus contributing to the competitiveness of the BSR; increasing capacity for developing new Innovation within the urban and rural areas; participating cities and municipalities create synergy and cross-sectoral sustainable strategies, increasing the capacity of the BSR actors to meet challenges; integration of experience from current INTERREG projects (BUSTRIP, SUSTAINMENT) and other former and current projects (MUE25, EMAS Peer Review for cities, MEA) into network forums.
Stakeholder level = bringing together for open discussion the national, regional and local levels, business sector, agricultural sector, cultural sector and third sector etc into even stronger strategic planning; attracting and satisfying inhabitants within the urban and rural surroundings;
Model development
Review of the sustainable modes of integration of the urban and rural areas
Review of the current management practises, policies, legal and operational frameworks
Development of the models for cross-sectoral co-operation; models for increasing communication between authorities responsible for urban and rural issues, as a part of the IMS model(s)
Development of the working model of the Integrated Management model(s) applicable for urban and rural areas.
Test and assess IMS model(s) in selected regions throughout BSR.
Pilot Actions/Implementations
The realization of the common vision of IMS within the BSR will be supported by numerous pilot activities to be selected within separate, targeted calls for project proposals in the fields of transport, procurement, social, waste, water management, energy, tourism, culture, health and education. This pilot actions will test the IMS model further in practice.
Recommendations/Dissemination
Continuous contributions to the development of further EU guidance documents (EU Sustainable Development, Urban Thematic Strategy), EU legislation and EU programmes;
Providing a BSR working model in integrated management systems within local and regional co-operation for other regions to adapt and extend;
Dissemination of the IMS working model in the BSR and other regions.
Strengthening communication between urban, rural and regional local authorities.
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Linkage to Interreg Priorities
Priority 4: Competitive Settlements
The integrated management system creates a solid foundation for an efficient urban-rural partnership. By implementing the project through an existing strong network, the exchange of best practices is maximised. The project highlights the cross-sectoral approach by involving different sectors within the process. The project emphasizes the importance of further elaboration, testing and dissemination of the IMS model in order to significantly contribute to the competitiveness of the BSR.
Priority 2: Accessibility
The project outcome underlines the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach in tackling functional barriers, such as separate development plans, which are not integrated outside an urban area. Through pilot actions the project also stresses the transport and coastline development in a larger area.
Priority 3: Baltic Sea
The use of the integrated management system results in a more efficient use of resources, as well as, management of the waste and waste waters. It allows the decision makers to see the direct effects of their decisions.
Priority 1: Innovations
The project also provokes the innovative atmosphere and the exchange of best practices at transnational level. The project outcome enables the urban and rural authorities to create market for sustainable products, it also provides a channel for new innovations to develop by bringing together different stakeholders.
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