A successful start

The Trans-in Form (TiF) project had a successful kick-off meeting in Trakai, Lithuania, on 17-19 February 2010. In all ten European countries were represented – as well as partners from Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Norway, Poland and Germany, there were co-partners from Russia and Belarus, and experts from Italy and the UK. A feature of the meeting was the strong representation of political leaders, and the range of other officials who were there, who included, amongst others, international officers, strategic planners, architects, economic development workers and cultural managers. The diversity of the posed challenges but also created rewards through the exchange of experiwences and perspectives.

TiF is an ambitious and rather complex project. It is about creating territorial development strategies and investments in rural regions and towns in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). As such it contributes to the BSR strategy of “attractive and competitive cities and regions.” It also fits the VASAB Long Term Perspective (LTP) for the Territorial Development of the BSR was agreed in 2009. VASAB stands for “Visions and Strategies around the Baltic Sea” and is an inter-governmental programme, which includes Russia and Belarus.

The four underpinning ideas of the TiF project were highlighted by Professor Emeritus Cliff Hague, one of TiF’s experts, during the opening session. The four ideas are:

• Attractiveness helps grow the local/regional economy;
• Better images and branding of places can make places more attractive;
• Design of the public realm can make a town more attractive;
• Visionary and inclusive governance is important to delivery of more attractive places.

These were explored, challenged and developed by speakers and discussion groups throughout the meeting.

How to attract in-migrants to a rural region?

Knut Vareide from the Telemark Research Institute in Norway, one of the project partners, presented preliminary findings from one of the key tools of the project, the “Attractivity Barometer”. His statistical analysis of the performance of local and county-level governments in Norway and Sweden showed that some are much more successful than others in attracting new in-migrants. In particular, accessibility to a larger local job market, e.g. by being within commuting range of a large city, will draw in new households – providing that there are enough houses being built and a good range of cafes and restaurants that make for an enjoyable social life.

Before the meeting began partners had produced analyses of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threat in the development of their areas. Almost all of these recognised that accessible rural areas had a double-edged relationship with their nearby large city. The city provides a valuable market for rural residents, their services and products, but also puts on pressure for the areas outside the city to become little more than dormitories, providing a bed at the end of a day travelling to and from the city. Commuting thus presents a significant policy challenge for some partners in the TiF project.

Be extraordinary!

Part of the distaste for a “commuter-town” future is the fact that such towns can often seem to lack character and be dominated by hectares of sprawling new housing and drab car parking areas. Two passionate presentations made a forceful case for more intensive development of mixed use areas and using imaginative urban design. Such approaches can turn lifeless parts of a town into bustling areas where friendships are forged over a latte. Michael Fuller-Gee from Norway’s Housing Bank showed how the latent assets of previously unremarkable towns could be transformed into vital areas. Michele Zini an Italian architect from ZPZ Partners illustrated design principles needed to create attractive 21st century environments. He challenged the partners to rise above the ordinary, but showed how this can be done through using quite modest interventions that together build a grand effect.

Rural Change.

The picture of rural change across Europe was outlined by Andrew Copus, from Scotland’s University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute, the Lead Partner of the ESPON project on rural diversity (for more see www.espon.eu or www.espon.org.uk). He pointed to three “grand narratives”. The first of these views rural areas primarily from the perspective of agriculture. It focuses on changes in farming, such as the trend to larger farms and diversification of farms to encompass other uses. The second narrative focuses on urban-rural relations. Research within this perspective emphasises the mutual links that exist between towns and their rural hinterland – e.g. commuting and leisure activities. Finally Andrew pointed to narratives that highlight globalisation and market-led economic changes, linked to changes in governance.

Stories and cultural entrepreneurs.

There followed two presentations that made concrete some of the ideas behind these “grand narratives”. Ilona Smykalla from the German partner showed how events in the history of towns can be used as the basis for developing tourism and identity. Interpretation can reveal what is otherwise hidden and so strengthen the towns and raise awareness of the surrounding area. Caroline Bergmann, a resident in Uddebo, in Sweden, explained how she and a group of friends had worked together to restore “the Yellow House”, a large derelict house in her village. The restoration has turned the house into studios and exhibition areas. Love of the countryside has combined with cultural entrepreneurialism amongst a group of friends to put new life into the village. This impressive story shows how important it is to look to new forms of governance to deliver the changes that TiF seeks.

What is success?

In summing up the meeting, Cliff Hague from the UK, asked the partners, and particularly their political leaders, to consider what kind of transformation they are seeking. “Do you aim to attract more in-migrants? Would that be ‘success’ for your region?” he asked. If that is indeed the goal then the best prospects are to ensure that there is good accessibility to jobs in surrounding towns and cities. Then a strong supply of new housing is needed, and commuting needs to be accepted as a sensible way of linking labour markets and housing markets. In contrast, it is not worth investing a lot of money into branding in such circumstances, especially if the message is stressing history rather than the present.

Of course, drawing in new migrants may not be the top priority for some partners, and it is likely to be harder to attract them to places that are remote from large job markets. In such situations, tourist promotion and new branding may be the preferred way forward. However, the brand alone will not be enough – facilities appropriate for the target market are needed also, e.g. skills in service industries.

Finally, Cliff posed the possibility that “managed decline” may be the appropriate response in situations where ageing and depopulation are severe, and there are few prospects of holding people on the land. In such situations the role of small towns in retention of essential public services is very important, and so is the kind of non-governmental activism demonstrated in the Yellow House.

“Whatever your aims,” concluded Cliff, “the rural-urban relations grand narrative matters. We need to look at the potential of a region as a whole, rather than just at agriculture as was often the case in the past. Also visionary and inclusive leadership is absolutely essential.” He promised that TiF will produce guidelines and tools to help the partners take forward the project.